Born and raised in Lac La Ronge, a member of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. Karen has been married for 29 years, mother to 5 and is a blessed grandmother. She has been working as Executive Director for Piwapan Women’s Centre for 16 years and worked as a probation officer prior to this for 10 years.

Karens goals for work and home are to have a healthy, safe environment for future generations to thrive in (physically, mentally and emotionally), with support available and strong ties to family and community to maintain their well-being.

Martha is an Atikamekw woman from Manawan and a mother of three.

She has held a position at the Atikamekw Nation Council since 2017, following university studies in preschool primary education, psychology, and social intervention.

Martha had been the service manager at Asperimowin's Center for two years, a role that has allowed me to showcase my leadership and managerial skills.

Wabusk (Polar Bear Woman)

Margaret has been working in the shelter movement for over a decade. She comes to this role honestly, having experienced family violence in her own life, leading to the use of shelters in the past with her children.

Margaret's leadership is evident in her current roles as the President of NICAFV and a board member of the Aboriginal Shelters of Ontario. Her influence is felt in the initiatives she has advised on, such as the Stay or Go and a family violence worker certificate initiative, which significantly impacts the field.

Margaret's commitment to supporting the growth of NICAVF in the coming years is unwavering.

Margaret is a granddaughter and daughter of St. Anne’s Residential School survivors. She hails from Fort Albany, a small, isolated First Nation in Northern Ontario, raising nine (9) children and has 16 grandchildren.

Katina Cochrane is from Peguis First Nation and a Fisher River Cree Nation resident in Manitoba.

Along with her husband, Katina and her three beautiful children live close to family and are surrounded by community. Katina was born and raised in her home community for most of her life, and she lived in Northern Ontario during her childhood.

Being grassroots-bred, she has had the privilege of living life around ceremony and language (Ojicree, Ojibway, and Cree) and picking up her dancing bundle at a very young age. She’s danced fancy shawl for 30+ years and jingle for 7 years.

Katina graduated from the University of Winnipeg with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Indigenous Governance. She then ventured into the workforce, exploring Justice, law, policy, treaties, social work, program development, facilitation, and consulting. She’s served her community as a trustee for their Surender Claim Trust Fund and is still a committed volunteer in both of her communities.

She is the Executive Director of the First Nation Healing Centre in Fisher River Cree Nation. Katina was integral in successfully completing the application to CMHC and ISC's Indigenous Shelters and Transitional Housing Initiative.

The Ka Pah Pak Transitional Housing Shelter program, coming up in their community, is a 3.4 million dollar, 5-unit state-of-the-art apartment complex for women and children fleeing domestic abuse, needing long-term (1 year) safe transitional housing.

Katina strongly believes in shelter networking and supporting those establishing safe spaces for women, children, and the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. In addition to this work, she is a strong advocate for men's shelters and funding for men's programming, as she believes this is the path to ultimately ending family violence in our communities.

Katina strives to help others while she walks her path with kindness, humility, and laughter.

Alissia is of Nicomen Band, a mother of five boys, including fostering two nephews.

She likes to think of herself as a cultural person, having been raised taking part in the seasonal rounds of food gatherings and becoming a bit of a native artisan. She has the privilege of learning from her mom and relatives while being self-taught in beading, basketry, baby moccasins, hand drum making, and ribbon skirts.

Alissia feels that bringing Nlaka’pamux and other Indigenous cultural knowledge to her work and professionalism contributes to the decolonizing goals of our healing nations today.

She has been working at Han Knakst Tsitxw Society for 13 years, of which 12 were as the Executive Director.

Alissia has led the team of support workers under the mentorship and partnership of House Manager Brenda Abbott.

She is currently working on getting her Bachelor of Social Work degree and hopes to transition into counselling more, as much of her previous background has been in financial management, administration, and leadership.

Alissia would like to see the Han Knakst Tsitxw Society become the beacon of supportive services for families undergoing family violence and abuse with the capabilities of educating people and empowering anyone who has felt victimized to improve their lives and move forward on their healing journey to emotional health and wellness.