Event

Octaviana V. Trujillo

JPAC Member

Octaviana V. Trujillo (Yaqui), Ph.D., is the 2023 chair of the CEC’s Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), having been first appointed as a member of JPAC by US President Barack Obama in 2015. She is founding Chair and Professor Emerita in the Department of Applied Indigenous Studies at Northern Arizona University and the former chairwoman of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona. She has spent her career advocating for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and developing educational courses, initiatives, and programs to support Tribal Nation Building and Indigenous communities, especially with regard to sustaining Indigenous languages, cultures and lifeways, and working with Indigenous youth.

She is a current Soros Equality Fellow and the 2021 American Educational Research Association, Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Research awardee for outstanding scholarship. She is also an advisory board member to Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras, whose mission is to affirm the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including their right to self-determination, their collective human and civil rights, the rights of sovereignty and the protection of sacred sites, and their right to free and unrestricted movement across international borders. Trujillo also served as an active national member of the American Friends Service Committee and Farmworker Justice, working to foster community-based resources for promoting social justice.

Her extensive international experience as researcher, mediator, and advisor on the topics of human and Indigenous rights includes participation in the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and serving on the EPA Governmental Advisory Committee, which helps to shape US policies that are intended to improve environmental and health conditions in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, and the Global Diversity Foundation, which promotes agricultural, biological, and cultural diversity around the world through research, training and social action.

Kathy Hodgson-Smith

TEKEG Facilitator

Kathy L. Hodgson-Smith is a Saskatoon lawyer who practices criminal and Aboriginal law, as well as on behalf of the Métis Legal Research Education Foundation. She has litigated in all levels of court including the Provincial Court and Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatchewan, the Courts of Appeal in Saskatchewan and Alberta, the Federal Court of Appeal, and as co-counsel at the Supreme Court of Canada.

She has worked on various national policy initiatives for the Métis National Council (MNC), including the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Agreement Strategy, Canada-Aboriginal Peoples Roundtables, the Kelowna Accord, and Post-Powley. She has also given evidence at the Canadian Aboriginal Affairs Standing Committee on the effects of McIvor decision on the Métis. She has researched and presented on Métis Aboriginal rights law and traditional knowledge at local, provincial, national, and international forums and conducted research for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the Canadian Education Association and the Canada Council on Learning and conducts traditional land-use studies for the Métis.

Internationally, she also represents the MNC on the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Committee on the Protection of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Genetic Resources, and on the Canadian Delegation to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

She has chaired a number of committees, including the MNC National Research Strategy and Urban Aboriginal Strategy committee, National Environment Committee, in addition to the Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee, which established a national standard for the operation of Mètis Nation Registries.

Kakwiranó:ron Cook

Officer, Indigenous Affairs

Kakwiranó:ron Cook belongs to the Akwesasne Kanien'kehá:ka and Oglala Lakota. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu and a Master of Business Administration from McGill University and HEC Montréal. Previously, Kakwiranó:ron worked as Senior Advisor on Indigenous Community and Relations at Sobeys Inc. and as Indigenous Outreach Administrator for McGill University. A life-long ambassador for Indigenous ways of learning and knowing, he brings firsthand expertise on building up awareness, appreciation and celebration of Indigeneity, as well as to our responsibilities to the lands, waters and each other.

LinkedIn: Kakwiranoron Cook

Mindahi Bastida

Founder and Convenor, The Earth Elders

Mindahi Crescencio Bastida Muñoz, Ph.D., was born in San Pedro Tultepec, Lerma, Mexico. He is part of the Otomi-Toltec Peoples and a former JPAC-CEC member. Mindahi is a traditional authority of the Grand Council of the Eagle and the Condor. His mission is to ensure that the Earth Mandates are implemented in 52 major bioregions in the world. The Earth Mandates were received in a ceremony hosted by the Kogi, Arwak and Kankuamo in Sacred Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in May 2013.

He is the General Coordinator of the Otomi-Toltec Regional Council in Mexico and caretaker of the philosophy and traditions of the Otomi-Toltec peoples. He has been an Otomi-Toltec Ceremonial Officer since 1988 and, since 2012, has been a consultant to UNESCO on Sacred Sites and Biocultural protection. He has served as the Director of the Original Nations Program of the Fountain (2020–2023), the Director of the Original Caretakers Program at the Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (2017–2020), and as the Director of Sustainable Development Division, Intercultural University of Mexico State (2002–2012).

