Maria Campbell is a Métis writer, playwright and teacher. She has received many awards, including the National Aboriginal Achievement Award and the Gabriel Dumont Order of Merit. She is currently the Elder in Residence at the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research, Athabasca University and holds six honorary doctorate degrees. She has worked as a volunteer with women and children in crisis for over forty years and is co-founder of a halfway house for women in Edmonton as well as an emergency crisis centre for women. She is fluent in Cree, Michif, Saulteaux and English.
Banakonda Kennedy-Kish (Bell) is Elder-in-Residence at Laurier University’s Lyle S. Hallman social work program. Her Indigenous name is Awnjibinayseekwe. She is Bear Clan Third Degree Midiiwin and a member of the Midiiwin, Traditional Medicine Society. She is a Traditional Practitioner, cultural adviser, teacher, curriculum developer, trainer, and co-author of the book Case Critical: Social Services and Social Justice in Canada (2017, Between the Lines Publishers).
Dr. Gwendolyn Point is currently the Knowledge Keeper for the BC Assembly of First Nations, a position she has held since 2015. She also served a term 2015- 2018 as The Chancellor for the University of the Fraser Valley. She has a Doctor of Education from Simon Fraser University, a Master’s in Education from the University of Portland, a Post Baccalaureate from SFU, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia. She also has an Honorary Doctorate in Education from the University of Victoria. She served as Chatelaine for Government House and was an Honorary Patron in her role for numerous organizations with her husband who served as Lt. Governor for British Columbia. She has received a number of community awards for her contributions to Stó:lō language and Cultural education.
