Diana Elliott is retired from 33+ years working in Indigenous Early Childhood Development and Family Support Programs.  Diana is Coast Salish from Cowichan Tribes in Duncan B.C and has equal roots in the Nuu Chah Nulth Territory from the Hupačasath First Nation in Port Alberni. She spent almost 20 years of her career as the Provincial Advisor to 57 Aboriginal Infant Development Programs (AIDP) throughout BC on reserve and in urban communities. Her passion has been to support families to raise their children through early learning in loving and nurturing homes. She will continue to be a champion for Indigenous children and be a support and ally to the programs that support them. 

Bio here.

Jean is the provincial Elder on the Minister’s Advisory Council for Children & Youth with Support Needs (CYSN MAC) in BC, joining us from Christina Lake. She is the proud mother of two sons, seven grandchildren, four step grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Jean appreciates the gifts in everyone and is honoured to have a grandchild with Down syndrome as well as an adopted grandchild with complex support needs and a great grandchild on the autism spectrum.  

For a lot of her life, Jean was unaware of her Indigenous roots. Her contributions as a respected Elder are representative of her commitment to learning her culture, and engaging in her community. In 2021, Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) awarded Jean with the Volunteer Recognition Award for her continued community engagement, noting her mobilization efforts during the pandemic. 

As an Elder, Jean is honoured for her wealth of experience, wisdom and the deep compassion she shows for people. She is on several councils and committees where she works on projects to support children inviting them to open themselves to the natural world of Creator’s outdoors. Jean is also a self-published author of the children’s book Little Bird, which was inspired by many years of hiking in the Kootenays and a joyful rewrite of a childhood she never had. The book characterizes Jean’s appreciation for the connectedness of all living things, and the possibilities of manifesting our beliefs. 

Duane Jackson is from the Gitanmaax of the Gitxsan Nation. With a background in early childhood education, he has worked with Success By 6 and Children First as well as partnered with various early childhood and health initiatives in BC. He has been a member of UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership’s (HELP) Aboriginal Steering Committee (ASC) for the past 15 years. 

Duane has been involved with the Patient Voices Network for 8 years, being involved in many initiatives attached to patient quality improvement. He was a member of the technical committee that helped create the Cultural Safety and Humility Health Standard that is currently in BC hospitals. 

Duane is also focused on men’s health. He is founder of the Tauhx Gadx men’s program, which focuses on being a whole person. “The idea is not to look at what it means to be a ‘man’ within today’s society but rather to get an understanding of what it means to be a ‘whole person’.” 

Katie is honoured to work and live on the shared unceded traditional territories of the Matsqui, Kwantlen, Katzie and Semiahmoo First Nations. She is Coast Salish from the Sechelt First Nation. Katie’s father was a residential school survivor. Her mother left him with her sister when Katie was 3. She was raised away from her people, her culture and her territory. 

Katie’s cultural reclamation journey began at age 38 as a new mother. She and her daughter began attending a program called “Aboriginal Mother Goose,” a parent-led preschool program when her daughter was 2 months old. This program gave her the courage to feel safe enough to leave the house with her newborn daughter that first year. What’s more is that the program facilitator was one of the first positive Indigenous role models that she met on her journey to reclaim her culture. Indigenous representation matters. It was through that program she developed a relationship with the Lower Fraser Valley Aboriginal Society (LFVAS). In 2012, she began to volunteer at their events; in 2013, she was nominated to the board of directors as their Treasurer. In 2015, she became the President of the Board, and in 2018, Katie was hired in a newly created role as CEO. 

Katie believes that culture saves lives and she is grateful to have reclaimed hers over the last 13 years. hay ce:p q̓ə. All my relations. 

Dave was born and raised in East Vancouver. His Great Grandfather was from Blunden Harbour, and his Grandfather and Father were from Port Hardy, Alert Bay. He belongs to the Kwakiutl Nation. 

Most of his educational and professional life was spent with Douglas College. His first credential was a Diploma in Arts, followed by a Sports Science Diploma and an Associate of Arts degree. He was an athlete and a coach as well as the President of both the Student Union and the Alumni Association. When in the office of the VP, he played a big role in establishing both the Student Union building as well as the Aboriginal Gathering Place. As their Indigenous Coordinator for 23 years, he has taught many guest lectures in a variety of faculties and subjects. He is honoured to have a Scholarship named after him at Douglas College – the Dave Seaweed Award of Distinction, awarded to Indigenous Athletes in the College.  

In addition to all of this, Dave was an elected member of the Board of Directors for the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) from 2015 to 2023. He was also one of 4 elected Executives of the BC Indigenous Post-Secondary Coordinators Council (BC IPSC), as the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley Rep working with the Ministry of Advanced Education for the last 9 years. He was an Advisory member for the Justice Institute of BC (JIBC) as well as an Indigenous Advisory member for School District 40 (SD40) in New Westminster from 2004 to 2023. Dave was recently recruited as a member of the New Westminster City Council Community Advisory Assembly as well as FSI’s IAC. 

Rona Sterling-Collins is Quist’letko from the Nłeʔkepmx Nation. Rona was raised on her ancestral land, Joeyaska First Nation in the Interior of British Columbia and she continues to reside there among her extended family. She is married and has two adult children and a four-year-old granddaughter. Her son Wyatt has autism, which challenged her to become an advocate for him and other Indigenous children and adults with developmental disabilities. 

