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.

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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.