Jaelyn holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Law and Indigenous Studies and is completing a Master’s thesis in Human Rights and Social Justice at Carleton University. Alongside her academic work, Jaelyn is a mother and works part-time with the Canadian Medical Association, bringing extensive experience as a contractor across research, policy, facilitation, and community advocacy spaces.

Her professional experience includes delivering Inuit- and Indigenous-specific education and anti-Indigenous racism workshops to organizations across Canada; undertaking research and policy work related to Indigenous health and human rights; and providing mediation and systems navigation support between child welfare agencies, Inuit organizations, and Inuit families in Ontario. Her work is grounded in an intersectional approach and an appreciation for multiple worldviews and epistemologies, positioning her to engage in thoughtful and effective knowledge translation across institutional and community contexts.

Jaelyn brings a relational and community-accountable approach to her work, shaped by lived experience in both her community in Nunatsiavut and southern urban settings, alongside her academic and professional commitments.

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As Director-General, Individual Affairs, Department of Indian & Northern Affairs, Ray led the implementation of the new secure Certificate of Indian Status card which was been approved as a Federal secure Identity document and a transborder ID document by the US Department of Homeland Security. Ray also led the successful negotiation for the creation/recognition of a new First Nation Band in Newfoundland; a multi-million-dollar Subsurface Gas Storage Agreement between an Ontario First Nation & an Oil Company; Sale of Water from an Ontario First Nation to the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba and a total transfer of $680 million to two First Nations in Alberta from the INAC Capital Trust Account.

Following retirement from the Federal Government, Ray has worked as a Senior Advisor, Aboriginal Relations, Nuclear Waste Management Organization engaging with Indigenous communities in Ontario and securing formal participation relationship agreements. Ray has facilitated the Lessons Learned national meeting of the All-Parties Table, Federal Government, Churches and Survivors of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement.

He also provided presentations to the Philippine National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Office of the President, Manila, Philippines and at the General Assembly of the Congress of American Indians. His most recent work has been with Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation as a Senior Policy Analyst to the CEO and Negotiation Advisor within the Chief’s Office.

Ray has an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from Laurentian University and Bachelor of Law Degree from Queens University.

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The Leq:amel First Nation elected him Treaty Representative for treaty negotiations, a role he held from 1998 to 2001.

From September 2010 – Feb 2012 he was Vice President, National Services, CESO. From March 2001-2007 he was BC Director, Strategic Planning and Communications, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. He was Manager, Cultural Relations and Corporate Training in BC Hydro’s Aboriginal Relations Department from April 1993 to December 1997. Prior to that, he was Executive Director of the BC Chapter of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.

From July 2002 to June 2010, the Attorney General for British Columbia appointed Patrick as a Bencher for the Law Society of BC, to represent the public interest in the administration of justice. From February 2001 to May 2002, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the BC Buildings Corporation. In June 1997, Patrick completed a five-year term on the Board of Governors of Vancouver Community College. In December 2016 Patrick completed a six-year term as Governor, Law Foundation of BC.

Patrick has been an active community volunteer holding executive positions with the Mission Chamber of Commerce, the Mission Heritage Association, the Mission Indian Friendship Centre, and the Coqualeetza Cultural Centre. As well, he attended dinner with Queen Elizabeth II in 1982 as a Young Achiever for Canada at the ceremony to repatriate Canada’s constitution. In March 2009, Patrick received a BC Community Achievement Award. Patrick is founding President of the BC Aboriginal Golf Association established in April 2009.

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David has 30 years’ experience facilitating complex government contracts and public relations/stakeholder relations with Indigenous communities across Canada. His current consulting activities include meeting facilitation, team development, cross-cultural understanding and creating bridges working with mainstream Canadians and Indigenous communities.

For 6 years, David served as a Director on the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) Board. The AHF was responsible for distributing funding to First Nations, Metis and Inuit Communities for residential school healing.

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Elder Kelly heads the Nimishomis-Nokomis Healing Group, a consortium of traditional healers that provides therapy to victims of the trauma and legacy of the residential school system. He is a survivor of Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ontario and Lebret, Saskatchewan. He was a member of the Assembly of First Nations team that negotiated the historic Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and continues to advise individual victims on their healing journeys.

Kizhebowse is fluent in the Anishinaabe and English languages and is a sought-after speaker on the history, cultures, and pre-contact Treaties among indigenous nations of Turtle Island as well as treaties with the Crown. He is recognized as an eloquent orator who has been the guest at numerous functions; colleges and universities; and television and radio shows in Canada and the United States. Fred has conducted cross-country tours to all major universities in Canada. He has also been invited to lecture at the University of Minnesota, UCLA, and Harvard where he was invited to be a Special Commenter on Tribal Constitutional and Governance Renewal by the Harvard University Native American Program.

