Presenters
Lolly Annahatak
 Lolly Annahatak Bentley received her Bachelor of Social Work degree from McGill University in 1997 and is a social worker in the community of Kuujjuaq QC, a mother of two and a proud grandmother. Her work focuses on individual and family counselling and she has training in Survivors of Traumatic Stress counselling as well as being an executive member of the First Nations and Inuit Suicide Prevention Association of Quebec. Lolly also teaches the Inuktitut language for students in the McGill Northern Social Worker Certificate Program. She is the secretary-treasurer and an executive member of the newly-formed Qayaq men’s support program in Nunavik. Lolly is a founder of Inarqsuijiit, a new community wellness committee in Kuujjuaq. She was raised by her grandmother and says: “I owe my sense of wellness and community helpfulness to her teachings and through my translating of other elders’ words of wisdom to outsiders and anthropologists during Justice Task Force research years ago”.

Louise Atkins
Louise Atkins has mainly worked at the community level, funding programs to help women and their children, including housing. She has been constantly inspired by the concrete accomplishments of women who gather their strength and move forward together. Since July 2006, Louise has been with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada in the housing portfolio.

Brenda Baptiste
Brenda Baptitste is a member of the Osoyoos Indian Band. She graduated as a Registered Nurse, specializing in Aboriginal health with a focus on community development. In recent years, Brenda's focus has been to actively promote tourism as a foundation for socio-economic development within Aboriginal communities. As the chair for Aboriginal Tourism BC, she has committed her energy to the development and promotion of the Aboriginal Cultural Tourism Blueprint Strategy for BC. Brenda also serves as a regional director for Aboriginal Tourism Canada. Brenda also works with the Osoyoos Indian Band in the marketing and development of the Nk'mip Desert Cultural Centre showcasing the Okanagan culture and history. Brenda is also the project manager for the Osoyoos Indian Band Centre for Aboriginal Community Enterprise, a new initiative in leading edge leadership training, inspired by the innovative economic development model of the Osoyoos Indian Band.

Margaret Buist
Margaret Buist is a lawyer with the Department of Justice specializing in aboriginal legal issues. She worked for four years on Bill C-31 legal issues and on Matrimonial Real Property on Reserve. Before coming to work in government, Margaret had her own private practice specializing in Charter equality rights.

Brenda Chambers
Brenda Chambers is a successful Aboriginal entrepreneur from the Champagne Aishihik First Nations of the Yukon. She is the executive producer and host of Venturing Forth, a weekly series on APTN that makes the important connection between economic success in Aboriginal communities and its social impact on its people. Brenda is the owner of Brenco Media Inc., the media production company that produces Venturing Forth. After graduating from Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Brenda returned to the Yukon and began work on Nedaa, a magazine-format television show for Northern Native Broadcasting. In 1991, she became the executive director of Northern Native Broadcasting Yukon. Over the years she contributed to the CBC Northern Network, Television Northern Canada and APTN. She received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 2005 for her contribution to Aboriginal media and communications as a producer, broadcaster, trainer, lobbyist and mentor.

Kathryn Fournier
 Kathryn Fournier is Senior Policy Manager with the Economic Policy Directorate of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Evelyn George
Evelyn George is a member of the Lake Babine Nation of BC and majored in First Nations Studies and is doing her thesis in the MA program at University of Northern BC. She has been involved in several publications with Status of Women Canada, along with several studies in governance, program evaluation and needs assessment on behalf of the First Nations of the interior BC. Before going to university, Evelyn was a political leader of the Old Fort Nation and worked with youth at Babine Elementary Secondary School. During her research for Status of Women Canada on a project called Seeking Alternatives to Bill C-31: An Investigation of Matrilineal Models of First Nations Citizenship and Community Membership Policies, she experienced the impact of Bill C-31 on the remote communities of northern BC.

Pierrette Hebert
Pierrette Hebert is a Senior Policy Analyst with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's Women's Issues and Gender Equality Directorate.

Rose Henry
Rose Henry is from the Coast Salish Nation and has been living in Victoria on the traditional territory of the Songhees people for the past 18 years. Rose is the Vice-President of TAPS (Together Against Poverty Society) and has been an active member on the boards of the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, The Victoria Street Community Association and the Capital Regional Race Relations Association. Rose is a social activist who has worked with homeless men and women who suffer from mental illness, drug addictions and depression and separation issues. Her knowledge of poverty comes from her lifelong experience of growing up with it - first as a child born to impoverished First Nations teenage parents who were survivors of the residential school system, then in a foster home where both her foster parents were also born into poverty to living her early adult life on the streets.

