Session #4 of Leading From the Inside Out: Transforming Leadership 2020 Program
May 12, 2020
Leaders in First Nation community settings are often faced with complex problems having a variety of contributing factors including systemically entrenched colonial structures and ways of making decisions. While ever present, more and more, Indigenous leaders are returning to traditional forms of governance and decision-making protocols.
This workshop will explore transformational collaborative practices in leadership with roots from Anishinaabek tradition. It will invite participants to think more broadly about their impact and influence, drawing on cultural practices that invite shared problem-solving spaces.
As a leader, it’s important to build strong relationships that are sustainable, productive and transformative. This workshop will consider strategies used by the Anishinaabek that participants can add to their toolbox. These approaches can help to foster and implement collaborative practices that can be transformational in work and community life. Participants will also leave with a greater understanding of the impacts of colonialism on Indigenous governing systems and strategies implemented to strengthen community and organizational governance traditions.
Participants will:
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Explore the clan structure of the Anishinaabek as a model for decision-making.
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Define elements of collaborative spaces, inclusive facilitation, dynamic and innovative problem-solving environments that they can draw from Anishinaabek traditions.
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Compare Anishinaabek governance traditions with Western systems of decision-making in a context of transformation.
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Apply new learning to their own leadership practices.
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Experiment with a culturally-informed decision-making practices for a problem faced in your current workplace.
About the Presenter:
Leslee White-Eye is the former Chief of the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation and the nation’s 1st elected woman chief. She is Anishinaabe Ojibwe Kwe, mother, wife and community advocate with a focus on community development. Prior to being Chief, Leslee was an Education Officer for the Ontario Ministry of Education writing curriculum, supporting school boards in Indigenous education and coordinating the development of the first two Native Studies textbooks to be added to the Trillium List, Ontario’s approved textbook list.
Leslee was recently honoured to receive an Honourary Doctorate of Laws from Western University. She earned her Political Science and Master of Education degrees at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and her teaching degree at Nipissing University in North Bay. She has served as a trustee on Chippewa’s Thunderbird Trust for eight years and currently sits as Independent Trustee on Wasauksing First Nation’s M’tigo Min Trust. She also sits as a Board member of Kings’ University College in London, Ontario. She currently works in Indigenous education and governance for eight First Nations in Ontario seeking jurisdiction over education.
Generously Supported by the City of London
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