Chantelle Bellrichard, an associate producer at CBC Vancouver and a web developer at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism, is the winner of the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s inaugural Aboriginal journalism fellowship.

Chantelle Bellrichard, an associate producer at CBC Vancouver and a web developer at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism, is the winner of the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s inaugural Aboriginal journalism fellowship.

The fellowship allows an early-career Aboriginal journalist early to report on an issue of interest to Aboriginals while being hosted by CBC News for one month at its new Aboriginal centre in Winnipeg and may result in publication at CBC.

Bellrichard will explore the newly implemented First Nations health governance model in British Columbia with a $3,000 stipend awarded through the fellowship.

"The governance model is meant to address the disparity between health-care services for First Nations and those received by the general public," Bellrichard said in a press release. "When it comes to Aboriginal health, I would like to look beyond the grim statistics and focus on what's being done to improve health outcomes. I want to understand the promise of this new model and look critically at how it might precipitate change." 

Bellrichard will receive the award at the CJF awards on June 4 in Toronto.

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