Fred served as Chief of his own community and is Grand Chief Emeritus of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty #3; and was the Ontario Regional Director of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. He continues to function as a spiritual advisor to First Nation leadership in Canada including the Assembly of First Nations; Chiefs in Ontario; and Grand Council Treaty #3 where he is the principal advisor on the restoration of the traditional constitution, governance and jurisdiction.

In 1965, at the age of twenty-three, he led the first protest march of its kind in Canada that is now known as the birth of the indigenous civil rights movement in this country. He was one of the organizers of the National Indian Brotherhood and assisted in its transition to become the Assembly of First Nations. He organized the Chiefs of Ontario in 1975 then went on to play a key role in the negotiations that led to the recognition of Aboriginal and Treaty rights in the Canadian Constitution.

Fred is a consensus builder who among other activities enjoined Canada, Harvard University, and Motorola in a major overhaul of the education system at Onigaming. He has worked with various Child and Family Service Agencies in the development of laws in Child Care and the harmonization of those laws and policies with Ontario. He was instrumental in the establishment of Bimose Tribal Council, Kenora Chiefs Advisory, Anishinaabeg of Kabapikotawangag Resources Council (AKRC), and numerous other First Nations institutions in Economic Development and Education. He developed the strategic plan on Treaty Implementation for the Assembly of First Nations. He also authored the comprehensive strategic plan for the Chiefs in Ontario that incorporates the revitalization of nationhood and pre-contact treaties among indigenous nations in the territory now known as Ontario. He is also an Elder Advisor to the Great Lakes and Fish and Wildlife Commission in Wisconsin, and to the United Tribes in America and First Nations of the Great Lakes Basin on traditional law in respect of water and the environment.

Fred Kelly has been operating a successful consultancy in strategic planning and management, negotiations and policy development, corporate governance for over forty years. He is also a practitioner of traditional methods in conflict resolution including mediation and other customary intervention approaches.

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Diane’s work is situated at the intersection of health, education and traditional First Nations knowledge systems. At the University of Toronto, from 1986-1994, Diane founded First Nations House, and extensive services for Indigenous students to ensure their success.  She continues to consult with Indigenous education organizations on curriculum and policy.

Diane is founder of Soul of the Mother, a Healing and Teaching Lodge on the shores of the Grand River in her home community.  Since 1994 the Lodge has developed extensive relationships with First Nations in Canada, the United States and Indigenous Nations globally. The Council of Soul of the Mother welcomes many organizations, nationally and internationally who seek Indigenous wisdom traditions as inspiration for their strategic planning, healing retreats for the rejuvenation of their staff and spiritual guidance for growth of their organizations.

“The metamorphosis of systems is essential to meet societal responses to environmental shifts.  Traditional First Nations knowledge systems and wisdom traditions are the foundation for change and essential for human survival.  Indigenous Nations hold the key to the healing of Mother Earth and the spiritual evolution of the human family.”

From 2013 to 2025 Diane served as Elder for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada’s largest and leading institution for clinical services and research for mental well-being. Diane led the development of the Ceremony Grounds for CAMH to establish the Sweat Lodge, the Sacred Fire with 44 ceremonies and medicine gardens, including the policy development required to support traditional Indigenous healing as a standard of practice.

Her work involved organizational strategy for enhancing culturally grounded services to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples as Rights Holders and advancing the Guiding Directions Plan and the  CAMH Truth and Reconciliation Action Plan. Beyond CAMH, Diane has been instrumental in influencing the Indigenous anti-racism and health justice strategy of the Toronto Academic Health Science Network through the creation of the Indigenous Health Action Network.  This group of Indigenous health leaders provide strategic advice to the CEOs of the 17 member hospitals in the GTA.  The model will be replicated in Ontario.  As consultant to the Ontario Hospital Association, Diane supports their leadership and personnel as they co-create their relationships for their Indigenous health strategy with First Nations and the 140 member hospitals throughout Ontario working towards excellence in health outcomes for Indigenous patients, families and communities.

Today, Diane serves as CEO to the Institute for the Study of Spirit, a national Indigenous women-led charity serving First Nations community needs through ceremonies, and cultural teachings, training the next generation of Healers and gathering global networks of Indigenous Healers and spiritual leaders for mutual support and critical offerings of wisdom at this turning point in humanity’s relationships with Mother Earth.

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Maria Campbell’s first professional play, Flight, was the first all-Aboriginal theatre production in Canada. Flight brought modern dance, storytelling, and drama together with traditional Aboriginal practices. Professor Campbell went on to write and direct other plays, some of which toured Canada and abroad. In 1984, she co-founded a film and video production company with her brother and daughter. With this company, Campbell produced and directed seven documentaries and produced with CTV Canada’s first weekly Aboriginal television series entitled ‘My Partners, My People.’

Professor Campbell has received numerous awards, including the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Gabriel Dumont Order of Merit, the Chalmers Award for best new play, and a national Dora Mavore Award for playwriting. She has been inducted into the Saskatchewan Theatre Hall of Fame and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008.

