The Arctic Inspiration Prize National Selection Committee is composed of distinguished individuals known for their commitment to the Canadian Arctic and its Peoples. The Northern committee members, represent Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations, governments, NGOs, the private sector, as well as the artistic, cultural and scientific communities. Their unique contributions and areas of expertise are central to the success of the Arctic Inspiration Prize.
Topsy Banksland is from Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories and feels lucky to live in place where it is easy to go out on the land for little hikes and visit her family’s cabin during the summer. In the winter, she hikes with her dogs to the bluffs surrounding the community. Her educational background includes General Studies and Multimedia Communications at Yukon College, and she has also completed three Northern Youth Abroad Programs. She is a member of the Inuvialuit Regional Youth Advisory Group as the Ulukhaktok Representative and is also a part of the Uqarluta Inuinnaqtun group as a youth representative. Topsy is passionate about travelling, and she takes every opportunity to go out on the land. She loves learning more about her culture and traditional stories and feels that there is still much more to learn. She also loves reading about Inuit and their involvement in shipping expeditions that happened in the North. When she has the time, she likes to learn more about how to bead, and sew; especially with her friends. She is currently enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan in the Linguistics, Speech and Language Sciences Stream to pursue a career in Speech Language Pathology. She plans on working with Inuinnaqtun and Inuvialuktun dialects and creating content in the future, as she has always been interested in Inuit dialects and hopes to be a part of language revitalization across the Arctic.
Harry Flaherty is President and CEO of Qikiqtaaluk Corporation and Group of Companies, the largest Inuit-owned private employer in Nunavut. Mr. Flaherty is recognized as a prominent Inuit business leader advancing economic and career opportunities for Inuit and leading Qikiqtaaluk Corporation as the region’s economic driver.
Flaherty’s career with Qikiqtaaluk Corporation began in 1997 as Director of major projects. In 2009, Harry was appointed President and CEO of Qikiqtaaluk Corporation. In the ten years since his appointment, he has focused on restructuring the corporation to better reflect its business objectives and has positioned the corporation to be at the forefront of Nunavut’s emerging economy.
Under Harry’s direction, the Corporation has increased its service diversification through new subsidiaries, joint-ventures and partnerships which has advanced QC as a prominent and reliable leader and partner in industrial, institutional and infrastructure development.
Harry has received a number of awards and accolades throughout his career celebrating the advancements he has made for Nunavut and Nunavut Inuit. Most recently, Harry was awarded the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, being the First Indigenous Inuit to receive this award in its 20-year history. CEO Today magazine identified Harry Flaherty as one of the best among the world’s CEOs and he was selected as one of six CEOs in Canada to receive this prestigious award.
I am Cynthia Gaudreault, born in Kuujjuaq 30 years ago to a québécoise mother and Inuk father. I am a mother to a beautiful baby girl named Lavilu. Speaking English, French and Inuktitut has always been important for me in order to communicate and connect with my nunavimmiunguqatiit, people from Nunavik. Growing up, I had to navigate between two worlds since I went to school in the southern parts of Canada surrounded by my mothers family and lived in Kuujjuaq every summers and holidays to reunite with my father’s side. As a young adult, I studied Psychology at Université Laval in Québec city and decided to take a break from my studies to get to work after earning a Certificate. I have always been passionate about youth and the well being of the region I call home, which is what made me accept the role of Anti-bullying Consultant at Kativik Ilisarniliriniq – formerly known as Kativik School Board. This important work led me to travel to all 14 communities in Nunavik to visit each of their schools. I collaborated with different members to revise school intervention plans, review preventive activities and connect student counsellors as well as teachers to different funding opportunities that would help put to life the various projects planned for students. Since the past 4 years, I focused my energy on helping youth at a more local level as a student counsellor that specifically works to improve mental health for students ranging from grade 4 to secondary 5 in Kuujjuaq. I love this work because it puts me at the forefront of witnessing the growth of young people who work hard at trying to reach their full potential and being the best version of themselves no matter the adversity they may face. Before the pandemic, I was privileged to be hired by Students on Ice as a mental health counsellor during which youth and adult professionals sailed from Greenland to Nunavut to learn about the land, oceans and their relation to the people of these regions. I got to speak with Inuit youth from all circumpolar regions, indigenous and non indigenous youth from around the world and got a sense of their interests, goals and dreams. I will forever be inspired by people who work hard for what they want and make big things happen for themselves and the improvement of their communities.
