Author: UNYA
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Full-time Youth Care Counsellor
Awake Overnight Tuesday – Saturday 12am-8am Highlights of this opportunity: Are you passionate about empowering Indigenous youth? Do you have a knack for building positive relationships? Are you strategic, creative, and dynamic in your approach to youth work? Does working within a fast-paced environment energize you? If you said yes, then this is the opportunity…
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Orange Shirt Day 2025 – Thank you!
Many Generations. One Message: Every Child Matters. UNYA extends our heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported our 2025 Edition Orange Shirt Day T-shirt campaign. We are deeply grateful to all who purchased a shirt, the community members who generously shared their time in our intergenerational photo shoot, and the dedicated staff who worked tirelessly at community events…
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Laura Beaudry
Board Member 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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Maureen Buchan
Board Member An Anishinaabe from Bearskin Lake First Nation in Northern Ontario, Maureen has over 15 years of experience working for First Nations Political Organizations. She has a Master of Arts in Indigenous Governance from the University of Victoria as well as an Advanced Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government from the University…
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Leila Williams
Vice President Huddih, Sigh sew zeh’ Leila Williams, Wit’suwet’en tsa ked dees zitd from Moricetown B.C. (Hello, My name is Leila Williams, I am Wit’suwet’en descent from Moricetown B.C). Leila has been a part of the UNYA community since 2004 in various roles; and experience of frontline support work within the Urban Indigenous community in…
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André Bessette
Treasurer 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.…
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Matthew Norris
President Matthew Norris is Nehithaw, Woodlands Cree, and is a member of the Lac La Ronge First Nation, Treaty 6, in Saskatchewan. He has a long history of political advocacy and community activism around issues related to climate and social justice initiatives with a specific focus on the recognition and implementation of the rights of…
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Daniel Cook
Board Member Daniel Cook is from the Huu-ay-aht First Nation of the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples on his father’s side, and the Ganada Clan of the Nisga’a on his mother’s side. His work in community organzations includes UNYA’s Native Youth Drop-In Centre, and the Circle of Eagles Lodge Society.
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Orange Shirt Day – 2025
Many Generations. One Message: Every Child Matters. This year, our Orange Shirt Day campaign honours the intergenerational strength of Indigenous families. The scars of residential schools ripple across time—but so does the healing, the language, the laughter, and the love we pass from one generation to the next. At the Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA), we work…
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Director of Youth Engagement
Highlights of this opportunity:As a member of the Senior Leadership team at UNYA the Director of Youth Engagement is responsible for the overall planning and delivery of a portfolio of programs, services, and support that UNYA offers to Indigenous youth. The position provides effective leadership, and strategic direction, and support to a team of staff that are…