Koren Lightning-Earle
President

Box 2097 Hobbema, Alberta T0C1N0
Phone: (780) 721-2345
Email: klightning-earle@indigenousbar.ca

Koren Lightning-Earle is Cree and from Samson Cree Nation, Alberta.  She is a sole practitioner in her home community and is a Council Member for Samson Cree Nation.

Koren has a Bachelor of Arts in Recreation and Leisure Studies and a Bachelor of Arts Special in Sociology. She graduated from Law School in 2007 at the University of Alberta.  She was called to the bar in February 2009 and had the honour of having her Bar Call on her Reserve of Samson Cree Nation.  She was called by Chief Justice Wachowich and Federal Court Justice Mandamin.

Koren has been on the IBA board since 2005, starting as a student representative and moving to the executive. She is the President of Kasohkowew Child Welfare Society.  She sits on the board on directors for Samson Management Ltd and Peace Hills General Insurance and was a sessional instructor at Maskwachees Cultural College.

Katherine Hensel
Vice-President

Hensel Barristers
1201 - 180 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2V6
Phone: (416) 966-0404
Fax: (416) 966-2999
Email: khensel@indigenousbar.ca

Katherine Hensel is a Sewecpemc lawyer whose practice takes her across Canada. She litigates on behalf of First Nations and their members, and First Nations' organizations, in cases involving treaty and Aboriginal rights, child welfare, commercial disputes, and election appeals, as well as select criminal matters. Katherine is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. She was Assistant Commission Counsel to the Ipperwash Inquiry and is counsel to the Native Women's Association of Canada on the issue of Missing and Murdered Women and the Oppal Inquiry in British Columbia. In April, 2011, Katherine founded Hensel Barristers.

Drew Lafond
Secretary

1600 Centennial Place
520 - 3rd Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 0R3
Phone: (403) 693-4336
Email:  dlafond@indigenousbar.ca

Drew is a Cree-Shushwap First Nation from Treaty 6 territory. He was born and raised on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and has ties to the Chu Chua First Nation in British Columbia.  He completed his B.A. Honours in Public Administration at the University of Saskatchewan in 2006. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Victoria in 2009. During his studies, he served as the President of the Indigenous Law Students Association and participated in the Kawaskimhon Aboriginal Rights Moot in 2008.  He is currently an associate with MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP in Calgary, Alberta.

Drew was elected to the board of the Indigenous Bar Association in 2007 as a student member and was re-elected to the board in 2009 and in 2011.

Tania Monaghan
Treasurer

Gatineau, Quebec
Email: tmonaghan@indigenousbar.ca

Tania is a member of the Cree Nation of Wemindji located on the eastern coast of James Bay, Québec. She graduated from Laurentian University with a Certificate in Aboriginal Legal Education and a B.A. in Law & Justice/ Native Studies. Tania is a graduate of the Program of Legal Studies for Native People at the University of Saskatchewan. She obtained her LL.B from the University of Windsor in 2008. Tania articled at the University of Ottawa Legal Clinic in the Aboriginal Division. She most recently attended the National Civil Law Program at the University of Ottawa.

Tania has been a member of the IBA Board of Directors since 2006 when she was elected as student representative, now sitting as treasurer. She currently works on community based projects in James Bay. 

Brenda Gunn
Members–at–Large

Assistant Professor
University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law
300K Robson Hall
Winnipeg, MB  R3T 2N2
Phone: (204) 272-1667
Fax: (204) 474-7580
Email: bgunn@indigenousbar.ca

Brenda Gunn is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba. She has a J.D. from the University of Toronto and completed her LL.M. in Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy at the University of Arizona. She was called to the Law Society of Upper Canada and Manitoba. Brenda also worked at a community legal clinic in Rabinal, Guatemala on a case of genocide submitted to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. She has also consulted on Aboriginal and treaty rights cases in Manitoba. She has participated in several international meetings. Her current work focuses on implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She has created a handbook on the UN Declaration and will be delivering 4 regional workshops this fall. 

Katherine Koostachin
Members–at–Large

Willms Shier Environmental Lawyers LL.P
4 King Street West, Suite 900
Toronto, ON  M5H 1B6
Email: kkoostachin@indigenousbar.ca

Katherine is a member of the (Cree) Mushkegowuk community of Attawapiskat First Nation, Ontario. She is an associate with Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP in Toronto, Ontario.

Katherine graduated from the University of Ottawa's Common Law Program in 2007 and called to the Ontario Bar in 2008. She received her B.A. in Political Science/International Relations from the University of British Columbia in 2002.