My research is focused on studies of the structure and dynamics of plant and animal populations and their interactions. We work mostly in mountain, northern and arid environments, where landscape heterogeneity, climate change, and seasonal variability have a strong influence on ecological processes. Through a variety of long-term and/or large-scale observations and experimental studies, this work has contributed to new understanding about the ecological consequences of a warming planet; the development of strategies for conserving biodiversity; and opportunities for maintaining and restoring disturbed ecosystems. Much of my long-term work is focused in the southwest Yukon, and increasingly is being conducted in collaboration with other academic, government and First Nations partners. Other work in Alberta and BC is focused on the resilience of bighorn sheep, mountain goats and high alpine habitats in the Rocky Mountains. Internationally, I maintain a number of collaborative research and teaching initiatives with colleagues in Iceland and Costa Rica, and beyond. A second area of inquiry is focused on the science-policy interface, knowledge translation, Open Science, and the resilience of social-environmental systems.
Kyla LeSage is Vuntut Gwitchin from Old Crow, Yukon, and Anishinaabe from Garden River, Ontario. She grew up on Chief Drygeese Territory in Yellowknife, NT. Kyla is a Dechinta alumni where she received credits towards her UBC Degree in Political Science and Indigenous Studies. After graduating, she moved back to Yellowknife to work as a land-based and outreach coordinator with Dechinta and she is now the Director of Program Development, where she organizes and runs land-based programs for the public, students, and in partnership with numerous community organizations. Kyla has sat on many different board of directors and steering committees for northern organizations such as NWTRPA and the Western Arctic Youth Collective where she has had the honour to support northern programming in various communities.
An Indigenous female of Tlicho descent, Gaeleen MacPherson is a lifelong Northerner with a passion for the people of the North. Gaeleen is a graduate of St. Patrick’s High School in Yellowknife and graduated, with Honours, from the University of Lethbridge with a Bachelor of Management degree.
Although starting her career with the Government of the Northwest Territories, Gaeleen joined the mining industry in 2005 and has held progressively senior positions in the industry ever since, including Vice President Corporate Affairs with Dominion Diamond Mines. She is currently Head of Human Resources for Diavik Diamond Mines. In recognition of her accomplishments in the mining industry, Gaeleen was recognized in 2018 by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum with the prestigious CIM-Bedford Canadian Young Mining Leaders Award, which recognizes the exceptional achievement and potential of young Canadian mining leaders.
Through her work in the mining industry, Gaeleen has taken a keen interest in the education, training, and development of the people of the Northwest Territories. A former Chair of the Mine Training Society of the Northwest Territories, Gaeleen is also a former Board Member of the Mining Industry Human Resources Council of Canada.
Gaeleen is the mother of an energetic 8-year-old son and, whether summer or winter, she enjoys getting outside on the trails with her family. She is also known to have a bit of a green thumb.
Shelagh Rowles brings years of experience in developing programs in collaboration with Yukon First Nations, communities, government, and industry stakeholders through her experience as a senior leader at Yukon University where she has worked since 1991. She has sat on many local and national advisory boards related to building capacity in the North. She currently sits as a federally appointed member of Yukon’s Surface Rights Board.
In addition to working as an academic dean and administering Yukon College’s community campuses for many years, Shelagh has worked as the Executive Director for Yukon College’s Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining (CNIM) since it was established in 2013 and as the Executive Director of the university’s newly established Continuing Studies unit.
Shelagh holds a B.A., BEd., MEd., and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in history, public policy, and innovation.
Kristy is from and resides in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut (northern Labrador). She has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Acadia University and a Master of Arts in Tourism Management from Royal Roads University.
Kristy is a senior manager with the Nunatsiavut Government. Her career has been focused on community development. As Nunatsiavut’s first Director of Tourism, she helped establish the region as a tourism destination. Kristy transitioned into the role of Director of Economic Development in 2016. At the Governor General Canadian Leadership Conference (2017), she was recognized as one of the 250 up-and-coming leaders in Canada.
