Focus on a bigger picture

From a young age, it seemed like Lisa Bondt was destined to be a social worker. 

“My mom always said I was an empath,” she says. “I always wanted to work with people.” 

Growing up on her family’s farm in rural P.E.I., Bondt, MSW'25, was surrounded by fields, family and a strong sense of community. She was also a competitive synchronized swimmer, a sport that seems to be an inherited trait in her family since her mother and grandmother also swam. 

Her love of team dynamics and leadership would later prove essential in her career.

Bondt's drive towards a social-oriented career led to her undergraduate degree in sociology at the University of Prince Edward Island. She followed this up with a Bachelor of Social Work at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick. 

One of her professors in the program was University of Calgary Faculty of Social Work professor Dr. Aamir Jamal, PhD'13, who would later become one of her key mentors at UCalgary. 

“At graduation, he told my parents, ‘Lisa needs to come to Calgary and do her master’s,’” Bondt recalls. “It stuck with me.”

Heading west with a hockey bag and a sense of purpose

After graduating from St. Thomas, Bondt did indeed move west, taking just a hockey bag full of clothing and her sense of purpose. 

However, she didn’t feel ready to do an MSW yet. She worked instead in frontline roles in Calgary’s mental health and addictions fields and with unhoused individuals and families, which she says was an eye-opening experience for a new grad. 

“It was boots on the ground,” she says. 

“You see a lot of system breakdowns. I wanted to make changes, but the agencies weren’t always ready for that. It started to wear me down.”

Bondt moved onto what she describes as a pivotal role in early childhood education with Providence Child Development Society, where she became its first social worker and slowly built up a multidisciplinary team, implementing inclusive, trauma-informed practices in early childhood education programs. 

After approximately six years, she felt ready to take the next step on her education journey, and realized she was keenly interested in making a broader impact. 

She reached out to Jamal, and told him she was finally ready to start her Master of Social Work in international and community development (ICD). 

A move toward macro social work 

“It was a bit of a fork in the road,” Bondt says. “I could’ve continued down a clinical path, but my heart was pulling toward understanding systems and how funding works, how non-profits and philanthropy affect the people on the ground, and how those experiences can inform policy and government.” 

The ICD program’s macro focus was a perfect fit.

Another deciding factor for Bondt was her love of travel and experiencing new cultures, so, when it came time to choose a practicum experience, she knew she wanted something overseas. During one of her classes, she was introduced to UCalgary alum Dr. Rita Dhungel, MSW'08, PhD'17, now working with University of the Fraser Valley, who presented on her work in Nepal (where she is from) researching human-trafficking prevention and women living with HIV. 

Nepal calling

Dhungel agreed to take Bondt on and, in collaboration with Jamal and Social Work associate professor Dr. Lisa Lorenzetti, MSW'06, PhD'17, Bondt set about helping to organize a Transforming Masculinities research conference in Nepal, bringing together scholars, community leaders and young people from across the region. 

Transforming Masculinities is an international movement, led in Canada by Lorenzetti and Jamal, that has featured webinars and symposiums around the globe. 

“It was an incredible experience,” Bondt says. 

“We worked across time zones to plan the entire event, scheduling speakers, arranging cultural performances, coordinating logistics. Then we flew to Nepal to deliver it.” 

While in Nepal, Bondt also visited safe houses for girls affected by human trafficking and collaborated with a women’s HIV-support agency facing severe cuts after the withdrawal of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

During the trip, Bondt was able to stay with Dhungel’s family, giving her an intimate perspective on life in Nepal and a deeper appreciation for the value of having a local connection when travelling.

“We got the best momos, the best tea and access to conversations we would never have had without those local connections,” Bondt says. 

“That’s something I now tell other students: if you’re going abroad, build relationships in the country first.”

A future in research 

Today, Bondt is continuing to work on international research projects related to gender justice, HIV stigma and food insecurity. She’s also mentoring students and supporting new initiatives through contracts with Jamal, Dhungel and UPEI.

While she hasn’t ruled out a PhD, for now, Bondt is embracing the variety and impact of her research co-ordination work. 

“This path lets me explore so many different areas and do work that feels meaningful,” she says.

Reflecting on her journey, Bondt is deeply grateful for the ICD program. 

“It helped me see beyond the office walls," she says. 

"I wanted to make change at the structural level — not just for one person or one family, but for whole communities. This degree gave me the tools to do that.”