About Us

Zahra lives on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territory (Vancouver, BC) and started at Nature United in 2018. She supports Indigenous communities across Canada in running strong and resilient on-the-land/water programs for Indigenous youth, who will be the future stewards of their communities, cultures and territories. This work involves facilitation support, developing tools and resources, and facilitating webinars to support networking between partners. Zahra is currently supporting the YOLO Community in a coordinating role and is excited about how the governance structure of the YOLO Community may evolve – she hopes to one day see this work led by an Indigenous institution and directed by a robust advisory group. Before working for Nature United, Zahra worked in Indigenous education with Vancouver Island University in Snuneymuxw territory (Nanaimo, BC) and in public health in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She is a K-12 teacher by training and currently studying to become a Registered Clinical Counsellor.

Johanna Gordon-Walker leads the SEAS land-and-water-based education program at Bella Bella Community School. With a background in ecology, field biology and education, Johanna moved from her hometown Victoria to Haíɫzaqv territory in 2002 and from that time has worked with knowledge holders and youth on the land. She lives close to the seasons in a cabin in the woods and commutes to work every day by boat.

The SEAS program connects our Bella Bella school community with mentors, knowledge holders, and experts, providing opportunities for students to learn about and directly experience the lands, waters, and seasonal harvest cycles of their traditional territories. These immersive experiences strengthen and uplift Heiltsuk youth as they develop into confident individuals, providers, and caretakers of their territory, culture, and community.

My name is Zakary Myers and I am the CEO and founder of Golo-Sah Consulting. I identify as Dene First Nations on my mother’s side and Euro-Canadian on my father’s side. I am a two-spirit queer advocate who has spent my life in the education sector working hard to help governments, schools, and organizations to decolonize and indigenize their programs and systems. In early 2021, I lost my maternal matriarch to the covid-19 pandemic. Her name is Florence Michel, a residential school survivor who attended the Lower Post Residential School in the mid-1900’s. My grandmother was well-known and loved in our home Nation community of the Fort Nelson First Nation. She spent the last 20 years of her life dedicated to our Nation’s independent First Nation school as the Dene (south-slavey) language teacher. As a kid, I had the privilege of visiting my home community in the summers. The fondest memories that I have of my grandma are spending time out on the land, hunting moose, shooing bears away from our campsites, and sharing stories. In the summer of 2021, during a ceremony I held, Golo-Sah came to me. Golo-Sah translates to “moose-bear” in my traditional south-slavey language, and that is why I decided to use this phrase to name my business. As an Indigenous two-spirit queer advocate, it is in my hopes that I can carry my grandmother’s teachings and culture into the work that I do for others. I am here to help, just as our ancestors did for other Nations and for the newcomers who travelled here to Turtle Island.

Vern Brown is Kitasoo/Xai’xais and has been the Supporting Emerging Aboriginal Stewards (SEAS) Summer Internship Coordinator for the community since 2016. Vern’s top goals as Coordinator are to expose his interns to as much of their territory as possible, inspire curiosity and show them that they have opportunities once they finish school. “Youth in our community represent the future stewards of our territory,” Vern says. “It is our Nation’s vision to reconnect young people to the Earth and their culture. To teach them where they come from and who they can be.”

Vern also does lots of work with the Kitasoo/Xai’xais Resource Stewardship Department, including creek walking, forestry work, and other monitoring and science work. He has expertise in bear research, mapping, drones, and much more!

Sunrise is from Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation in NWT and coordinates the Ni Hat’ni Dene program. Ni Hat’ni Dene is a network of Łutsël K’é Dene First Nations members, young and old, who serve as the stewards of Thaidene Nëné.​ Ni Hat’ni Dene means watchers of the land in Dënesųłıné. Ni Hat’ni Dene are the stewards of Thaidene Nëné. They assert the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation’s Indigenous rights and authority in Thaidene Nëné through their presence and activities on the land and water. Ni Hat’ni Dene crews practice a traditional subsistence lifestyle, maintaining the integrity of cultural sites, conducting environmental monitoring, and interacting with visitors to Thaidene Nëné. An important responsibility of Ni Hat’ni Dene guardians is the transmission of knowledge to younger generations through the program’s youth internship program. Each summer, interns aged 18-24  join crews led by senior guardians. As they spend time on the land and water, interns learn about navigation, harvesting, reading the weather, language, and safety in the Dene way. In other words, they learn by doing. They also hone leadership and problem-solving skills, and they exercise reciprocity by sharing their own expertise—about technology, data recording, spreadsheets, etc.—with the senior guardians. This intergenerational transfer of knowledge ensures our rights and responsibilities as Łutsël K’é Dene in the stewardship of Thaidene Nëné will continue to be recognized and exercised into the future.

