Jill Fikowski, MPH CCRP (she/her)

Jill is the Founder and CEO of Changemark. Jill identifies as a cis-gender White woman and uninvited settler who benefits from living and working on the stolen and ancestral lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Jill has 20 years' experience working in the areas of mental health and substance use. Jill is also a person with lived experience and has been through the detox and substance use treatment system.

Jill was inspired to create Changemark because she recognized that there was a need in the field for specialized and qualified individuals that were accessible for organizations in need of services to move their projects forward. She saw research and health care delivery services continue to be delivered in a colonial way and saw the need to support self-determination and system change to work toward a decolonial health services delivery model and Indigenous led research. She saw not-for-profit organizations with limited resources competing for funding to keep important community programs going; research teams entering the field with limited training in working with people with lived experience; well-resourced for-profit organizations who needed a roadmap for setting up a research program and conducting sound ethical research; and government agencies that would benefit from third-party writers, evaluators, and analysts with relevant expertise in the areas of mental health, substance use, and Indigenous health and decolonial approaches to research and evaluation.

Her vision for this company is to continue to work toward system change to improve access to services for people with substance use and mental health challenges, working to dismantle the impacts of colonialism. Her goal is to build partnerships and work with clients and communities to promote ethical, effective, and evidence-based practices, and create meaningful change for people experiencing mental health challenges, people who use substances, and the people and communities who love them.