Cindy Jack
Cindy Jack is a negotiator with the Government of the Northwest Territories with seven years’ experience in self-government and land claims negotiations. She has a Master’s degree in Native and Canadian Studies and a certificate in Negotiations and Conflict Resolution from the Justice Institute of BC. She has been a Band Councillor for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and is familiar with governance issues at the community level.
Mary Lee
 Mary Lee is a Plains Cree speaker from Chitek Lake, SK. She has worked with the youth of Joe Duquette High School for 26 years and now serves as cultural advisor and Elder. Mary is accomplished in beadwork and creates tipis. She continues to tan hides and enthusiastically teaches anyone interested in learning these skills. Mary also shares traditional teachings with native and non-native community members. Mary has always been involved with government and non-government organizations that strive to benefit children and youth.

Tina Leveque
Tina Leveque is a citizen of the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Manitoba. Tina's career in politics began as an assistant to the Chief and Council. Four years later Tina was elected and served two terms as councillor. This grew into two terms as Chief of the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation. Tina has been a very active member and chair of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) First Nations Women's Council. Her leadership was also recognized at the national level when she was elected as Manitoba's representative to the AFN's Women's Council and served four years in that capacity, two as co-chair. Throughout her political career, she has been a champion of First Nation citizenship, good governance and the political inclusion and participation of First Nations women. Tina was nominated by the AMC for a Ka NI Kanichihk (Those Who Lead) award and was one of the honorees at the May 2006 Keeping the Fires Burning Conference. Tina has said that "leadership begins in the home and it carries into all areas of a person's life". Responsibility, strong family ties, hard work and a good work ethic are lessons her grandmother passed on to her. Tina in turn passes on these lessons to her six children and five grandchildren.

June Laitar
June Laitar is Ojibway, born in Kenora ON. She is the Secretary of the National Aboriginal Housing Association. In 1986, June was a founding member of Kekinow Native Housing in Surrey BC and has served on the Board as both President and Vice-President. She is also a founding member and President of Kla-How-Eya Aboriginal Centre which provides services to the Surrey/Delta Aboriginal Community. June has been a member of the Fraser Region Aboriginal Planning Committee for Children and Families, the Human Resources Canada Sto’lo Nation Advisory Committee, School District 36 Aboriginal Advisory Committee and the Kwantlen University Aboriginal Advisory Board.

Edith Loring-Kuhanga
Edith Loring-Kuhanga is Gitksan from Hazelton BC. She has a Bachelor of Education degree and continues to upgrade her education and qualifications. Edith has designed, developed and delivered programs in areas such as day care and Head Start, life skills, job readiness, pre-employment training and aboriginal language teacher training. Her in-depth experience in counseling, teaching and administration have given her the necessary skills to operate her own business, First Nations Training & Consulting Services, for the past 13 years. In 2002, Edith received the YM-YWCA’s Woman of Distinction Award in the Education, Training & Development category, recognizing her contribution to First Nations education.

Ko'waintco Michel
Ko'waintco (Shackelly) Michel is a Nla'kapamux (Thompson Tribe) woman born in Kamloops and raised on the Nooaitch community. She served 18 years in elected leadership positions and is presently the AFN Women's Council co-chair and the Women's Council representative for BC. She is married to Brian Michel and they have three grown children and one foster daughter.

Natalie McBride
Natalie McBride is a Maliseet woman from the Woodstock First Nation, NB. For the past 10 years she has been the Executive Director of Gignoo Transition House in Fredericton NB, the only aboriginal shelter in the province. Natalie’s interest is in the area of violence against women and she has been an active member of several provincial committees and an executive member of the New Brunswick Coalition of Transition Houses since 1997. She is a Board member of the National Aboriginal Circle Against Family Violence and was on the Steering Committee for the National Aboriginal Women in Leadership Training Conference. Prior to being involved with Gignoo House she worked for the provincial government for 10 years.

Verna McGregor
Verna McGregor is the National Coordinator for the National Aboriginal Circle Against Family Violence (NACAFV). She is an Algonquin Anishinabekwe from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg which is approximately 120 kms north of Ottawa. Verna has been the National Coordinator for NACAFV for a year and a half and prior to that was involved in various areas of Aboriginal economic development. NACAFV was established in 2002 with a mission to “reduce and, one day, eliminate family violence in aboriginal communities”. NACAFV is a non-profit national organization that designs and deliver culturally appropriate programs and services to address family violence.

Gail Murray
Gail Murray is the Manager of Aboriginal Banking for RBC and currently leads RBC’s efforts in planning, implementing and creating new programs to meet the needs of Aboriginal individuals and communities. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Simon Fraser and has much experience working directly with First Nations as a treaty negotiator and in administering employment and training programs for communities. She has served as a Director of the Community Futures Development Corporation of Central Vancouver Island and on its adjudication committee reviewing loan applications. Gail is also a partner in a
successful business she began with her family 20 years ago in Nanaimo BC.

