A generous gift from the Isabel Bader Charitable Trust has created two endowed graduate scholarships at Dalhousie, helping Indigenous nursing students advance their education and become leaders in health care.
The two new scholarships will help Indigenous nursing students pursue graduate education while carrying forward a legacy built on the transformative power of learning.
The Isabel Overton Bader Graduate Scholarships in Indigenous Nursing, established through a $1,040,000 gift from the Isabel Bader Charitable Trust, will provide two scholarships annually to Indigenous graduate students in Dalhousie’s School of Nursing.
The endowment is expected to provide two gifts of approximately $21,250 in annual support each year to deserving students.
Inspired by education
Creating opportunities through education was central to Isabel’s life. Born in northern Ontario in 1926, Isabel grew up during the Depression in a family with limited financial means but a deep commitment to education and the arts. An excellent student, she became the first in her family to attend university, graduating from the University of Toronto in 1949 before moving to England, where she spent nearly 30 years teaching.
“Education became a very strong focus for her — getting youngsters on a good start in life,” says her niece Margaret Foster, a trustee who knew Isabel closely in her later years.
Education became a very strong focus for her — getting youngsters on a good start in life.
Throughout their lives, Isabel and her husband, Alfred, supported scholarships and programs designed to give young people opportunities they might not otherwise have had. In her later years, Isabel supported several Indigenous initiatives at post-secondary institutions.
“She and Alfred both wanted to help and to give to others the opportunities that they had,” Margaret says. “It’s just a blessing to be able to do this and help somebody else in their career.”
Advancing Indigenous health
The new scholarships reflect that legacy while supporting Dalhousie’s commitment to increasing Indigenous representation in health care. In September 2026, the School will welcome two Indigenous master’s students and one PhD student, building a pathway toward advanced practice, research and leadership.
Katherine Foster, Isabel’s great-niece and a nurse herself, says graduate support can help students continue their education and potentially bring their expertise back to their communities. It can also contribute to “a health-care environment that’s more representative of the communities that it’s serving,” she says, helping strengthen culturally appropriate and responsive care.
For Isabel, however, the greatest reward was always the students themselves. “She loved meeting the students and engaging with them; where they came from, what their interests were,” Margaret says. “She wasn’t so much interested in whether they knew about her. She wanted to know about them.”
“I am thrilled that the Isabel Bader Charitable Trust chose Mi’kmaw and Indigenous nursing graduate education and research to invest in,” says Dr. Margot Latimer, CIHR Chair, Indigenous Health Nursing.
Nursing practice, education and research have been missing the scholarly contributions of Indigenous nursing knowledge.
“Nursing practice, education and research have been missing the scholarly contributions of Indigenous nursing knowledge, and this exciting gift will engage Mi’kmaw and Indigenous nurses in Master's and PhD career tracks, which will directly translate to necessary Indigenous-led nursing policy, education and health system-level change.”
“The two inaugural recipients, Julie Francis (PhD in Nursing) and Keisha Googoo (Master of Science in Nursing) are exceptional Mi'kmaw nurses and exemplary role models already conducting research that benefits community wellness.”
Through these scholarships, Isabel’s interest in students and in what education can make possible for them will continue for generations.