New scholarship honours legacy of influential educator Joanne Goodpipe

A new scholarship, funded by a former student of Joanne Goodpipe, is ensuring the immeasurable influence she had on her students won’t be forgotten.

The First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) has announced the Joanne Goodpipe Legacy Scholarship, named after the former FNUniv Assistant Professor in Indigenous Business and Public Administration who died unexpectedly in 2021.

The scholarship is funded through a $20,000 donation from one of Goodpipe’s former students, Jada Yee. From Wood Mountain Lakota First Nation, Yee is the Principal of Advisory at Creative Fire, as well as active volunteer in the community, dedicating time to organizations like the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Regina Food Bank.

Yee credits much of his success, and his community involvement, to his former professor.

“She is the one who really brought out the best in me and made me believe in myself,” said Yee. “As a leader, she always looked for the best in everyone. She was a ray of sunshine when she walked into a room. That’s the kind of leader I want to be.”

The Joanne Goodpipe Legacy Scholarship will award $2,000 per year for the next ten years to help single parents who are enrolled in undergraduate or graduate studies at FNUniv.

Yee said that as Goodpipe was a single mother who balanced her professional and personal life, he wants to recognize others who a striving for academic excellence while raising kids.

“She showed everyone that when you’re a single parent, you can still achieve your dreams and be an inspiration to your children,” said Yee.

Yee sought approval from Goodpipe’s two childen, Jasmine and Jacob, to create a scholarship to honour their mother’s legacy. Goodpipe’s children will be involved in choosing recipients for the scholarship, which will be selected based on an applicant’s financial need and academic standing.

And as part of the scholarship, recipients will be invited to do something unique.

“I want whoever is chosen to write a letter of thank you to her children. So her children understand and see the impact that their mother continues to have after her passing,” said Yee.

Yee met Goodpipe as a high school dropout returning to study at FNUniv as a mature student. He returned to his studies carrying a lot of self doubt, he said, but Goodpipe not only assured him that he deserved to be there, but that he had something special to offer.

“She told me ‘I think you’re going to be a future leader’,” said Yee. “Even when I wasn’t in her classes, she would check up on me, and always encourage me.”

Yee said Goodpipe became more than just a teacher to him, but a mentor as well as a close friend to him and his family. Twice, Yee and Goodpipe travelled to Las Vegas to present their gaming research at a conference at Caesar’s Palace. As an educator, there were no set business hours for Goodpipe.

“She gave me her cell phone number and told me to text anytime I need. Once I texted her on a Friday night at 11:00, and she got back to me, asking how she can help. That’s the kind of person she was,” said Yee.

When Goodpipe passed in 2021, it was a shock to Yee and many others, as she didn’t want to burden anyone with her illness.

“She wanted to be the light in someone’s dark sky, she didn’t want to be the reason you’re having a dark sky,” said Yee.

After she passed, Yee said he made himself a promise to do something to honour her memory and keep her legacy alive. Five years later, the Joanne Goodpipe Legacy Scholarship is proof of promises kept.

“I hope these scholarship winners get a sense of who Joanne was, and I hope it inspires them to be the leader that she was,” said Yee.

“I don’t think I’d be the business leader, and definitely not the father or the community member, if it wasn’t for her.”

The Joanne Goodpipe Legacy Scholarship will begin in the fall semester of 2026.