A friend of the McGill School of Continuing Studies’ Indigenous Relations Initiative, Indigenous artist, Owisokon Lahache from Kahnawake is Mohawk and her art is different from Inuit and other First Nations art. Owisokon meets First Nations work at the McCord Museum’s exhibition Indigenous Voices of Today and comments on her style of art compared to other styles by showcasing some of her pieces and her interest in corporate art design.

Owisokon’s friend Candia Flynn is Nipmuc and lives in Kahnawake. She is the founder of Healingstitches and will discuss storytelling clothing. Inspired by a person's vision, she designs clothing into wearable art to help people on their healing journey, while demonstrating resilience – a prominent theme of the Indigenous Voices of Today exhibit.

President of 5i Strategic Affairs, Mark Hollingworth is an expert in strategic leadership who has worked as a management consultant, workshop leader/facilitator, educator, and ontological coach for clients in the profit and not-for-profit sectors for over 25 years.

Mark lectures in Strategic Management and Leadership at McGill University. He is a workshop leader at the Executive Institute of the University’s Desautels Faculty of Management and a lecturer in the School of Continuing Studies.

Mark will be assisted by Anna Maggi, Visual Facilitator & Communication Designer, Anna Maggi Studio; Debora Barrientos, Corporate Talent and Leadership Development Specialist, and Shannon Stoll Rabas, Somatic Coach, Training and OD Consultant.

David Carrière-Acco, is a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. He holds an MBA (International Business Concentration), as well as graduate degrees in Marketing, eCommerce and Business Analysis. Since launching Acosys in 2006, David has established himself and Acosys as a premier Indigenous-led consulting firm specializing in facilitating constructive and respectful Indigenous engagement on behalf of governments, corporate clients, and non-governmental organizations. David has worked with Indigenous communities and organizations across Canada, garnering extensive experience in the design, implementation, and facilitation of successful Indigenous engagement initiatives.

In 2008, Julie and David created an Indigenous Internship Program which provides the opportunity for Indigenous people to work and be mentored on their client projects. This has earned Acosys numerous awards and newsworthy media articles. The program has been very successful to create opportunity to Indigenous people but also bring greater workplace diversity. Both Julie and David believe that critical part of Canada’s path to reconciliation with its Indigenous people is dependent inclusion in Canadian economy and workforce within a spirit of Nation-to-Nation relationship.

Today, David is passionate about the use technology combined with Indigenous Traditional Knowledge to develop environmental protection and climate adaptation solutions for all of Canada and continues his work to build Indigenous capacity especially in STEM professions. He also is a proud member of the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves as an officer in the Air Cadet program promoting development of Canada’s youth and interest in the aviation and aerospace.

Kevin Stanley has been teaching English to newcomers and international students for over 30 years. He joined the SCS team in Languages and Intercultural Communication as a faculty lecturer and program coordinator in 2012. Passionate about history and culture, in 2018 he developed an intermediate-level course in the English for Professional Communication program called CEEN 267 – English Study Topics: The Story of Canada, which helps students sharpen their English language skills by exploring stories from Canadian history from the perspective of newcomers.

Gopinath Jeyabalaratnam is Senior Manager, Government Relations and Communications at Medicom. In this role, he is responsible for the company's overall government and public affairs strategies. He is also a lecturer at McGill University. Before joining Medicom, Gopinath was a senior policy analyst and spokesperson at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, where he advocated for small and medium-sized businesses with government authorities. Prior to that, he was an advisor to the Quebec Minister of Finance and worked as an international project manager at the Union des municipalités du Québec. Gopinath is also involved in the community. He serves as an Ambassador for the Printemps du Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, and sits on the boards of the Fondation québécoise du cancer, ALPA and Groupe CDH. Gopinath holds a master's degree in International Public Administration from the École nationale d'administration publique and a bachelor's degree in International Relations and International Law from UQAM.

Gopinah Jeyabalaratnam will be joined by special guest Henri Ouellette-Vezina, reporter for La Presse.

Nakuset, the Executive Director of the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal, is Cree from Lac la Ronge, Saskatchewan. She has three beautiful boys, Kistin, Mahkisis and Mahihkan. She was adopted by a Jewish family in Montreal and draws on her adoptee experience in her advocacy work for Indigenous children in care. Nakuset created, produced and hosted the television series Indigenous Power, she was voted “Woman of the Year 2014” by the Montreal Council of Women, and she is the Indigenous columnist for MaTV’s CityLife. Nakuset was featured in Real Talk on Race, the award-winning CBC series. In 2017, she was selected by the CKX City Series as a speaker/shift disturber due to the work she does to shift the status quo for urban Aboriginal women. In November 2017, she was a speaker for TEDxMontrealWomen. In 2018, she testified for 3 days at the Viens Commission, a public inquiry into the discrimination of Indigenous people of Quebec. She testified in June 2018 at the MMIW Inquiry in Calgary. In February 2019, she presented at WE Day. She was recently featured in the “End of 2010’s interview for Global” to discuss the past decade work with the urban Indigenous community. She is honoured to have spearhead and run the Cabot Square project since its inception and to co-found Resilience Montreal. She is dedicated to improving the lives of urban Indigenous people.

Prof. Wanda Gabriel, is Assistant Professor at McGill University, School of Social Work. She has worked nationally on several projects such as the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, The Canadian Aboriginal Aids Network, National Parole Board of Canada, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In her University role, she is the Co-Director for the Qualifying Year for Master of Social Work degree and the Co-Director of Indigenous Access McGill. She is presently involved with a research team composed of partners from Concordia University, Quebec Native Women and Elizabeth Fry Association. The project is to identify the rehabilitation needs of Indigenous women in Quebec’s provincial prison and to assess the institutional policies that support and constrain Indigenous women’s capacity for rehabilitation.