Maria Campbell has recently retired from the University of Saskatchewan where she taught native studies, creative writing and drama. She is currently the Elder in Residence at the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research, Athabasca University. She holds four honorary doctorate degrees and has served as writer and playwright in residence at numerous universities, public libraries, and theatres. On October 2, 2012, Maria Campbell was named as the Trudeau Foundation Visiting Fellow for 2012–2013 by the University of Ottawa.

She has worked as a volunteer with women and children in crisis for over forty years and is co-founder of a halfway house for women in Edmonton as well as an emergency crisis centre for women and children Until recently, Maria Campbell’s home was a safe house for youth. She is a mom, grandma and great-grandma.

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Guy is a proud Half-Breed (Métis) from Flin Flon, Manitoba with roots dating back to 1812 in Red River (present day Winnipeg). He remains closely connected to the Métis community in the homeland and is dedicated to the revival, renaissance and resurgence of First Nations, Métis and Inuit cultures through the arts, media and business.

Guy was a senior provincial and federal public servant for almost 20 years. He was the Special Assistant to the Minister of Northern Affairs and Business Development in the Province of Manitoba and in Ottawa, Guy headed up the federal government’s Aboriginal Career Development Initiative and was instrumental in designing and implementing the Aboriginal Head Start program for Health Canada.

In 2006, Guy created the most effective, comprehensive and professional one-day Indigenous awareness training session and it remains the only course in the country delivered by a three-member, senior First Nations, Métis and Inuit team with traditional teachings.

Guy served as a Senior Advisor (Reconciliation) for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. In his role at the TRC Guy assisted in developing the conversation around reconciliation with Canadians.

Guy is a talented moderator and facilitator, keynote speaker and writer. He focuses on such topics as identity, self-esteem, culture, wellness, career and using one’s gift to the best of their ability. Guy is a member of the Standing Indigenous Advisory Committee of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. In October 2017 Saskatchewan’s Gabriel Dumont Institute published his first book of poetry, Little Athapapuskow, A Métis Love Story.

He carries and honours his Ojibwe Spirit Names Kwingogwaági Pizhew (Wolverine Star Lynx) and is a member the Lynx Clan.

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He is the former Interim Executive Director of the Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which examined and made recommendations regarding the Indian Residential School era and its legacy. Bob led the process, supported by an excellent team and many organizations from across Canada and internationally, to create the policies and processes in order to firmly establish the Commission.

Bob also served as the Chief of Staff to the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine, where he was a member of the team that negotiated the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the largest class action settlement in Canada’s history.

His public service includes Assistant Deputy Minister for the Government of Canada and Senior Executive in Ontario. Bob is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and Fellow at the Harvard Law School where he researched and lectured on the role culture plays in conflict. Bob has had the benefit of excellent Indigenous mentorship and western learning which allows him to work well in both worlds. Some of his Indigenous learning has focused on medicine plants, traditional songs, traditional environmental knowledge and leadership. Bob has led the negotiations of co-management agreements, helped build strong corporate partnerships and has lead processes focused on strategic plans and community development.

In 2019 Bob served as Chief of Staff to National Chief Perry Bellegarde and played a key role in historic budget allocations and the passage of Bills C-91 and 92. Currently, Bob is the Vice President of Indigenous Relations at the NWMO and an Adjunct Professor and Distinguished Fellow at Queen’s University, Kingston Ontario where he developed one the first graduate level courses on Reconciliation in the country.

Bob is a senior associate with the Consensus Building Institute, Cambridge MA. He is also the Chair of the Downie-Wenjack Fund and Chair of Reconciliation Canada. He has taught, debated and lectured at a number of universities in Canada and the United States.

He is from the Mohawk and Ojibway Nations and resides at Six Nations Reserve, Ontario. Bob carries and honours his Ojibwe Spirit Name, Kinoozishingwak (Tall Pine) and is a member of the Bear Clan.

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Well known for her work as an artist and advocate with her family’s dance group, Prairie Fire, Riley has dedicated over a decade to teaching and demonstrating her Indigenous culture. Her efforts extend to educating workplaces, schools, and governments on Indigenous issues. As a former varsity athlete, Riley has channeled her passion for staying active into jigging. She uses traditional dance to inspire her community to embrace a healthy and active lifestyle, rooted in cultural wellness values.

Currently, Riley is studying Health Humanities and Social Sciences at McMaster University, aiming to deepen her understanding of Indigenous health care and all its intersectionalities. Furthering her education with a Master’s in Anthropology at the University of Ottawa, her academics will focus on understanding how biology and social determinants influence food choices, nutrition, and exercise, particularly in relation to chronic illnesses among Indigenous populations.

Her academic and athletic achievements have earned her several noteworthy scholarships. Most notable is one from Indspire which celebrated her academic resilience, while another from Fisheries and Oceans Canada in 2019 allowed her to travel to northern communities and gain firsthand insight into the health injustices faced by the Indigenous peoples in those regions.

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