Valérie Courtois is the executive director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative and a leading expert on the national movement of Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship building across Canada. She is a member of the Innu community of Mashteutiatsh, located on the shore of Peikuakamit in the heart of what is now known as Québec.

Dahti Tsetso is the deputy director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative. She is Tłı̨chǫ Dene and played a leading role in the launch and operation of the Dehcho K'éhodi Stewardship and Guardians Program and the establishment of the Edéhzhíe Dehcho Protected Area and National Wildlife Area.

Ethel Blondin Andrew is the first Indigenous woman elected to Parliament and the first to serve as a federal cabinet minister. She is the former chairperson of the Sahtu Secretariat.

David is from Matachewan First Nation, an Ojibway band that is signatory to Treaty 9 area in northeast Ontario or the height-of-land. He has over 30 years’ experience in Forestry and Land Management combined with roles in First Nation advocacy, policy and in leading business development.

Frank Brown is a Hereditary Chief of the Heiltsuk Nation. He was the director of Land and Marine Stewardship for the Coastal First Nations – Great Bear Initiative and is a BMO Indigenous Advisory Council member.

Norma Kassi served in Yukon’s Legislative Assembly. She co-founded the Arctic Institute of Community-Based Research, and joined the Canadian Mountain Network as co-Research Director.

Bob Overvold was born in Tulit’a, in the Sahtu, and raised and educated in the Northwest Territories. Overvold served as chief negotiator for the creation of Ts’udé Nilįné Tuyeta Indigenous and Territorial Protected Area, established in 2018.

Miles Richardson, O.C. was President of the Council of Haida Nation and Chief Commissioner to the BC Treaty Commission. He now directs the National Consortium for Indigenous Economic Development at the University of Victoria.

Bev Sellars is a former chief of the Xat’sull First Nation and was an advisor for the BC Treaty Commission. Sellars is the author of numerous publications, including the award-winning They Called Me Number One.