His two most recent books are Ancestors. Divine Remembrance of Lineage, Relations and Sacred Sites (Translated in four languages and available as Audiobook) and Rooted in Ethics. He has written extensively on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Sacred Sites, intercultural education, collective intellectual property rights and associated traditional knowledge, among other topics. He was also chief editor of a book series on Culture, Gastronomy, and Biodiversity of the Wetlands of his original homeland in the highlands of Mexico.

He is an international speaker, having been invited to over fifty countries and to every continent. Currently there are two films being produced that focus on his message and legacy. Mihandi is a member of the Advisory Group, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, the Advisory Council of Kiss the Ground, the Executive Committee of the Alliance Guardians of Mother Nature and a  Former Member of the board of directors of The Fountain.

Jorge Daniel Taillant

CEC Executive Director

Jorge Daniel Taillant serves as the CEC’s Executive Director since August of 2022.

He is a life-long global advocate for human rights and environmental protection. His career spans several decades, working with international development agencies, as an advisor to governments, leading innovative civil society organizations and networks, and with disadvantaged communities to tackle some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

He has spear-headed incisive global initiatives to link human rights and environmental advocacy, pushing for more effective public policies, stronger legislation and greater corporate accountability and respect for human rights and environmental sustainability.

During the past decade, he has turned his focus to tackling the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, advocating for immediate actions to aggressively phase out the most intense climate pollutants, such as methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and tropospheric ozone (O₃), while promoting inclusive, equitable and resilient adaptation for the most climate-vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.

Florencia Emilia Arroyo Pelico

Representative, Cooperative Maseual Siuamej

From the community of San Miguel Tzinacapan, in the Sierra Norte de Puebla region (municipality of Cuetzalan), comes Florencia Emilia Arroyo Pelico, a Maseualtajtol language speaker who has been leading workshops for 12 years and practicing the techniques of backstrap weaving, embroidery, and basketry using the fiber of the jonote tree (Trema macranthum). She is also a lawyer, a composer, a cultural and human rights promoter, and a mediator who creates art involving children. In addition, she works as a receptionist and bookkeeper at the Hotel Taselotzin, whose administrators are Indigenous women.

She has trained in community work, enabling her to be a facilitator with groups of children (ages 6–12) and youth (ages 12–18), as well as with the PAMBRA program, to support and teach children with learning disabilities. She has also served as a human rights activist for the organization Cuauhtamazaco, promoted sexual and reproductive rights with Espacio Espiral, and has twice been a community instructor, tutor and trainer (for one year) with the National Educational Development Council (Consejo Nacional de Fomento Educativo—Conafe).

An active member of the organization Masehual Siuamej Mosenyolchicauani, she became its president in January 2025. Currently a member of its capacity building group, she gives workshops to women who are members of the organization. She coordinates the “Weaving Our Lives” and “Strengthening Masehual Women’s Traditional Knowledge,” a community tourism project, and formerly coordinated the “Revitalization of the Organizational Web” project.

Mindahi Bastida

Founder and Convenor, The Earth Elders

Mindahi Crescencio Bastida Muñoz, Ph.D., was born in San Pedro Tultepec, Lerma, Mexico. He is part of the Otomi-Toltec Peoples and a former JPAC-CEC member. Mindahi is a traditional authority of the Grand Council of the Eagle and the Condor. His mission is to ensure that the Earth Mandates are implemented in 52 major bioregions in the world. The Earth Mandates were received in a ceremony hosted by the Kogi, Arwak and Kankuamo in Sacred Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in May 2013.

He is the General Coordinator of the Otomi-Toltec Regional Council in Mexico and caretaker of the philosophy and traditions of the Otomi-Toltec peoples. He has been an Otomi-Toltec Ceremonial Officer since 1988 and, since 2012, has been a consultant to UNESCO on Sacred Sites and Biocultural protection. He has served as the Director of the Original Nations Program of the Fountain (2020–2023), the Director of the Original Caretakers Program at the Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (2017–2020), and as the Director of Sustainable Development Division, Intercultural University of Mexico State (2002–2012).

His two most recent books are Ancestors. Divine Remembrance of Lineage, Relations and Sacred Sites (Translated in four languages and available as Audiobook) and Rooted in Ethics. He has written extensively on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Sacred Sites, intercultural education, collective intellectual property rights and associated traditional knowledge, among other topics. He was also chief editor of a book series on Culture, Gastronomy, and Biodiversity of the Wetlands of his original homeland in the highlands of Mexico.

