Ashley Callingbull
Ashley is an actress, model, host and First Nation’s activist from the Enoch Cree Nation. She is an actress on Blackstone and Tribal and was a contestant on the Amazing Race Canada.
Ashley is also an international motivational speaker and has been a keynote speaker at Harvard University, TED Talks and WE Day.
Ashley is an ambassador for Hillberg & Berk, RW&Co, The Saskatoon Blades, The Saskatchewan Rush and Nike. She is also the physical fitness ambassador for the Indigenous Sports Council of Alberta. This March, Ashley was announced as the first Indigenous First Nations woman to become a Sports Illustrated Model. Ashley is currently an In Game Host for the Canadian Football League, the National Lacrosse League and the National Hockey League. She also recently signed her first book deal with Harper Collins publishing and will be a published author in 2024.
Panel Speakers for 2023 include:
Indigenous Innovation Panel
Justina Sather, General Manager of Gold Horse Casino
Justina Sather is the General Manager of Gold Horse Casino and is a member of White Bear First Nation. Justina started her career with SIGA 13 years ago at Living Sky Casino working in many different capacities including Food and Beverage Manager and Marketing Manager. In 2018 Justina relocated to Lloydminster and played an integral role in the opening of Gold Horse Casino as the Senior Operations Manager. Today Justina Sather is proud to be the second successful female candidate to be selected for the role of General Manager within SIGA Casinos.
Justina is a board member of the Lloydminster Health Foundation and was previously a member of the Lloydminster Chamber Board of Directors. Justina currently resides in Lloydminster with her husband and 2 children and enjoy travelling together as a family.
James Ouellette, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT)
Raised in Northwest Saskatchewan, James is a member of the Flying Dust First Nation. His ancestry is Woodland Cree and Plains Metis.
James works for the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies in the role of Sr. Director Employment & Strategic Initiative. His responsibilities besides strategic Initiatives for the SITAG (Saskatchewan Indian Training Assessment group) network include oversight of 10 job placement career centres, the mobile JobConnections program and the foundational JobSeries program.
With 35 years in the field of human services his career includes the field of justice, child welfare and employment & training. As a Prosci certified change manager his passion is helping individuals and organizations adopt new and better ways of working, particularly when it comes to helping Indigenous people enter the workforce.
Indigenous Partnership Panel
Trent Zacharias, Director of Community and Indigenous Affairs, Cenovus Energy
As Director, Community and Indigenous Affairs, Trent is responsible for leading Cenovus’s efforts in working with Indigenous communities, municipal governments and non-profit organizations. This includes guiding the company’s Indigenous business development, consultation and engagement, negotiating and implementing community benefit agreements, progressing the Cenovus Indigenous Housing Initiative, the employee giving and volunteering program, and partnerships with non-profit organizations. Trent has been with Cenovus and its predecessor company since 2006 and has held various engagement roles.
He also has previously held field positions with Cenovus and spent several years working closely with the company’s community partners near its operating areas. Before joining Cenovus, Trent worked in public affairs and communications positions in northeastern Alberta. Trent has a diploma in Communications from Lethbridge College and an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business. He serves on several industry committees involved with Indigenous community matters and is the president and board chair for Inside Education, a non-profit organization in Alberta.
Nigel McCarthy, Lloydminster Catholic School Division (LCSD)
Nigel McCarthy is the Director of Education and CEO for Lloydminster Catholic School Division. He has spent 27 years in Education in across Canada and around the world. He has worked with indigenous peoples throughout his career both in Canada and overseas. His focus in this work has been to make clear the strengths of indigenous practices and knowledge for the benefit of our shared future.
Jeff Mulligan, Astec Safety Inc
After 20 years that included the formation of a Canadian Schedule “A” Bank and pioneering ATM sharing, Jeff served as the President & CEO of one of the most successful Credit Unions in the country for 14 years. While Mayor, the city acknowledged the important relationship with First Nations, celebrating Treaty 6 Territory with a special ceremony and the permanent placement of the territorial flag at City Hall. He followed this by leading the city to a mutually beneficial Urban Services Agreement with Little Pine First Nation that enabled the development of the Gold Horse Casino project.
He was the Chair of CBC’s Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada – 2014, leading 600+ volunteers to deliver 49 events over 4.5 days, culminating in 10 hours of live national television coverage with more than 1.5 million viewers. He brings 45 years of experience having served as a Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Governance/Board of Director, Political Leader, and Entrepreneur.
Today his energy is focused on his growing business interests that feature ASTEC SAFETY and ASTEC Leadership Development Management Consulting in Alberta & Saskatchewan. We are proud business partners with Primco Dene Group of Companies (Cold Lake First Nations), who own and operate the ASTEC SAFETY-Bonnyville branch.
Jeff is a widely sought after keynote speaker who specializes in strategic thinking, leadership development, corporate turnarounds & transformational change.
Some of our past speakers include:
- Blaine Mirasty – Cree North Adventures
- Keith Henry – Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada
- Shae Bird – Indigenous Tourism Alberta
- Cody Demerais – Life is Limitless
- Sylvia Vineham – Vineham’s Cleaning Services Ltd. and Smiiley B Swaggin Bags
- Monica Brunet – Saskatchewan Metis Economic Development Corp
- Mike Young – Integrated Indigenous Energy Management
- Erin Close – Synergy Credit Union Human Resource Manager
- Nick Crighton – Executive Director of the Indigenous Manufacturing and Contracting Network
- Chief Cadmus Delorme
- Thomas Benjoe, B.Admin. Pro. Dir. President & CEO, FHQ Developments
- Jacob Faithful
- Mallory Yawnghwe
- Niilo Edwards
- Michael Linklater, 3×3 World Tour Basketball Player, Entrepreneur, Community and Youth Activist-Proud Indigenous-Life long Learner.
- Jim Boucher, 2018 Canadian Energy Person of the year
- Chief Clarence Louie, Chief of Osoyoos Indian Band
- Devon Fiddler, Founder and Chief Changemaker of SheNative Goods Inc.
- Heather Abbey, Founder of ShopIndig.ca
- Dallas Soonias, volleyball player who competed for the Men’s National Team.
- Clint Davis, VP of Aboriginal Banking at TD Bank Group
- Terry Bird, Lead Advisor First Nation & Metis Initiatives for K+S Potash.
- Shaun Soonias, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan First Nations Economic Development Network
- Zane Hansen, President & CEO of Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
- Chief Tammy Cook-Searson, Chief of Lac La Ronge Indian Band
- Kelly Lendsay, BSPE, MBA, CAFM, ICD.D President & CEO INDIGENOUS WORKS (formerly the Aboriginal Human Resource Council)
- Ken Coates Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan campus and Munk Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
