Item - 2019.CA8.6

Appointees' and their organization's biographies:

Kaitlyn Adam Lewis

Kaitlyn is Anishinaabe from Couchiching First Nation (Treaty 3.) She currently works for the Native Canadian Centre as a Language Resource Developer and as the Youth Council Coordinator for the Toronto Indigenous Health Advisory Circle.

The Toronto Indigenous Youth (TIYC) Collective was formed in 2015 to solve health inadequacies for urban Indigenous youth. Our projects are centered on making traditional knowledge and health resources accessible to Indigenous people living in Toronto. TIYC consists of eight young leaders from diverse Indigenous backgrounds who bring unique individual strengths and interests to this work.

Andrea Chrisjohn

Andrea is the Board Designate (de facto Executive Director) and a strong leader in the Indigenous community in Toronto. She has been actively engaged in previous terms of the Aboriginal Affairs Committee.

Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre is an autonomous, vibrant cultural agency that involves and serves the Indigenous community with confidence for and commitment to their well-being. Their mandate is to provide counselling, material assistance and other direct services to First Nations people as well as to encourage and enhance spiritual and personal growth.

Larry Frost

Larry Frost is the Executive Director of the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. As a long-time Indigenous leader in Toronto, he has been actively engaged in previous terms of the Aboriginal Affairs Committee.

The Native Canadian Centre of Toronto is a membership-based, charitable organization whose mission is to empower the Indigenous community in Toronto by providing programs that support their spiritual, emotional, physical and mental well-being. 

Shadrak Gobért

Shadrak (Shak) Gobért has been involved with the Indigenous community for many years here in Toronto, including with the Toronto Indigenous Business Association (TIBA). He currently works for the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres

The Toronto Indigenous Business Association (TIBA) is a grassroots organization, which is working to unite Indigenous entrepreneurs in the GTA to network, build our businesses together, and move towards realizing our community's vision of an Indigenous neighbourhood district in the city. TIBA's mission is to develop and unite GTA indigenous businesses and cultural community initiatives for a sustainable future.

Pamela Hart

Pamela is a member of Chippewas of Georgina Island on Lake Simcoe. She has years of work in the community offering support and advocacy to those facing intergenerational traumas, mental health, addictions, homelessness, violence and more. Currently as the Executive Director of Native Women's Resource Centre of Toronto she continues to try and empower the community through restoration of identity, safe spaces and cultural reconnection.

The Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto (NWRCT) provides a safe and welcoming environment for all Aboriginal women and their children in the Greater Toronto Area. Their programs fall under six broad categories: Housing, Families, Advocacy, Employment, Education, and Youth. The NWRCT provides individual support, group programming, and cultural initiatives.

Regina Hartwick

Regina Hartwick is an Anishinaabeg scholar and educator from Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and a specialist in Indigenous Education. As Manager of Humber College's Aboriginal Resource Centre is champion for student equity and inclusion, playing strategic and direct roles to create an inclusive, welcoming place of learning, where students feel a sense of safety, community and belonging.

The Aboriginal Resource Centre at Humber College works in partnership with regional Aboriginal communities to ensure Aboriginal students are supported and connected to their learning environment- academically, culturally and socially. It provides support assist Aboriginal students in making the transition and adjustment to the challenges of college life while creating an awareness and appreciation of Aboriginal culture and history in the greater campus community. 

Marilyn Hew

Marilyn Hew is a Métis woman living in Toronto with roots in Penetanguishene. She is a citizen of the Metis Nation of Ontario and Secretary/Treasurer for the Toronto and York Region Métis Council. She is a retired teacher with the TDSB where she worked beginning in 1975. She continues to support education by occasionally teaching at Middle School and sits on the TDSB's Urban Indigenous Community Advisory Committee representing TYRMC for the MNO.

The Toronto and York Region Métis Council (TYRMC) is the elected Métis government within the City of Toronto and the only organization in Toronto specifically representing Métis people.

Tracey King

Tracey is the Aboriginal Human Resources Lead/Consultant at Ryerson University. Tracey supports Aboriginal recruitment and retention at Ryerson in Human Resources, working with the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives, Ryerson Aboriginal Student Services (RASS) and the Aboriginal Education Council. She is also part of the leadership team in the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion. 

