Syllabics
Dr. Merelda Fiddler-Potter is the 2025 recipient of the University of Regina Alumni Awards & Sports Hall of Fame, Distinguished Professional Achievement Award and is recognized for her academic and professional work over the years.
Her acknowledgement for the award is partly due to the numerous scholarships received, most notably the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship in 2019 and the Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship in 2020 for her PhD research at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. Her continued work in Public Policy and consulting in the community is part of her well-rounded Alumni career.
Dr. Merelda Fiddler-Potter is an Associate Professor at the First Nations University of Canada. Born and raised in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, Merelda is a Cree-Métis woman who always dreamed of telling people’s stories. When she grew up, she headed straight for the University of Regina, where she earned a degree in Journalism and Communications, interning at both CTV and CBC. Merelda would spend the next 17 years working in the media as a reporter, associate producer, senior producer, television reporter/producer, social media editor, and current affairs producer, working for both Regional and Network programs across Western Canada from Saskatchewan to British Columbia. During that time, she won numerous regional and national awards for her work. Merelda also ran her own documentary production company, producing several nationally syndicated productions.
In 2000, just after graduating with her bachelor’s degree, Merelda started teaching as a Sessional Lecturer at the First Nations University of Canada, starting in Indigenous Communications Arts, and then in Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Business and Public Administration. She went on to get her Master of Arts, looking at one branch of her family history and discussing Indigenous Identity issues. In 2016, Merelda left the media to start her own communications and consulting company. There, she collaborated with various public and non-profit organizations on Indigenous awareness and culture change management, as well as providing communications support.
In the Fall of 2018, a year after she opened her own communications and consulting business (MGirl Strategies), Merelda started her PhD. program at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, graduating in just under four years in 2022. During her program, Merelda was the recipient of a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship, among several other graduate awards. She started her first academic appointment at the University of Saskatchewan’s Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and worked as an Executive in Residence with JSGS. Today, Merelda is an Associate Professor at the First Nations University of Canada, cross-listed in the INCA and Indigenous Business and Public Administration programs. Merelda continues to work with several public, non-profit, and private organizations on strategic plans, environmental mapping, and systems mapping projects, in addition to her work as a professor. She lives in Regina with her husband, two children, and their silly red lab Cricket.
The University of Regina Alumni Award & Sports Hall of Fame will take place on Friday, October 24, 2025, at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina.
For campus locations, maps and hours of operation, please visit our contact us page.
(the good path through life)
(the good path through life)