Kristy is an active member with industry organizations/companies including SmartICE, the Nunatsiavut Group of Companies and the Economic Development Association of NL
Arnold Witzig, together with his partner Sima Sharifi, is the founder of the Arctic Inspiration Prize and the S. and A. Inspiration Foundation. For several years, they studied and supported projects in the fields of education and gender equality in the developing world. In 2011 they decided to focus the work of the foundation in Canada, their homeland of choice.
Born in 1949 in Switzerland, Witzig was raised in modest circumstances on a small family farm. He graduated as an architect and gradually realized he could implement a more effective planning and implementation process for architectural projects. He understood that economic, environmental, architectural, technical and social needs had to be integrated in order to succeed, especially for complex industrial projects. After becoming the head of a small architectural firm at 31, Witzig started to carry out his vision to create a unique and comprehensive service by bringing together all the necessary specialists from different areas of expertise into a new business unit that focused on the print and media industry. Over a period of 18 years, the company that emerged, the IE Engineering Group, implemented the same business strategy in the plastics, food, life science and later high-tech industries. From its base in Zurich, IE grew rapidly and expanded to Munich, Geneva, Leipzig and later Frankfurt.
As Arnold Witzig approached 50, IE had become the market leader and was full of young talent. With his business goals achieved, it was time for a change. In 1998 he handed over the IE Group to its team members, representing three different language and cultural regions. Today every employee is an owner, no one person has majority control, and the same business model has been successfully maintained. In 1999, he said goodbye to his two grown up children, family, friends and his life as entrepreneur in Europe and flew to Vancouver, not knowing that it would soon become his new home. The same year, Arnold met his dream partner, friend, lover and wife Sima, who originally came from Iran.
Since moving to Canada, Arnold has explored the world intensively, on land while climbing and traveling, in the air, flying aerobatics and gliding and in the water, scuba-diving. He is the second Canadian and only Swiss who has completed the Explorers Grand Slam, which includes climbing each of the highest summits of the seven continents, incl. Everest and skiing to the South Pole and to the North Pole. He explored the Arctic regions in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Scandinavia and continues exploring to learn more about the challenges and the opportunities of the Arctic and its peoples.
Mathieya Alatini is an experienced leader with a tireless work ethic and a strong voice. She’s known for vision, trailblazing and a no-nonsense approach to overcoming obstacles to get things done.
Mathieya is from Burwash Landing and has extensive family throughout the Yukon. She was raised traditionally, having lived in both small towns and large cities, giving her the unique understanding necessary to bridge both worlds.
She has experience working with federal, territorial and First Nations governments. Mathieya holds a Degree in commerce from University of Victoria, and like many Yukoners has worked in several different industries throughout her career, ranging from tourism to construction and mining. Her experience serving as the Chief of Kluane First Nation from 2010-2016 gave Mathieya experience building a local economy, moving towards energy self-sufficiency and creating food security through building community. She continues to support communities through local, pan-northern and national boards and committees such as NRCan’s GEM2 AGN, EntrepreNorth, the National and Regional Selection Committees of the Arctic Inspiration Prize and KFN’s Constitution Committee.
The connection and pride she feels calling beautiful Kluane country home is a foundational motivator to her work in Yukon, across the North and the rest of Canada. Her vision is to create and support opportunities for social and economic growth in a way that will ensure our environment is here for future generations.
Madeleine started out at the CBC in 1997 as a reporter, and then became the afternoon radio host and soon after, the morning show host of Qulliq. She made the jump to work in TV when she became the host-producer of a National TV call-in show at the Aboriginal People’s Television Network in Winnipeg.
Since then, she has worked for the land claims organization at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. As well as spending four years as the Executive Assistant to the first female Premier of Nunavut.
She is originally from Resolute Bay and a direct descendant of the High Arctic exiles. Her family was relocated from Inukjuak, Nunavik in the 1950s.
She graduated in ‘94-’95 from Nunavut Sivuniksavut in Ottawa and became pregnant with hery first child. She now has 5 children with her youngest son graduating from high school this year. She also has two very busy, very beautiful grandchildren.