Ryerson University is committed to community engagement, action, inclusion, respect for Aboriginal perspectives, equity, diversity and putting people first. The Office of the Vice President, Equity and Community Inclusion collaborates across campus to make Ryerson a truly inclusive place to learn and work.

Millie Knapp

Millie Knapp has 25-plus years of work experience in media as a publisher, feature writer, photographer, managing editor, and advertising sales specialist. The cultivation of an international business and community network enriches her work as a panel and advisory board member for Arts and Entertainment programs and social community groups. She has been Executive Director of the Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts (ANDPVA) since 2012.

The ANDPVA is Canada’s oldest Indigenous arts service organization, providing support to Canadian Indigenous artists in Ontario and around the world. ANDPVA's mission is to create, support and develop a self-sufficient community of Indigenous artists who preserve traditional knowledge, advance respective cultural identities and reflect evolving cultural expression. 

Ruth Koleszar-Green

Ruth is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at York University. She is also the co-chair of the Indigenous Council at York and the Special Advisor to the President on Indigenous Initiatives. She is an urban Indigenous person and a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She is from the Mohawk Nation and a member of the Turtle Clan.

York University is a public research university in Toronto. Its Indigenous Council (IC) is well positioned to provide guidance to the University in implementing Indigenous programming and curricula and play a pivotal role in helping to advance the University's reconciliation and Indigeneity agenda.

Nancy Martin

Nancy was born and raised in Toronto. Her Mohawk roots originate from Six Nations of the Grand River. She has been the Executive Director of Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment & Training for the past 25 years.

Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment and Training was created in 1991 to meet the unique training and employment needs of Aboriginal peoples. Miziwe Biik provides the Greater Toronto Area’s Aboriginal community with training initiatives and employment services. Their mission is to provide services to the Aboriginal peoples in the Greater Toronto Area; to work with employers to secure employment opportunities; to deliver federal and provincial programs; and to promote Aboriginal entrepreneurship and the development of economies. 

Blanche Meawassige

As Executive Director of Anduhyaun, Blanche provides leadership and support in delivering their mission.

Anduhyaun Inc. serves Indigenous women and their children fleeing violence. This includes supporting Indigenous women and children in their efforts to maintain their cultural identity, self-esteem, economic, physical and spiritual well-being. 

Angus D. Palmer

General Manager of Wigwamen Incorporated since 1998, Angus has overall responsibility for the management of Wigwamen’s 665 unit portfolio. Prior to joining Wigwamen, he worked as a Development Consultant, assisting in the development of 24 different non-profit and co-operative housing projects totaling over 800 units throughout Ontario, and assisting in the management of non-profit housing projects.

Wigwamen is one of Ontario's oldest and largest urban Indigenous non-profit housing providers. Wigwamen supports clients from all segments of the housing continuum, including the homeless, through our transitional housing and the poor/working poor through social and affordable housing.

Frances Sanderson

Raised in East York, currently residing in Scarborough. Frances is the Executive Director, Nishnawbe Homes Inc. She is the previous Co-Chair of the Aboriginal Affairs Committee. Other responsibilities include: Chair, Aboriginal Education Council, George Brown College; Member, Toronto Aboriginal Support Service Council (TASSC); Member, Indigenous Housing and Homelessness Community Advisory Board (CAB); Chair, Aboriginal Consultative Committee, Toronto Police Service.

Nishnawbe Homes provides affordable and safe housing to Indigenous people in Toronto.

Tanya Senk

Tanya Senk is a Metis/Cree/Saulteaux educator/writer/speaker/community leader. She has worked in the field of education and community for over twenty five years. Tanya is currently the Centrally Assigned Principal in Indigenous Education - Urban Indigenous Education Centre and the Principal of Wandering Spirit School, Toronto District School Board.

At the TDSB, the Urban Indigenous Education Centre offers a variety of services with the goal of closing the opportunity gap for Indigenous students. This mandate is approached by infusing Indigenous perspectives across the curriculum for all students as well as by providing direct wrap-around supports to enhance the overall achievement of First Nation, Métis and Inuit students throughout the TDSB. 

