UNYA
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Hey Youth! (12-15 Years)
Looking for a Mentor? If you are 12-15 years of age, this is for you! Looking for guidance, support, or just someone who’s there for you? UNYA’s Mentorship Program (ages 12–15) connect Indigenous youth with supportive, non-judgmental mentors. You’ll spend 2–4 hours each week with your mentor for at least one year—doing activities you choose,…
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Assertiveness Training Clinical Counselling at UNYA
Provides Clinical Counselling to youth up to 19 years of age. Counselling is in office or in community. Clinician strives to provide culturally relevant and supportive wellness counselling within a relational and outreach approach. What Does This Program Offer? For more information or referrals Referral can be made through our website: https://www.cognitoforms.com/urbannativeyouthwellnesscentre/counsellingreferralform Or Directly through the…
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Leila Williams, President
Huddih, Sigh sew zeh’ Leila Williams, Wit’suwet’en tsa ked dees zitd from Witset B.C. (Hello, My name is Leila Williams, I am Wit’suwet’en descent from Witset B.C). Leila has been a part of the UNYA community since 2004, beginning her journey as a youth participant, later joining the team as a staff, and ultimately becoming…
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André Bessette, Vice President
André Bessette is a grateful visitor to the ancestral lands of the Tsawwassen, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations since his birth. His roots are mixed settler of French and Croatian as well as Métis from the Red River Settlement on the ancestral territories of Anishinaabe and Néhiyaw Nations where Treaty 1 and 2 lay. As…
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Laura Beaudry, Treasurer
Laura is Cree and Métis and a member of the Kapawe’no First Nation in Grouard, Alberta. She graduated from UBC with a BA in Anthropology (2019) and a Juris Doctor (2022). After graduation, Laura worked for the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and she is now completing her law articles in Vancouver.
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Mentorship
Become a Mentor. Change a Life. Looking to make a difference? UNYA offers two volunteer mentorship opportunities that connect Indigenous youth with supportive, consistent role models: the Mentorship Program (ages 12–15) and Kinnections Program (ages 16–18). As a mentor, you’ll spend 2–4 hours each week with a young person for at least one year—building trust,…
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Atheana Picha (Kwantlen)
“Portal” I read somewhere “The veil thins at the loom” and thought about how special my loom is to me when it is warped up. It feels like a place between worlds where I can connect with weavers from thousands of years before me as I twist fibres together and weave them into something reborn,…
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Steve Smith (Wuikinuxv/Kwakwaka’wakw)
“Shifter of Shapes” Sometimes a transformation can be so profoundly complete it becomes unrecognizable. Is the box the Raven or did the Raven turn into the box? Both are and always have been one. Back to Bentwood Box Auction 2025
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Phil Gray (Ts’msyen/Cree)
“awta: buyer beware” This is a visual representation of my current emotional availability. Back to Bentwood Box Auction 2025
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KC Hall (Heiltsuk) and Copper Canoe Woman (Nuu-chah-nulth/Heiltsuk)
“The Echo Box” This piece is my vision of a vessel; a place where the real songs of our people and the deep stories of the past are held. That formline figure isn’t just sitting there. It’s alive. Its mouth is open, releasing that ancestral energy, that echo. The abalone inlay – that’s the spirit,…