Jason Ryle is a producer, curator, story editor, and independent arts consultant based in Toronto. He is Anishinaabe from Lake St. Martin, Manitoba. From July 2010 to June 2020, Jason was the Executive Director of imagineNATIVE, an Indigenous-run organization mandated to support Indigenous filmmakers and media artists. In this capacity, Jason oversaw all operational and artistic activities of the annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, the world’s largest showcase of Indigenous screen content. He also oversaw the organization’s year-round initiatives, international partnerships, and special projects, including On-Screen Protocols & Pathways, an influential framework for film and television production. Under his leadership, imagineNATIVE became the global hub for Indigenous film and a highly respected part of the Canadian industry.

Jean Marshall

Vice Chair

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Jean Marshall is of Anishinaabe/English descent, based in Thunder Bay, Ontario and a band member of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation. An award-winning artist, Jean’s art practice is using Anishnaabeg traditional art forms and is inspired by the land and water. Marshall works with beads, fabric, porcupine quills and leather. She is also the founder of the Anemki Art Collective (2015-2020). Jean has curated several exhibitions including Their Breath in Beads at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery (2019), the Northwestern Ontario Spotlight for Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto (2020) and co-curator for the Piitwewetam exhibition 2021 at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.

Riley Kucheran is an Indigenous fashion researcher who supports a global community of Indigenous makers who are leading design resurgence. His experience in fashion retail, entrepreneurship, and Indigenous theory means he sees fashion as a powerful tool for decolonization: Land-based Indigenous design relies on community relations to collectively make clothing in respectful and reciprocal ways. He is a member of Biigtigong Nishnaabeg (Pic River First Nation) and an Assistant Professor of Design Leadership in Fashion at The Creative School.

An award-winning social entrepreneur, Jenn Harper is the founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty Cosmetics INC. Cheekbone Beauty is a digitally native direct to consumer brand that is helping Indigenous youth see themselves in a beauty brand while using the concept of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) in the brands ethos and in developing products. Creating a new segment in the beauty industry – Sustainable Socially Conscious Beauty.

Jennifer Harper has been making a name for herself in the beauty industry for a number of years but has been gaining popularity quickly after being on the hit CBC show, Dragons Den in 2019. Cheekbone Beauty’s mission is to help every Indigenous youth see and feel their enormous value in the world while creating sustainable cosmetics.

Cheekbone Beauty is a certified B. Corp Certified company committed to meeting and exceeding high standards of transparency, employee benefits and charitable giving not only to staff but to supply chain practices. During Cheekbone Beauty’s infancy, Jenn endured a heavy personal loss with the suicide of her brother B.J. This loss, though difficult, has remained a driving force behind the desire to see Cheekbone Beauty succeed with its mission, to empower Indigenous youth.

In addition to Cheekbone’s mission, she strives to educate as many people as possible about the Residential School System and the effects it has had on my family and friends through decades of generational trauma. She speaks regularly to university, college and high school students about social entrepreneurship, empathy and the history of her First Nations family. She has also been invited to speak to various entrepreneur groups, women in business associations, Apple Canada and First Nations organizations.

Ken Montour (Bear Clan) is a Mohawk from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and is currently the Director of Sponsorship & Corporate Partnerships for Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) & previously led the CCAB Membership Department for 5 years starting in 2016.

Ken completed an e-Business Diploma from Mohawk College and then went on to receive his BA in Communication Studies from Brock University.

Previously Ken worked at the Chiefs of Ontario for 4 years while in Post-Secondary School, and for 9 years, was honoured to have an exciting career at Indspire (formerly the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation), growing into a seasoned fundraising professional, working primarily with Corporate Relations. Through Indspire, Ken worked on a total of 22 career conferences for Indigenous high school students, 9 Indspire Awards that honours Indigenous Achievement across Canada and the first 4 National Gathering for Indigenous Education conferences.

While not stewarding relationships between the private sector and Indigenous charities, Ken can be found at 12,000 feet; as a Skydiving enthusiast and past videographer, filming students and other professional skydivers!

Lori Mishibinijima is Anishinaabe from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory in Ontario. She is currently the Manager of Indigenous Initiatives at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she provides support to Indigenous students, applicants and alumni. In addition, she develops programs and initiatives that support the Indigenization of the school and curriculum. Lori was Legal Counsel with the Human Rights Legal Support Centre for 10 years, where she provided legal representation to individuals respecting matters of discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code. She also acted as coordinator and helped develop the HRLSC’s Indigenous Service where she increased access to justice for Indigenous people. For the last seventeen years, she has been a member of the Community Council, a criminal diversion program at Aboriginal Legal Services. Lori has also served as the President of Native Men’s Residence Board of Directors from 2011 to 2018, and continues as a director. She also serves as the Secretary on the Indigenous Bar Association Board of Directors. In 2016, she was the recipient of the Minaake Award in Advocacy and Human Rights for her contributions to the Toronto Indigenous community.

Mandee McDonald (Maskîkow) is a hide tanner, workshop facilitator, and a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, where her work focuses on Indigenous governance and land-based learning.

She is a co-founder and the Hide Camp Director for Dene Nahjo, an Indigenous arts and innovation collective that fosters Indigenous leadership skills and values through community-based programming. She is also one of the founding Steering Committee members and a Facilitator for Supporting Well-Being, a training program designed to provide culturally relevant mental health response training for land-based programmers in Northern communities.

Mandee was born at Mántéwisipihk (Churchill, MB). She is a member of York Factory First Nation, and grew up in Sǫ̀mbak’è (Yellowknife) where she still lives.