He is an international speaker, having been invited to over fifty countries and to every continent. Currently there are two films being produced that focus on his message and legacy. Mihandi is a member of the Advisory Group, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, the Advisory Council of Kiss the Ground, the Executive Committee of the Alliance Guardians of Mother Nature and a  Former Member of the board of directors of The Fountain.

Gwen Bridge

CEO and Founder, Gwen Bridge Consulting

A member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation, Gwen Bridge has over twenty years of experience providing advice, developing strategies, and managing natural resource-related projects for First Nations and their partners, including in land and water planning, protected areas planning, and policy. Gwen has worked on watershed planning with the Mescalero Apache, the Makah Tribe (including collaborative Recovery Planning for the Ozette Sockeye with the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the State of Washington and the Makah Tribe), the Okanagan Nation Alliance, the Okanagan Indian Band, and the Lower Similkameen Indian Band. Gwen has led and facilitated land-use planning and title and rights protection processes with those nations and others, including the West Moberly First Nations.

Gwen has been recently working on Indigenous-led conservation, including caribou habitat protection and old growth protection with the Okanagan Nation Alliance and negotiating and planning for the South Okanagan Similkameen National Park Reserve.

Gwen is an adept researcher with experience in forest hydrology and natural resources management grounded in technical knowledge (Gwen has a Master of Science in Renewable Resources with a thesis specialization in forestry hydrology) and indigenous perspectives, including designated community-developed bio-cultural use indicators for Water Quality Standards for the Makah Tribe. Gwen has been advising the evolving provincial policy environment for forestry and climate change, land use planning, Indigenous-led conservation in BC, and watershed planning. Gwen teaches courses in Ethical Space and Indigenous Leadership at University nuhelot’ine thaiyots’i nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills and is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia. Gwen has provided Ethical Space training to many levels of government including; BC Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, BC Ministry of Forests, BC Ministry of Environment, BC Water Land and Resource Stewardship, Parks Canada, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Chief of Staff office, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, City of Nelson, Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments, District of Mission, Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House, US National Parks Service, and many others.

Antonia Campoy

Councilwoman, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Arizona

Clément (Clem) Chartier

Ambassador for Inter-Nation and International Relations, National Government of the Red River Métis

Clément (Clem) Chartier has served in both political and administrative capacities with numerous Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, nationally and internationally. In February 1998 Clément was elected to the Presidency of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan where he served two terms until January 2004. In October 2003, President Chartier was elected President of the Métis National Council and served five terms until September 2021. From 1984 to 1987 Clément served as President of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples and is currently serving as President of the American Council of Indigenous Peoples, which he helped establish in 2018. In November 2021 Clément was appointed by MMF President David Chartrand to the position of Ambassador for Inter-Nation and International Relations of the newly established National Government of the Red River Métis.

Solomon Henry Cyr

Spokesperson, Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation, Saskatchewan

Steve De Roy

Chief Executive Officer, The Firelight Group

Steve DeRoy, an Anishinaabe/Saulteaux from the Ebb and Flow and Lake Manitoba First Nations in Treaty 2 territory, is the co-founder, director, and CEO of The Firelight Group and founder of the Indigenous Mapping Collective, based in Vancouver, BC. An award-winning Indigenous entrepreneur, he specializes in mapping, geographic information sciences, business development, and natural resources management. Since 1998, Steve has mentored Indigenous practitioners, conducted risk assessments, and led studies on Indigenous knowledge for energy projects. He has also worked with Google and Apple to ensure Indigenous lands are accurately represented on their maps.

Jesús Granada Bautista

Indigenous community defender, Hñähñu (Otomí) Indigenous People

A member of the hñähñu (Otomí) Indigenous People, Jesús Granada Bautista is an Indigenous community defender with over 30 years of experience promoting and defending the rights of Indigenous People, particularly women, in Mexico. His areas of work include access to justice; access to land, territory, and secure tenure; violence against Indigenous women, and access to information technologies.

James C. Hopkins

Associate Clinical Professor, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program, and Affiliated Professor of American Indian Studies & Latin American Studies), University of Arizona

James Hopkins is Algonquin/Metis from Quebec. He is a former law clerk to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and is a member of the Ontario Bar. Prior to joining the College of Law, University of Arizona, he was an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta. He graduated from Harvard Law School’s joint Masters of Laws and International Tax Program (LLM/ITP) in June 2000. Professor Hopkins’ area of interest is the intersection between trade, tax and aboriginal law. He is a recipient of the Harvard University International Tax Program’s Award for Excellence in Research and Writing for his graduate thesis, titled “Democratization by Taxation: Democratic Experimentalism in Aboriginal Canada.”