Jeffrey Schiffer

Jeffrey Schiffer was born and raised in Coast Salish territory and has Métis and German ancestry. Over the past 15 years Dr. Schiffer has held positions at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society, the Justice Institute of British Columbia, and the City of Toronto.  He is currently the Executive Director at Native Child and Family Services of Toronto.

Native Child and Family Services of Toronto (NCFST) serves Native families and children in the Toronto area, including First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all those with Aboriginal heritage who choose to be served by NCFST. NCFST strives to provide a life of quality, well-being, caring and healing for children and families in the Toronto Native Community. They do this by creating a service model that is culture based and respects the values of Native people, the extended family and the right to self-determination.

Steve Teekens

Steve Teekens has been working with the marginalized and homeless sector in Toronto since 1995. Steve is the Executive Director at Na-Me-Res where he has worked since 2008.  He has a degree in Public Administration and Governance from Ryerson University and is working on his Master’s Degree in Public Administration at Queen’s University.

In 1985, Native Men's Residence (Na-Me-Res) began offering emergency shelter to Toronto-based Aboriginal men who were without a place to live and has expanded its services to include a nationally-recognized transitional housing program as well as a long-term independent housing initiative. The Na-Me-Res team meets the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional needs of their clients wherever they are on their journey.

Bryan Winters

Bryan Winters is a Nunatsiavut beneficiary from Happy Valley - Goose Bay, Labrador. He is now the Executive Director of the Toronto Inuit Association and is currently studying Indigenous Public Administration and Governance through First Nations Technical Institute in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and Ryerson University.

The Toronto Inuit Association was established in September 2016 to solidify the voice of Inuit in Toronto. TIA's mission is to create a community in Toronto for Inuit from all regions, where they can provide support in language learning, culture awareness, family services, employment and health services to Inuit and their families.

The Civic Appointments Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council appoint the following candidates from 18 Indigenous organizations to the Aboriginal Affairs Advisory Committee, at pleasure of Council, for a term of office ending on November 14, 2022:

Kaitlyn Adam Lewis

Andrea Chrisjohn

Larry Frost

Shadrak Gobért

Pamela Hart

Regina Hartwick

Marilyn Hew

Tracey King

Millie Knapp

Ruth Koleszar-Green

Nancy Martin

Blanche Meawassige

Angus D. Palmer

Frances Sanderson

Tanya Senk

Jeffrey Schiffer

Steve Teekens

Bryan Winters

Candidates' and their organization's biographies:

Kaitlyn Adam Lewis

Kaitlyn is Anishinaabe from Couchiching First Nation (Treaty 3.) She currently works for the Native Canadian Centre as a Language Resource Developer and as the Youth Council Coordinator for the Toronto Indigenous Health Advisory Circle.

The Toronto Indigenous Youth (TIYC) Collective was formed in 2015 to solve health inadequacies for urban Indigenous youth. Our projects are centered on making traditional knowledge and health resources accessible to Indigenous people living in Toronto. TIYC consists of eight young leaders from diverse Indigenous backgrounds who bring unique individual strengths and interests to this work.

Andrea Chrisjohn

Andrea is the Board Designate (de facto Executive Director) and a strong leader in the Indigenous community in Toronto. She has been actively engaged in previous terms of the Aboriginal Affairs Committee.

Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre is an autonomous, vibrant cultural agency that involves and serves the Indigenous community with confidence for and commitment to their well-being. Their mandate is to provide counselling, material assistance and other direct services to First Nations people as well as to encourage and enhance spiritual and personal growth.

Larry Frost

Larry Frost is the Executive Director of the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. As a long-time Indigenous leader in Toronto, he has been actively engaged in previous terms of the Aboriginal Affairs Committee.

The Native Canadian Centre of Toronto is a membership-based, charitable organization whose mission is to empower the Indigenous community in Toronto by providing programs that support their spiritual, emotional, physical and mental well-being. 

Shadrak Gobért

Shadrak (Shak) Gobért has been involved with the Indigenous community for many years here in Toronto, including with the Toronto Indigenous Business Association (TIBA). He currently works for the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres

The Toronto Indigenous Business Association (TIBA) is a grassroots organization, which is working to unite Indigenous entrepreneurs in the GTA to network, build our businesses together, and move towards realizing our community's vision of an Indigenous neighbourhood district in the city. TIBA's mission is to develop and unite GTA indigenous businesses and cultural community initiatives for a sustainable future.

