Presenter Biographies Chief Robert Louie, Westbank First Nation Chief Louie is an Okanagan business owner/operator with several successful enterprises over the past 20 years. Louie was Chief for the Westbank First Nation Council from 1986 through 1996 returning to office in 2002 and has remained Chief since. After passing the bar in 1984, Louie entered the private practice of law until becoming involved in aboriginal governance. He was subsequently appointed as the Chairman of the First Nations Lands Advisory Board and was elected as a Task Group member of the First Nations Summit where he served two terms (1986-1990). His experience led to an invitation to become involved in B.C. treaty negotiations representing the Chiefs of British Columbia. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Okanagan Nation Alliance, Chair In October 2008, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip concluded his fourth consecutive term as Chief of the Penticton Indian Band (PIB) after having served the Band as Chief for a total of 14 years. In addition, he served as an elected Band Councilor for a 10 year period and continues to serve as the Chair of the Okanagan Nation Alliance. In October 2006, the Okanagan Nation, led by the Elders of the Penticton Indian Band, acknowledged his lifetime commitment to the defense of Indigenous Peoples' Title and Rights by bestowing on him and his family the rare honour of the title of Grand Chief. Over 37 years, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip has worked within the Penticton Indian Band Administration holding a variety of positions such as, Band Administrator, Director of Land Management, Education Counselor, Economic Development Officer and Band Planner. Dr. Jeannette Armstrong, Okanagan Nation Jeannette Armstrong is Syilx Okanagan, a fluent speaker of Nsyilxcn and a traditional knowledge keeper of the Okanagan Nation and a founder of En’owkin, the Syilx knowledge revitalization institution of higher learning. She currently holds the Canada Research Chair in Okanagan Indigenous Knowledge and Philosophy at UBC Okanagan. She has a Ph.D. in Environmental Ethics and Syilx Indigenous Literatures. She is the recipient of the EcoTrust Buffett Award for Indigenous Leadership. She is an author and Indigenous activist whose published works include literary titles and academic writing on a wide variety of Indigenous issues. She currently serves on Canada’s Traditional Knowledge Subcommittee of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Dr. Marlow Sam, Ph.D Marlowe Sam is a Wenatchi/Lakes descendent from the Colville Confederated Tribes of Washington State (CCT). Marlowe majored in Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan and received a B.A. and M.A. with distinction. He defended his doctoral dissertation “Oral Narratives, Customary Law and Indigenous Water Rights in Canada” to earn a Ph.D. majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies from UBC Okanagan during which he was the recipient of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Richard Bussanich, RP Bio, M Sc., ONA Fisheries Co-Management Richard’s passion for nature, fish and water began on the lower Skeena as early as six years old, alongside his immigrant family from the Adriatic region. The knowledge, experiences, and motivations gained from working in the natural surroundings, hand-in-hand with First Nations, harvesters, and stewards of nature has transformed this field and desk biologist to an advocate for fisheries communication, community, and self-governance. The path he embraces was nurtured while living and working with the Nisga’a, who’s motto “Sayt K’il’im Goot,” “One Heart, One path, One Nation”, continues to be validated by his Okanagan peers , “Finding a Way to Get Along”. Howie Wright, RP Bio, M Sc., ONA Fisheries Manager Howie Wright is the Program manager at the ONA Fisheries Department and provides policy/program oversight and direction of the fisheries program. He has a Masters of Science in Resource Management and Environmental Studies program with the Institute for Resources and Environmental Studies at the University of British Columbia and is a member of the Canadian Okanagan Basin Technical Working Group. He is involved in project and contract management, staff oversight, participation in transboundary technical sessions and liaises between First Nations, Provincial and Federal fish agencies. Dr. David Suzuki David Suzuki, Co-Founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster. He is renowned for his radio and television programs that explain the complexities of the natural sciences in a compelling, easily understood way. Dr. Suzuki graduated from Amherst College (Massachusetts) in 1958 with an Honours BA in Biology, followed by a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961. He held a research associateship in the Biology Division of Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Lab (1961 – 62), was an Assistant Professor in Genetics at the University of Alberta (1962 – 63), and since then has been a faculty member of the University of British Columbia. He is now Professor Emeritus at UBC. Photo © Stephen Barnett Amanda Fenton, Facilitator Amanda Fenton teaches, designs, and hosts circle-based processes for groups who want to meet and work together in a more collaborative way. She has worked in the cooperative sector for nearly seventeen years, with thirteen of them in Human Resources, including designing, developing and delivering leadership curriculum, organizational change projects and collaborative strategic planning processes. She is a group process artist, skilled in designing participatory gatherings using circle-based methodologies to host and harvest conversations for thoughtful change, working with non-profits, churches, schools, associations, task-groups and other organizations. .