Madeleine has traveled the world with her music as a singer-songwriter and has proudly taught about her Inuit culture and traditions to a variety of people from the Queen of England and Prince Philip, to the Prince and Princess of Japan, to audiences in South Africa and all over Europe.
She is very proud of her Inuit culture and accepts the responsibility she carries as a role model for young people. To know they can achieve anything through taking chances, working hard, and never giving up.
At only twenty-six years old, Alicia Aragutak is a seasoned role model; she has travelled as far as Peru, New Zealand, and South Africa to speak about the vital importance of Indigenous culture. During her tenure as the founder and first President of the Qarjuit Youth Council, Alicia held Inuit youth consultations for all fourteen Nunavik communities, creating pioneering programs to bring youth and elders together. She served as a Youth Ambassador for the Qanuilirpitaa? survey initiative which examined the health of the Nunavik population, and also engaged in a regional Arctic Policy Framework roundtable, helping to build a long-term vision for the Canadian and circumpolar Arctic.
In her current position as Executive Director of the Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre, Alicia helps facilitate a culturally sensitive treatment and healing process which addresses the role that intergenerational trauma plays in addiction, grounding patient recovery in traditional Inuit practices. Alicia is a tireless change-maker whose work has already had a huge impact on the lives of Inuit across Inuit Nunangat.
Topsy Banksland is from Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories and feels lucky to live in place where it is easy to go out on the land for little hikes and visit her family’s cabin during the summer. In the winter, she hikes with her dogs to the bluffs surrounding the community. Her educational background includes General Studies and Multimedia Communications at Yukon College, and she has also completed three Northern Youth Abroad Programs. She is a member of the Inuvialuit Regional Youth Advisory Group as the Ulukhaktok Representative and is also a part of the Uqarluta Inuinnaqtun group as a youth representative. Topsy is passionate about travelling, and she takes every opportunity to go out on the land. She loves learning more about her culture and traditional stories and feels that there is still much more to learn. She also loves reading about Inuit and their involvement in shipping expeditions that happened in the North. When she has the time, she likes to learn more about how to bead, and sew; especially with her friends. She is currently enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan in the Linguistics, Speech and Language Sciences Stream to pursue a career in Speech Language Pathology. She plans on working with Inuinnaqtun and Inuvialuktun dialects and creating content in the future, as she has always been interested in Inuit dialects and hopes to be a part of language revitalization across the Arctic.
Residing in the Yukon with her young daughter and an active member of the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, Shelby is a recognized role model, artist, academic, activist and educator of Northern Tutchone descent. Building strong community connections and cultural programs within the areas of arts, education and cultural traditions is present in every aspect of her life. Shelby is known for gathering and sharing her knowledge in these areas with anyone who is willing to learn. She comes from a long line of artisans and storytellers, and loves to share the history behind the traditional art forms that she teaches. Shelby holds a Masters of Education in Leadership from SFU and has worked towards her PHD in Indigenous Governance from University of Victoria, pausing her studies to move back north when her daughter was born. She currently works with the department of Aboriginal Relations as a Senior Advisor in Implementation and Reconciliation for the Yukon Government.
A passionate singer/songwriter and soulful performer, Leela Gilday has a voice that comes straight from the heart. Confessing her stories to her audiences with a gutsy voice and open stage presence, Gilday weaves her experiences as a Northerner, a member of the Dene nation, and a traveler into a beautiful world that transports the listener.
With four full-length recordings and a long touring history, Gilday has numerous awards to her credit, including a Juno, two Western Canadian Music Awards, Aboriginal Female Entertainer of the Year to name a few. Above all, she seeks connection with her audiences through music, and with each record brings more unique stories to the world. Whether it’s an anthem for the oppressed, or an upbeat song about mortality, she infuses her songs with a sense of humour as well as a sense of social justice, and an ironic appreciation of human folly.
Based out of Yellowknife, NT, Leela has toured festivals and concert halls with her four-piece band through every province and territory in Canada. She has also played internationally in several countries including Japan, US, Greenland, Denmark, and New Zealand. Her live shows, and many appearances on television and radio have earned her an important place in the Aboriginal music scene, as well as a loyal mainstream following.