During her articles at the University of Ottawa Community Legal Clinic, she provided legal aid services directly with the Aboriginal community in Ottawa. Katherine also interned with the Aboriginal Litigation Management Group at the Department of Justice, the former Indian Claims Commission, and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Katherine participated in the Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Resources & Governments, held at Osgoode Hall Law School. She received the prestigious opportunity to clerk for the Pueblo of Isleta Appellate Court in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Katherine's current practice is in Aboriginal, Environmental, and Natural Resources Law. Her focus is building Aboriginal economic development initiatives, such as participation agreements/impact benefit agreements and consultation protocols for industry and Aboriginal communities. She also has a special interest in incorporating TEK into the environmental assessment processes. This includes an interest in environmental liability issues on the contamination of reserve and traditional lands, and impacts on species at risk.

Lee Robin Schmidt
Members–at–Large

Associate
Peter Grant & Associates
Suite 900 -777 Hornby St.
Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1S4
Email: leeschmidt@indigenousbar.ca

Lee is privileged to work exclusively with indigenous individuals, organizations and governments. Her area of practice includes referrals, consultation & accommodation processes, the negotiation of modern treaties, and claimant counsel in the alternative dispute resolution process (IAP) for historic residential school abuse.

Lee serves as faculty for two Banff Centre offerings, "Establishing Effective Aboriginal Relationships" and "Aboriginal Strategic Planning". She served as an appointed member of the Equity and Diversity Committee of the Law Society of British Columbia and on its Aboriginal Law Graduates Committee.

Lee served as a member of the Board of Directors from 2005 - 2007. She was re-elected to the Board on October 1, 2011 at the Annual General Meeting of the IBA Membership.

Lee graduated law school in 2002 from the University of British Columbia and was called to the bar of British Columbia in 2003.

She also worked for 4 years in adult education and human resources development for the Sto:lo Nation. Born and raised in British Columbia, her ancestry is Métis-Cree of Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan from her father, Louis and Dutch from her mother, Lisa.

Joseph (Joey) Flowers
Student Representatives

B.C.L./LL.B candidate, McGill University, 2008-2012
Jane Glassco Arctic Fellow, 2010-2012
http://www.gordonfn.org/resfiles/JFlowers.htm
Email: jflowers@indigenousbar.ca

Joseph Paul Flowers is an Inuk-English Canadian from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, and Montreal, Quebec. He is earning a dual B.C.L./LL.B law degree from McGill University in Montreal, and aims to graduate in either December 2011 or April 2012.

En même temps que ses études, il est actuellement un boursier de la fondation Walter et Duncan Gordon, sous le programme de la Bourse Arctique Jane Glassco (2010-2012). Ses recherches examine le programme et politique de soutien pour les étudiants et étudiantes collégiales et universitaires, administré par la commission scolaire Kativik.

Prior to Joseph's law studies, he completed a B.A. in linguistics at McGill University. Before attending university, he was a student at l'Institut de Tourisme et d'Hôtellerie du Québec in Montreal, where he earned a diploma in professional cooking. After graduating from ITHQ, he cooked professionally in some of Montreal's top restaurants.

À part de ses études à McGill et ses recherches avec la fondation Gordon, Joseph est amateur de vélo à longue distance, il passe des heures à cuisiner et à faire des conserves, toujours avec sa femme, Jayne.

Leighanne Gardipy-Bill
Student Representatives

115-255B Russell Road
Saskatoon, SK S7K 7G8
Email: lgardipy-bill@indigenousbar.ca

Leighanne Gardipy-Bill is Cree from the Beardy's & Okemasis First Nation. She attended school in her home community and was the Valedictorian of her graduating class. After completing grade 12, Leighanne attended the University of Saskatchewan. In 2006, Leighanne received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Sociology and Native Studies. Leighanne also received a certificate in Aboriginal Justice and Criminology from the University of Saskatchewan.

Leighanne then worked for the Saskatoon Tribal Council Urban Justice Unit focusing on the area of Restorative Justice. She successfully completed the Program of Legal Studies for Native People and is currently in her first year of legal studies at the University of Saskatchewan. Leighanne was elected as the student representative on the IBA Board of Directors in September, 2011.

Anne Chalmers
Administrative Support

70 Pineglen Crescent
Ottawa, ON
K2G 0G8
Phone: (613) 224-1529
Email:achalmers@indigenousbar.ca