Pamela Hart

Pamela is a member of Chippewas of Georgina Island on Lake Simcoe. She has years of work in the community offering support and advocacy to those facing intergenerational traumas, mental health, addictions, homelessness, violence and more. Currently as the Executive Director of Native Women's Resource Centre of Toronto she continues to try and empower the community through restoration of identity, safe spaces and cultural reconnection.

The Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto (NWRCT) provides a safe and welcoming environment for all Aboriginal women and their children in the Greater Toronto Area. Their programs fall under six broad categories: Housing, Families, Advocacy, Employment, Education, and Youth. The NWRCT provides individual support, group programming, and cultural initiatives.

Regina Hartwick

Regina Hartwick is an Anishinaabeg scholar and educator from Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and a specialist in Indigenous Education. As Manager of Humber College's Aboriginal Resource Centre is champion for student equity and inclusion, playing strategic and direct roles to create an inclusive, welcoming place of learning, where students feel a sense of safety, community and belonging.

The Aboriginal Resource Centre at Humber College works in partnership with regional Aboriginal communities to ensure Aboriginal students are supported and connected to their learning environment- academically, culturally and socially. It provides support assist Aboriginal students in making the transition and adjustment to the challenges of college life while creating an awareness and appreciation of Aboriginal culture and history in the greater campus community. 

Marilyn Hew

Marilyn Hew is a Métis woman living in Toronto with roots in Penetanguishene. She is a citizen of the Metis Nation of Ontario and Secretary/Treasurer for the Toronto and York Region Métis Council. She is a retired teacher with the TDSB where she worked beginning in 1975. She continues to support education by occasionally teaching at Middle School and sits on the TDSB's Urban Indigenous Community Advisory Committee representing TYRMC for the MNO.

The Toronto and York Region Métis Council (TYRMC) is the elected Métis government within the City of Toronto and the only organization in Toronto specifically representing Métis people.

Tracey King

Tracey is the Aboriginal Human Resources Lead/Consultant at Ryerson University. Tracey supports Aboriginal recruitment and retention at Ryerson in Human Resources, working with the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives, Ryerson Aboriginal Student Services (RASS) and the Aboriginal Education Council. She is also part of the leadership team in the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion. 

Ryerson University is committed to community engagement, action, inclusion, respect for Aboriginal perspectives, equity, diversity and putting people first. The Office of the Vice President, Equity and Community Inclusion collaborates across campus to make Ryerson a truly inclusive place to learn and work.

Millie Knapp

Millie Knapp has 25-plus years of work experience in media as a publisher, feature writer, photographer, managing editor, and advertising sales specialist. The cultivation of an international business and community network enriches her work as a panel and advisory board member for Arts and Entertainment programs and social community groups. She has been Executive Director of the Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts (ANDPVA) since 2012.

The ANDPVA is Canada’s oldest Indigenous arts service organization, providing support to Canadian Indigenous artists in Ontario and around the world. ANDPVA's mission is to create, support and develop a self-sufficient community of Indigenous artists who preserve traditional knowledge, advance respective cultural identities and reflect evolving cultural expression. 

Ruth Koleszar-Green

Ruth is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at York University. She is also the co-chair of the Indigenous Council at York and the Special Advisor to the President on Indigenous Initiatives. She is an urban Indigenous person and a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She is from the Mohawk Nation and a member of the Turtle Clan.

York University is a public research university in Toronto. Its Indigenous Council (IC) is well positioned to provide guidance to the University in implementing Indigenous programming and curricula and play a pivotal role in helping to advance the University's reconciliation and Indigeneity agenda.

Nancy Martin

Nancy was born and raised in Toronto. Her Mohawk roots originate from Six Nations of the Grand River. She has been the Executive Director of Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment & Training for the past 25 years.

Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment and Training was created in 1991 to meet the unique training and employment needs of Aboriginal peoples. Miziwe Biik provides the Greater Toronto Area’s Aboriginal community with training initiatives and employment services. Their mission is to provide services to the Aboriginal peoples in the Greater Toronto Area; to work with employers to secure employment opportunities; to deliver federal and provincial programs; and to promote Aboriginal entrepreneurship and the development of economies. 

