Boma Brown
Social Sciences alumna
Breaking down barriers to healthcare
Boma Brown is improving access to healthcare for women experiencing systemic barriers. She is the founder and executive director of the Support Network for Indigenous Women and Women of Colour (SNIWWOC). SNIWWOC connects women with holistic healthcare services.
When Boma organized workshops in the Quadra Village Community Centre, she realized that access to care was not just a student or a neighbourhood issue. Women of colour across Canada experience healthcare discrimination. Boma realized this needed to be addressed on a larger scale. From these workshops and realizations, the support network grew.
Still based in Quadra Village, SNIWWOC offers one-on-one support, services and programs. This includes therapy, peer support, career counselling, hygiene kits, dental care and monthly events. The organization has an app that helps women find culturally informed, anti-racist healthcare. You can find it on Google Play (an iOs version is in the works). SNIWWOC recently launched a podcast in June. It features conversations with culturally diverse healthcare professionals across Canada.
"It was just 10, 15, 20 people coming together to talk about reproductive justice and reproductive health and using the knowledge that we’d gained as students. And then think about how this applies to our community and then using art as well—using art and photography to explore reproductive justice."
—Boma Brown, UVic social sciences alum and founder of SNIWWOC
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