Lyla June Johnston

Indigenous musician, author, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne), and European lineages

Dr. Lyla June Johnston (aka Lyla June) is an Indigenous musician, author, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. Her multi-genre presentation style has engaged audiences across the globe toward personal, collective, and ecological healing. She blends her study of Human Ecology at Stanford, doing graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview, with which she grew up, to inform her music and its perspectives and solutions. Her doctoral research focused on the ways in which pre-colonial Indigenous Nations shaped large regions of Turtle Island (aka the Americas) to produce abundant food systems for humans and non-humans.

Nicolas Kosoy

Associate Professor, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill Bieler School of Environment

Nicolas is interested in the interface of climate, energy and land-use governance, including the analysis of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). He also does research on alternative economic models and plural values as it characterizes degrowth research. He has undertaken fieldwork in Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela, Kenya, Uganda, Lao PDR,  and Thailand and I am starting new research projects in other Latin American, Asian and African countries. He teaches courses that address a wide range of topics and debates in the area of ecological economics, political ecology and global environmental policy at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels at McGill University since 2010.

Luis Martínez Villanueva

General Director, Mexican Network of Small Fair Trade Producers

An agroecological engineer and graduate of Universidad Autónoma Chapingo in Mexico, Luis Martínez Villanueva has since 2012 acted as the general director of the Mexican Network of Fair Trade Small Producers (Coordinadora Mexicana de Pequeños Productores de Comercio Justo), based in Oaxaca. He was technical advisor at the Union of Isthmus Region Indigenous Communities (Unión de Comunidades Indígenas de la Región del Istmo—UCIRI) from 1996 to 2019 and an organic products inspector from 1998 to 2012. He was a member of the board of directors of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Small Producers and Workers (Coordinadora Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Pequeños(as) Productores(as) y Trabajadores(as) de Comercio Justo) from 2012 to 2018, and a member of the Board of Examiners of the same organization from 2019 to 2022.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/coordinadora.mexicana/
Website: /www.comerciojustomx.org/

Dakota Mcleod

Métis artist and entrepreneur, His Bead Store, Saskatchewan

Annalisa Ortega

Citizen, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Arizona

Rodger Redman

Chief, Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation, Saskatchewan

Dwayne Louis Redman

Band Councillor, Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation, Saskatchewan

Alina Liviet Santiago Jiménez

Chair and Representative for Central America and the Caribbean, FSC Permanent Indigenous Peoples Committee

A member of the Zapotec Indigenous community of Ixtlán de Juárez, Oaxaca, México, Alina Santiago Jiménez holds a bachelor's degree in business management, specialized in international trade, from Universidad José Vasconcelos de Oaxaca. Her professional career includes managing community projects in investment and field work, as well as project reporting for domestic and international organizations. For more than 20 years, she has worked with Indigenous communities and has broad experience in forestry certification issues (particularly for programs under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)), supply chains, forestry training, community governance, business mentoring and communal enterprise management. In her work with Indigenous communities, she has provided guidance in multiple areas, including audit preparation for FSC chain of custody certification, development of control systems, and training and monitoring of certification processes. She currently acts as Chair of the FSC Permanent Indigenous Peoples Committee (PIPC), representing Mexico and Central America.

Facebook: Comunidad Ixtlán de Juárez

Guadalupe Yesenia Hernández Márquez

President, Alliance for Community-Based Biodiversity Conservation and Restoration Funding

Consultant, academic and sustainability activist, Guadalupe Yesenia Hernández Márquez advises governments, educational institutions and businesses on the socio-environmental aspects of projects implemented with financing from international banks. In addition to her expertise in the conservation and protection of biocultural diversity, heritage and rights, through the facilitation of protocols in relation to Indigenous peoples and local communities, she has experience in policy advocacy on environmental and biodiversity issues at the local, national and international issues. As director of biodiversity with the organization, Rueda de Medicina (Medicine Wheel), A.C., she promotes the program, “Biodiversity: opportunity and responsibility,” to contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of the natural wealth of Indigenous and peasant communities in Mexico.