She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work. In 1996, she started a Consulting Business – Rona Sterling Consulting – and works as an Indigenous Consultant across the Province of BC. Rona has had the honour of working with many Indigenous organizations and communities and championed many projects and initiatives. Her work has included training, curriculum development, strategic planning, policy development, program reviews, and various community and capacity building projects. She is currently doing more work in the Indigenous early years and disabilities field as an Aboriginal Regional Advisor for the Thompson/Shuswap/Cariboo Region. Rona has also recently taken on the Aboriginal Supported Child Development Provincial Advisor role and has been a Resource Parent with FSI since 2014. 

Rona approaches her life from a wholistic perspective and promotes this philosophy to continue to create systems of change.  She is dedicated to decolonization and Indigenization, and she holds children and families at the heart of her work.  

Sheila Grieve, ECE, BPE, BA, MAIS is grateful to the Snuneymuxw people on whose unceded traditional territory she currently learns, lives, and works. She is the daughter of the late Evelyn (Ducharme) Grieve and late William Grieve. As a member of the Métis Nation, Sheila commits to the concept of Kaa-Wiichihitoyaahk, taking care of each other. She is low vision (legally blind) and a professor of Early Childhood Education and Care at Vancouver Island University (VIU). Her research interest is land–based learning with a special focus on plants and our connections to plants; everyone has the right to thrive outside. 

Dixie Hunt-Scott is a member of the Kwakiutl First Nation. She has Kwaguʼł, Ma’amtigila, Tlingit, and Scottish ancestral roots. Dixie is also married into the Taku River Tlingit First Nation.   

Dixie is the Provincial Advisor for Aboriginal Infant Development Programs (AIDP) in BC. This is a new position that she started in April 2023. 25 years ago, she began working with AIDP in her home community of T̕sax̱is, on Northern Vancouver Island, as a consultant.  She went on to work as an Infant Development Consultant (IDC) and as an Aboriginal Early Years Consultant in the Comox Valley. While working as an IDC, Dixie was also the Vancouver Island AIDP Regional Advisor for 12 years.   

Dixie has a remote office in the Comox Valley where she has the privilege and honour to live and work in the unceded traditional territories of the Pentlatch, E’iksan and K’ómoks First Nations. 

Jennie Roberts is a mom of 10 children ranging from 12 all the way to 40 years old. She is currently the Provincial Indigenous Child Care Advisor with the BC Aboriginal Child Care Society.  

Jennie has enjoyed her experience with being an Early Childhood Educator and really loves the joy she sees in children. She enjoys the learning experiences from the children that Creator has blessed her with and hopes to bring this joy to FSI’s Indigenous Advisory Circle. 

Alyssa Crees is a proud Cree/Métis woman.  

In her current role, she provides funding for families with children birth to 8 years, that have additional support needs. She funds services such as assessments, Speech & Language, Occupational Therapy and medical equipment. She also has 9 years of experience supporting children with complex trauma and developmental disabilities, as well as adults.  

Alyssa is grateful that she gets to be a part of this circle of support for families across the province, and to have the opportunity to lend her voice to important causes and groups, as both a citizen and a professional in the field.  

Melanie is Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en. She has worked in people work for over 20 years. Her passion is supporting people in living life fully. She loves community development and big picture thinking. She was a previous board member with FSI and helped with the development of FSI’s Commitment Statements.  

Melanie looks forward to contributing ideas, energy, and collaboration to help nourish the many varying communities that FSI serves. She supports the ripple effects of a small group of people putting their hands into work, to create and strengthen Indigenous voice and vision in all levels of services. Hamiya. 

Laranna Scott lives with gratitude on the shared traditional territory known as the Boundary, where she honours and acknowledges all the Indigenous peoples and ancestors who lived there and cared for the lands in Grand Forks, BC. Laranna has Danish and Métis ancestry from her mother’s side and Russian ancestry from her father’s side. Laranna’s grandfather, Métis Elder Thomas Taylor, was a direct descendent of Ambroise Lepine, and the one to encourage Laranna to embrace her Métis roots while she was still in high school when he helped to form the Boundary Metis Community Association. As a result, Laranna acted as the first Youth Representative for both the Boundary Métis Community Association as well as for the Boundary Indigenous Education Advisory Council. 

Laranna holds a certificate in Early Childhood Education from the College of the Rockies and diplomas in Special Needs Education and Infant-Toddler Education, culminating in a Bachelor of Arts degree in Child and Youth Care from the University of the Fraser Valley. She is the proud mother of her daughter Trinity and a firm advocate for and believer in the power of early intervention. In 2017, Laranna was awarded the BCACCS Aboriginal Child Care Recognition Award, which honours Early Childhood Educators acting as exceptional role models. 

Laranna has been a part of the Aboriginal Steering Committee (ASC) at UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) since the Fall of 2014 because of her passion to support the health and well-being of children and families across the province. She believes that children are a gift from Creator and shares in HELP’s vision of “all children thriving in healthy societies.” Laranna has worked in a variety of capacities for nearly 25 years in the child and youth care field and helped establish an Aboriginal Head Start Child Care program in the Boundary. She was also the Early Learning and Child Care Engagement Manager for Métis Nation BC’s Ministry of Education. 

In Laranna’s spare time, she enjoys spending time with her daughter, husband, friends, Elders and extended family. She also loves travelling and being out in nature hiking, mountain biking, and scuba diving. Since 2019, Laranna has been a volunteer Resource Parent with FSI and now serves as FSI’s first Indigenous Practice Advisor.