Mr. Girard is Senior Vice-President, Operations – Canada and Europe. From May to July 2020 he held the position of Vice President, Operations Support – Canada and Europe and prior to that VP, Nunavut from 2015 to 2020. Previous roles include Corporate Director with the Business Strategy and Technical Services groups, General Manager at the Meadowbank mine and Mill Superintendent at the Kittilä mine. He graduated with an engineering degree in mineral processing (B.Sc. – Laval University) and is a member of the OIQ (Quebec Order of Engineers).
Ruth is an Inuk youth from Arviat, Nunavut. She advocates for suicide prevention, climate change prevention and the importance of education. In 2016, Ruth was John Arnalukjuak High School’s Inuktitut valedictorian. Nationally, Ruth won Samara’s Everyday Political Citizen award for drawing on Inuit knowledge and western science to spread awareness of how climate change is affecting Inuit Nunangat.
In addition to her community involvement, Ruth is developing her entrepreneurial skills through the Inspire Nunavut Program. She is creating a business plan for a hydroponics greenhouse business. Her goal is to offer affordable options to her community by selling fresh produce grown in Arviat. Ruth has been accepted to Nunavut Sivuniksavut in Ottawa for the fall of 2017 and she is eager to learn more about the history of Inuit and Nunavut through this program.
Dr. Lisa Loseto is a Research Scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Winnipeg with the Arctic Aquatic Research Division. Lisa’s research focuses on characterizing beluga health as means to understand ecosystem health in the Western Canadian Arctic. She combines food web biotracers and habitat modeling to gain insight into predator-prey interactions and ecosystem energetics. Her research on beluga health and habitat use combines Western science and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). Dr. Loseto’s research programs are carried out in partnership with communities and co-management boards of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. She strives to serve all Canadians by providing knowledge and advice to decision makers and by helping to empower the people of the north through scientific knowledge combined with their own knowledge of their ecosystem and home.
Shawna McLeod is of Dene and Mètis heritage, originally from Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, but has spent most of her teen years living in, and is currently in Yellowknife, NT. She is a member of the Deh Gáh Got’íé First Nations. She has completed the Certificate in Indigenous Language Revitalization through a partnership between the University of Victoria and Aurora College. She has completed the Mentor-Apprentice program where she has begun the journey of learning her native language of Dene Zhatié. She has studied Professional Photography at the Western Academy of Photography in Victoria, BC where she has won awards for her work. Shawna is currently enrolled in the Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship Program.
McLeod’s career to date has focused on Sport and Recreation, and the development of Northern Games, Dene Games and Archery. Shawna is employed by the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the Northwest Territories. Recently Shawna was the Chef De Mission for Team NT at the North American Indigenous Games in Toronto, Ontario. She is passionate about building positive relationships and connecting with youth in communities across the North, a big part of her responsibility is to train community-based instructors in Northern and Dene Games who in turn will encourage youth to participate and stay connected with their heritage and culture.
Outside of work, McLeod enjoys learning new skills and is currently learning the craft of moose hair tufting, moose hide tanning, and porcupine quilling. She continues to hone her skills at beading and sewing. Shawna loves being out on the land with her partner and their three children, especially when it includes camping along the Mackenzie river or snowmobiling in the cold northern landscape. Shawna loves to take pictures of nature, family portraits and most of all networking with people of similar interests.
Tosh Southwick belongs to the wolf moiety and is a Citizen of Kluane First Nation. She grew up in a small northern community and is the mother to three children and the auntie to many more. She has worked with Yukon First Nations most of her career and in many different capacities. Most recently in her previous role as the Associate Vice President of Indigenous Engagement and Reconciliation at Yukon University Tosh oversaw the integration of First Nation ways of knowing and doing throughout the institution. During her 12 years there she worked with her team to ensure that Yukon University was meeting the education and training needs of the 14 Yukon First Nations. Tosh is a trained facilitator and knowledge sharer. She has worked with organizations across sectors to build and deliver relevant and culturally appropriate workshops and creating safe spaces to explore complex topics. Tosh has worked in Governance, Education, Human Resources and Health for various First Nation Governments and organizations. She has also served as youth counselor and Deputy Chief for her First Nation. Tosh acquired her B.A. with honors in Psychology from the University of Victoria and completed a Master’s in Education with the University of British Columbia.
