Nadia Prendergast

Dr. Nadia Prendergast is a registered nurse with a background in perinatal education and community health nursing. Born in England, she completed her nursing degree in England and moved to Canada where she completed her master’s and PhD in Education and Women’s Studies, focusing on health professionals and the experiences of international nurses of colour.

Amidst COVID-19 reports surrounding anti-Black racism and race-related deaths, she directed her focus to address the social injustices within nursing and the healthcare system. Dr. Prendergast has been actively involved in creating strategies to address anti-Black racism and systemic racism within the classroom and clinical settings. She currently sits as an advisor for several nursing organizations, and her area of research primarily focuses on the lived experiences of Black and racialized nurses working within Canada’s healthcare system. Dr. Prendergast’s passion for working across generations and centralizing her research on the flourishing of humanity, has led her to create the B.R.A.V.E. project (Building Relationships Across Villages through Enquiry, Engagement and Empowerment)_. Her research centres on building intergenerational relationships and fostering race-relations while dismantling anti-Black racism within society.

As a Triple Crown recipient of Toastmasters, Dr. Prendergast conducts workshops and presentations within academic and community settings and uses art illustrations to promote healthy dialogues across diverse communities and settings as a way of bridging gaps, promoting critical thinking and implementing relevant cultural forms of critical pedagogies. As her work aims to rupture all forms of racism, Dr. Prendergast’s vision is to create a positive present and future intergenerationally.