Presenters

Booker is a proud Citizen of the Saskatchewan Métis Nation and currently resides with his family on Treaty 4 Territory in Regina, Saskatchewan. He brings over 20 years of experience partnering with Indigenous communities and businesses. He has been instrumental in launching FNBC’s $100M Infrastructure Lending Program with the Canada Infrastructure Bank, and the $100M Business Acquisition Financing Program with the Business Development Bank of Canada, both designed to increase access to capital for Indigenous communities across the country.

Booker is passionate about empowering Nation Builders and advancing Indigenous economic growth. As he puts it: “We do the financial part of Nation Building.”

Born and raised in North Vancouver and a proud member of the Squamish Nation, Javen is dedicated to fostering economic growth and creating pathways for collaboration that drive lasting success for Indigenous communities.

Born and raised on Vancouver’s North Shore, Camden brings a strategic approach to driving growth and fostering collaboration with both Indigenous Nations and non-Indigenous business alike.

Traci Houpapa MNZM JP is Chair of the Federation of Māori Authorities and a nationally recognised governance leader specialising in strategic and economic development. A Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors, she has held numerous governance roles across agribusiness, Māori enterprise, and the primary sector, and is widely recognised as one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most influential leaders in Māori economic development.

Zion Nicholas is a 24 year old Māori Creative Entrepreneur and Founder of I AM Studios, a Māori Creative agency and social enterprise empowering rangatahi māori across Aotearoa. Specialising in digital marketing, brand strategy, and communications, Zion works with Iwi, Māori organisations, and purpose-led businesses to strengthen their brand through a creative, fresh and Māori approach.

A dedicated rangatahi leader, he is passionate about creating pathways for Young Māori in digital and creative industries, championing tino rangatiratanga – self determination through entrepreneurship. He values Indigenous connection and has engaged in cross-cultural initiatives with Indigenous communities internationally and is guided by identity, creativity and connection.

Dr. Behn Smith works alongside Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer. Dr. Behn Smith provides independent advice and support to the Ministry of Health on Indigenous health issues. In support of the ministry’s strategic agenda, Dr. Behn Smith works in meaningful partnership with Indigenous collectives, communities and organizations to advance wellness and disrupt colonial practices and policies.

Dr. Behn Smith is Eh Cho Dene (Big Animal People) of the Fort Nelson First Nation in B.C. with French Canadian/Métis roots in the Red River Valley. Since getting her Doctor of Medicine from McMaster University and completing residencies at the universities of Ottawa and Manitoba, Dr. Behn Smith’s career has spanned the country and the globe.

She has practiced rural medicine in remote and First Nations communities across Canada. She was a board director for the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada, the director of education for the University of Alberta’s Indigenous Health Initiatives Program and the site director of the University of British Columbia’s Aboriginal Family practice residency. Since 2014, she has transitioned to a functional medicine practice. Functional medicine is a complex systems biology approach to family practice that resonates with Indigenous approaches to health and healing.

Dr. Behn Smith was also the host of “Medicine Woman”, a 13-episode television series which explored traditional healing practices in ten countries on six continents.

Caleb Behn (he/him – il/lui) is Eh-Cho Dene and Dunne-Za from Treaty 8 territory in northeastern British Columbia. A lawyer by training (UVic Law, Environmental Law and Sustainability; called to the BC Bar in 2015), his work sits at the intersection of water, energy, and Indigenous law. He is currently the Lands Manager for West Moberly First Nations. Previously, Caleb spent six years in Ottawa as Special Advisor on Water to the Assembly of First Nations, Legal Policy Advisor to National Chief Perry Bellegarde, and later as Director of the Rights Sector at AFN. He has also served as Senior Researcher at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, was a founding member of the Decolonizing Water Research Collective, and is the subject of the documentary film Fractured Land. Now back in his mother’s home community, Caleb continues to hunt, fish, and harvest in Treaty 8, while supporting Elders and advancing projects at the interface of Indigenous law, academic research and technology, most recently with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School and as a founding Advisory Board Member of the Indigenous Research Support Initiative at the University of British Columbia.

Keith Smith (BA Hon [French Studies], University of Ottawa, 1997) has held various positions within Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, including as director of Intergovernmental and International Relations. From 2013 to 2016, he was the director of Policy, Research and International at the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC). He also served as the director general of Policy and Communications at the CHRC. From 2016 to 2018, he worked for the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada as the director of policy. In this role, he dealt with a wide range of justice files, including an Indigenous rights framework, criminal justice system and family law reform, 2SLGBTQI+ issues and international human rights and justice matters. He joined Justice Canada in August 2021 as the director general of the UN Declaration Act Implementation Secretariat, leading on the development of a whole-of-government action plan to achieve the objectives of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He is a member of the Thessalon First Nation, a signatory to the Robinson Huron Treaty.

Anaru Smiler is Chair of Wairarapa Moana Trust and works across Māori economic development and governance. With an MBA from Victoria University of Wellington, he has extensive experience in policy and regulatory environments in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and contributes to a range of Māori economic development initiatives focused on strengthening whānau, whenua, and intergenerational prosperity.