Blanche Meawassige

As Executive Director of Anduhyaun, Blanche provides leadership and support in delivering their mission.

Anduhyaun Inc. serves Indigenous women and their children fleeing violence. This includes supporting Indigenous women and children in their efforts to maintain their cultural identity, self-esteem, economic, physical and spiritual well-being. 

Angus D. Palmer

General Manager of Wigwamen Incorporated since 1998, Angus has overall responsibility for the management of Wigwamen’s 665 unit portfolio. Prior to joining Wigwamen, he worked as a Development Consultant, assisting in the development of 24 different non-profit and co-operative housing projects totaling over 800 units throughout Ontario, and assisting in the management of non-profit housing projects.

Wigwamen is one of Ontario's oldest and largest urban Indigenous non-profit housing providers. Wigwamen supports clients from all segments of the housing continuum, including the homeless, through our transitional housing and the poor/working poor through social and affordable housing.

Frances Sanderson

Raised in East York, currently residing in Scarborough. Frances is the Executive Director, Nishnawbe Homes Inc. She is the previous Co-Chair of the Aboriginal Affairs Committee. Other responsibilities include: Chair, Aboriginal Education Council, George Brown College; Member, Toronto Aboriginal Support Service Council (TASSC); Member, Indigenous Housing and Homelessness Community Advisory Board (CAB); Chair, Aboriginal Consultative Committee, Toronto Police Service.

Nishnawbe Homes provides affordable and safe housing to Indigenous people in Toronto.

Tanya Senk

Tanya Senk is a Metis/Cree/Saulteaux educator/writer/speaker/community leader. She has worked in the field of education and community for over twenty five years. Tanya is currently the Centrally Assigned Principal in Indigenous Education - Urban Indigenous Education Centre and the Principal of Wandering Spirit School, Toronto District School Board.

At the TDSB, the Urban Indigenous Education Centre offers a variety of services with the goal of closing the opportunity gap for Indigenous students. This mandate is approached by infusing Indigenous perspectives across the curriculum for all students as well as by providing direct wrap-around supports to enhance the overall achievement of First Nation, Métis and Inuit students throughout the TDSB. 

Jeffrey Schiffer

Jeffrey Schiffer was born and raised in Coast Salish territory and has Métis and German ancestry. Over the past 15 years Dr. Schiffer has held positions at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society, the Justice Institute of British Columbia, and the City of Toronto.  He is currently the Executive Director at Native Child and Family Services of Toronto.

Native Child and Family Services of Toronto (NCFST) serves Native families and children in the Toronto area, including First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all those with Aboriginal heritage who choose to be served by NCFST. NCFST strives to provide a life of quality, well-being, caring and healing for children and families in the Toronto Native Community. They do this by creating a service model that is culture based and respects the values of Native people, the extended family and the right to self-determination.

Steve Teekens

Steve Teekens has been working with the marginalized and homeless sector in Toronto since 1995. Steve is the Executive Director at Na-Me-Res where he has worked since 2008.  He has a degree in Public Administration and Governance from Ryerson University and is working on his Master’s Degree in Public Administration at Queen’s University.

In 1985, Native Men's Residence (Na-Me-Res) began offering emergency shelter to Toronto-based Aboriginal men who were without a place to live and has expanded its services to include a nationally-recognized transitional housing program as well as a long-term independent housing initiative. The Na-Me-Res team meets the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional needs of their clients wherever they are on their journey.

Bryan Winters

Bryan Winters is a Nunatsiavut beneficiary from Happy Valley - Goose Bay, Labrador. He is now the Executive Director of the Toronto Inuit Association and is currently studying Indigenous Public Administration and Governance through First Nations Technical Institute in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and Ryerson University.

The Toronto Inuit Association was established in September 2016 to solidify the voice of Inuit in Toronto. TIA's mission is to create a community in Toronto for Inuit from all regions, where they can provide support in language learning, culture awareness, family services, employment and health services to Inuit and their families.

The report recommends the appointment of public members to the Aboriginal Affairs Advisory Committee.