Loretta J. Pete
Loretta J. Pete is Director of Education for Miyo Wahkohtowin in Hobbema AB. As a teacher, administrator, business owner and proven leader, Loretta concerns her teams with focus on the goal and continuous efforts to make goals a reality.

 Matt Robinson
Matt Robinson is a Senior Policy Analyst with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's Women's Issues and Gender Equality Directorate.

Judith Sayers
Judith Sayers is elected Chief of the Hupacasath First Nation in Port Alberni BC. Judith has been chief councillor in her community for over 11 years and chief negotiator for over 12 years. As the senior elected official of her First Nation, she has been focusing on capacity building, sustainable development and restoring and rehabilitating Hupacasath territory. Judith's educational background includes a business degree, a law degree from the University of British columbia and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Queen's University. Judith practiced law for 18 years in Alberta and BC, working in international forums, lobbying governments and other agencies for the promotion and protection of Aboriginal rights and title. Judith is the President of Upnit Power Corporation, a green energy project; Chair of Eagle Rock Materials Ltd., a construction aggregates company; and, a board member of the Tsu-m-uss Transformation Society, a tourism project in the development stages. She is also Co-chair of the Island Corridor Foundation, a joint venture between Regional Districts and First Nations that owns the rail line on Vancouver Island. She was recently elected to the political executive of the First Nations Summit, the Summit Task Group. Judith is the proud mother of two teenaged children.

Delia Scribleac
Delia Scribleac has performed a number of roles since joining Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO) in 2002. Currently, Delia is the Manager of National Programs, overseeing delivery of a wide range of programs including the Aboriginal Women for Tomorrow Program, CIBC Aboriginal Financial Management Program and CESO's partnership with RBC which includes the MBA Experience and Metis Programs. Delias holds an Honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from the Technical University "Gheorghe Asachi" in Romania. Immediately after graduating, Delia worked as a computer analyst for a large Romanian automotive company. Delia is also a Certified Travel Councillor and has travelled extensively across Europe, Egypt and South America and speaks English, French and Romanian fluently. She is passionate about the Aboriginal culture and is a great supporter of women's empowerment.

Michael Sirota
Michael Sirota is an internationally certified martial arts instructor. Over the past 22 years he has been involved in various capacities, including coaching at the elite level and conducting workshops throughout western Canada and the US. His vision is to apply the skills of martial arts to facilitate personal empowerment and global transformation. He operates one of the largest martial arts centres in BC–Sirota’s Alchymy in Richmond.

Tamara Starblanket
 Tamara Starblanket is Cree from Ahtahkakoop First Nation, SK. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in law. Her areas of interest in law school were aboriginal law and she focused on the impacts of genocide and how laws and policies have affected indigenous peoples. She is Director of Community Safety for the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. She is a proud parent of two sons.

DerRic Starlight
DerRic Starlight is from the Tsuu T’ina Nation west of Calgary, Alberta. DerRic has built a name himself by using comedy, puppets and wrestling. DerRic has traveled with his puppets across Canada, United States, New Zealand, Hawaii, Tahiti and Japan. His motivational workshops share his experience with Wrestling and the Muppets.

Karen Turcott
Karen Turcott is the Director of Indian Moneys, Estates and Treaty Annuities for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Jodie-Lynn Waddilove
Jodie-Lynn Waddilove is an Anishnabe (Ojibway) and Lenni Lenape (Delaware) lawyer from the Munsee-Delaware Nation in Southern Ontario. Jodie-Lynn received her BA in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Western Ontario in 1999, her MA in International Criminology and Law from the University of Sheffield, England in 2000 and her Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Ottawa in 2003. In 2000, Maclean’s Magazine named Jodie-Lynn as “One of Canada’s Top 100 Under 30-year olds to Watch in the New Millennium” and, in 2006, she was named a National Aboriginal Role Model by the National Aboriginal Health Organization. Recently, Jodie-Lynn served as Assistant Commission Counsel with the Ipperwash Inquiry in Toronto. Jodie-Lynn has now accepted a position working on Matrimonial Real Property issues for First Nations women on reserve. She is part of a team that includes representative for Indian & Northern Affairs Canada, the Assembly of First Nations and the Native Women’s Association of Canada.
FNTCS Contact Information
First Nations Training & Consulting Services
Mail Address: PO BOX 5000, SAANICHTON BC, V8M 2C5
Courier Address: 1164 Stelly's Cross Road, Brentwood Bay, BC V8M 1H8
Phone: (250) 652-7097
Fax: (250) 652-7039
Email: fntcs@telus.net

*Please note the mailing address change, as of October 2, 2006*

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