Steph Woodworth (they/them) is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Ottawa, co-supervised by Dr. Sonia Wesche and Dr. Andrew Spring, and is the Project Director at Northern Youth Leadership. For their doctoral research, Steph explored on-the-land camps in the Northwest Territories, which educate and engage northern youth. Specifically, they used photovoice during on-the-land camps with northern youth to capture their experiences of land-based education and their concerns of, and priorities for, changes happening in their communities. As Project Director for Northern Youth Leadership, their vision is to empower and inspire a generation of courageous, young Northern leaders. Northern Youth Leadership programming has two main components (1) on-the-land camps for northern youth (ages 11-17) and (2) a leadership development program, an employment mentorship program for youth aged 14-25. In their PhD research and role as Project Director, Steph works to foster opportunities for youth to connect with the Land, build self-confidence, improve mental health and wellbeing, participate in safe spaces, and strengthen peer networks. Overall, Steph is deeply passionate about empowering and educating youth to be land-based leaders.

ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ (Tla-o-qui-aht) territory is where Julia is grateful to live, and calls home. Originally from the small mountain town of Nelson, BC, Julia moved to Clayoquot Sound in 2017 to support the creation and launch of a brand new not-for-profit, Cedar Coast Field Station Society. She holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences from Quest University Canada where she studied marine conservation biology, specifically the role and benefits of community-driven initiatives.

Today, these interests continue to guide her work with the Nuu-chah-nulth Youth Warrior Family Society (the “Warriors”)- an indigenous youth-led program that weaves traditional and mainstream leadership along with wellness teachings and practices together on the land to build capacity, cultural pride and confidence in young men. Over the next few years, Julia will be supporting the launch of the Warrior Program model provincially.

Jimmy is Gitwangak Eagle working for Gitanyow, and brings many years of experience as a Guardian and supervising field technician, monitoring wildlife and fisheries, to his current work supporting Guardian programs in his own Nation, and other First Nations.

Jimmy is also part of Nature United’s Indigenous Guardians Technical Support Team and brings his years of experience with every aspect of Guardian work, from boots on the ground (and in water!) to crew supervision, operations, and program management. He has recently been working with the Gitanyow Guardians to start a youth program and engaged Gitanyow youth in learning about the work of the Guardians as well as their culture and territory.

Heather Burke, BA, MA is Métis with ancestral ties to the former Red River Settlement, a historical Métis community. She has Indigenous and European ancestry on her father’s side and English and American ancestry on her mother’s side. Heather is a Learning Facilitator in the Office of Indigenous Education and Engagement at VIU in partnership with the EleV program. Heather works to centre and amplify Indigenous voice by sharing the promising practices and teachings we have received from Indigenous learners, communities, families, the VIU community, and other learning partners as a way to be accountable to these groups and honour the responsibility to be transparent and authentic in our work together.

Dr. Courtney Defriend (Traditional name is Ti’yuqtunat) was born and raised in Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo territory). Her mother is from Stz’uminus First Nation and her father’s family originally comes from Scotland. Working at the Nanaimo Aboriginal Friendship Centre for 13 years, she was exposed to traditional teachings from First Nations people all over Canada while working front line with children and families. Defriend also consulted privately in community development work, cultural competency, and alternative wellness. Courtney has worked with interdisciplinary teams, specifically working on social issues such as mental health, addictions, and homelessness. These interests lead her to work with First Nations Health Authority, currently serving as the Director, Research and Knowledge Exchange. With a Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care (2011), a Master of Arts in Leadership (2015), a certificate in Family Mediation (2017), and a Doctorate in Social Sciences (2023), she is passionate about working with Indigenous communities.

Charlene was born and raised in Comox BC on Vancouver Island and is a member of the K’omoks First Nation. Charlene carries the name Xanusa’mega from the Gigelgam Walas Kwakiutl of Fort Rupert. She and her family are active participants in the cultural traditions of the Kwa’kwa’kawakw or Kwakiutl speaking peoples. Charlene has a passion for Indigenous Education and believes that by utilizing our own knowledge systems, Indigenous students will thrive and be successful.

Char is currently the Cultural Capacity Coordinator at Nanwakolas Council Society (2022-present). She has also been the In-Community Program Coordinator for 2 cohorts of the VIU/Nanwakolas Stewardship Technician Training Program (STTP, 2020/21 & 2023/24. She has an Indigenous Community Development & Governance Diploma from UVIC (2016) and 7 years experience in capacity building and education at K’omoks First Nation. She also has experience as a Board Member of the First Nations Education Steering Committee and Chair of Post-Secondary Education Sub-Committee, an Associate at Daxgedim Hanaak Nation Building, and a One term Councillor with K’omoks First Nation (2020-2022).