Nicole Pankratz
About Nicole
Nicole has been working for CISUR since 2005 and has been a key player in the development and evolution of iMinds learning resources as well as various other products that promote drug or gambling literacy. She has also written or co-written a long list of published health promotion and harm reduction materials, including newspaper and magazine articles, self-help resources, training and peer mentoring programs, reports, blogs and website content.
Nicole recently began leading a project that involves connecting community groups with resources to help them bridge divides between people with diverse perspectives on drugs and drug use. The project emphasizes the magic of listening, and promotes respectful, non-judgmental, egalitarian dialogue between citizens, for the health and wellness of both individuals and communities at large.
Much of Nicole’s work draws on her work background, which includes 15 years of dialogue facilitation, curriculum development and teacher training in the ESL industry as well as a history of freelance writing for Canadian newspapers, magazines and education-related organizations. She often draws on her experiences as a playful parent of two school-aged children. And she is ever mindful of what she learned while overcoming a rare form of cancer and other personal challenges requiring hope, perseverance, a positive attitude and peer support.
Projects
Publications
- All about Benzos
- Ancient peoples and psychoactive plants (PDF 1.7mb)
- A parent's guide to cannabis and kids
- Dinner & dialogue: Engaging community in conversations about drinking culture (pdf 995 kb)
- Drug History Timeline
- Drugs and driving: Guide for community coalitions
- Getting to the Bottom of a Burning Issue: Tobacco’s top myths and facts
- Helping people who use substances: A health promotion perspective
- iMinds: Grade 4 module (French) (PDF 2mb)
- iMinds: Grade 4 module (PDF 4mb)
- iMinds: Grade 5 module (French) (PDF 1mb)
- iMinds: Grade 5 module (PDF 1mb)
- iMinds: Grade 6 module (French) (PDF 2mb)
- iMinds: Grade 6 module (PDF 4mb)
- iMinds: Grade 7 module (French) (PDF 4mb)
- iMinds: Grade 7 module (PDF 3mb)
- iMinds: Grade 8 module (French) (PDF 5mb)
- iMinds: Grade 8 module (PDF 5mb)
- Substance Use: Pathways to homelessness? Or a way of adapting to street life?
- The BC Campus: Where futures begin? Or a site for risky substance use?
- The Gift of Listening: A Guide to Mentoring Peers
- Understanding substance use: A health promotion perspective