10th NATION2NATION
ANNUAL FORUM
October 20-22, 2026 | Kitimat, BC
2026 Speaker Bios
Lisa Mueller
Founder of Nation2Nation Events
Lisa Mueller from the Tsilhqot'in Nation is the founder and creator of the Nation2Nation Forum in Terrace, BC. She is a First Nation consultant, community builder and workshop facilitator recognized as a young, upcoming voice and connector in the First Nation Community in BC.
Aaron Pete
Chief of Chawathil First Nation & Host of the Nuanced Podcast
Aaron Pete is the Chief of Chawathil First Nation, a graduate of the Peter A. Allard School of Law, and the host of the Nuanced Podcast. Aaron’s background, including being raised by a single Indigenous mother with a disability, has given him a deep appreciation for the value of community, and he continues to use his platform to inspire and uplift others.
Cassandra Puckett
Manager Social Performance, Skeena Gold
Cassandra Puckett is a proud member of the Tahltan Nation and the Social Performance Manager at Skeena Gold & Silver, where she supports the Eskay Creek Revitalization Project on Tahltan Territory. She previously held senior roles with the Tahltan Central Government and the First Nations Health Authority. She brings an Indigenous worldview and a trauma-informed, culturally safe approach focused on building trust and creating environments where people feel respected and heard. Guided by respect, humility, and reciprocity, she believes relationships are the foundation of meaningful change, and that how we show up matters as much as what we achieve. She is committed to resource development that honours Indigenous knowledge, strengthens collaboration, and creates space for shared prosperity and long-term community wellbeing.
Chantal Tom
General Manager, Burns Lake Native
Chantal Tom is the General Manager of Burns Lake Native Development Corporation (BLNDC) and Burns Lake Native Logging Ltd. (BLNLL), overseeing a diverse portfolio of Indigenous-owned businesses and initiatives, including forestry operations, the 6 Nations Driving School, and employment and training programs serving the six First Nations in the Burns Lake region.
Chantal brings more than 15 years of experience in human resources, business administration, workforce development, and Indigenous economic development. Prior to joining BLNDC, she worked as a Human Resources Advisor with Endako Mines, where she gained extensive experience in recruitment, employee and labour relations, employment standards, compensation and benefits, and workplace health and safety.
Since joining BLNDC, Chantal has expanded her role from human resources into senior executive leadership, working closely with First Nations leadership, industry, government, training organizations, and community partners to create employment, training, business, and economic opportunities for Indigenous people.
She is passionate about building sustainable Indigenous businesses, developing local capacity, and ensuring that major projects create meaningful and lasting opportunities for First Nations communities.
Charles Morven
Secretary-Treasurer at Nisga'a Lisims Government
Aaron Pete is the Chief of Chawathil First Nation, a graduate of the Peter A. Allard School of Law, and the host of the Nuanced Podcast. Aaron’s background, including being raised by a single Indigenous mother with a disability, has given him a deep appreciation for the value of community, and he continues to use his platform to inspire and uplift others. Charles Morven, Secretary – Treasurer of Nisga’a Lisims Government (NLG) is serving his second term for the Nisga’a Nation, 8500 strong. Charles is of the Raven/Frog clan (Ganada), comes from Wilps Axdii Wil Luugooda/ Ksim Xsaan, and strengthened by the Nisga’a name Daaxheet. He has strong roots from the Nisga’a Village of Gitlaxt’aamiks,1 of 4 Nisga’a Villages along the Nass River. Secretary – Treasurer Morven works high level with NLG Executive Committee and the House of Making Laws (Wilp Si’ayuukhl Nisga’a) legislative decision tables. He holds the responsibility of chairing both Nisga’a Finance Committee, Nisga’a Capital Finance Committee, oversees and works with management of the Nisga’a Settlement Trust, supported by the 7 Nisga’a community memberships, and upholds tripartite agree-ments with BC and Canada to further strengthen the Nisga’a Treaty, 25 years in themaking. Secretary – Treasurer Morven holds the responsibility as lead negotiator on behalf of NLG for benefit agreements with mining industries, Ksi Lisims LNG project, and devel-oped partnership with the Fiore Group in the creation of Nations Royalty Corp. This was launched on June 20, 2024 and is the largest and first majority Indigenous owned public company trading on the TSX Venture. Secretary – Treasurer Morven has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in First Nations Studies through UNBC and a certificate in Advanced Management attained through the UBC Sauder’s School of Business. Secretary - Treasurer Morven currently resides in the Nisga’a Village of Gitwinksihlkw, BC, home community of beautiful wife, Nicole Morven. Charles and Nicole have one daughter Peyton Azak-Morven, and are all deeply rooted to the land, resources, and historic culture.
Craig Hallden
Corporate Relations Manager - Phase 2 Expansion, LNGC
Craig Hallden is the Corporate Relations Manager for LNG Canada’s Phase 2 Expansion and has been with the organization since 2020. His leadership is grounded in the belief that strong, trusted relationships are essential to responsible project delivery and lasting outcomes. He brings 23 years of experience in industry regulation, environmental consulting, HSSE, business development, and corporate relations. Craig leads proponents through complex projects by fostering collaboration, building trusted relationships, and creating shared value with Indigenous groups.
Joe Bevan
Former Chief Councillor of the Kitselas Nation
Joe Bevan brings more than three decades of senior Indigenous governance, economic development, financial management, and major-project leadership to clients working across Northwest BC. As the former Chief of the Kitselas First Nation, he helps First Nations, governments, and industry partners build nation-led strategies, durable commercial partnerships, and practical pathways to shared economic benefit.
His leadership spans Indigenous governance, finance, energy regulation, and procurement. Joe has served as Chair of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition, Chair of the First Nations Finance Authority, and director with the First Nations LNG Alliance, helping shape policy and practice where Indigenous rights, capital access, and resource development intersect. He currently serves as a board director with the BC Energy Regulator, chairs its Governance and Human Resource Committee, and advises the Province of BC on the development of an Indigenous Procurement Initiative.
Joe holds an MBA from Royal Roads University with a specialty in Management Consulting and brings hands-on experience in accounting, financial management, strategic planning, and governance design. He works with First Nations, government, and industry to strengthen Indigenous engagement, structure practical agreements, build trust, and advance long-term partnerships that create shared economic value.
Kluane Adamek
Principal & Founder, Kluane Adamek Consulting Inc
Kluane Adamek – Aagé (she/her) is a citizen of Kluane First Nation and honours the Matriarchs who welcomed her into the Dakl’aweidi (Killer Whale) Clan. A nationally recognized leader, she is committed to ensuring that Indigenous Peoples, particularly women and youth, are at the forefront of decisions shaping their lands, economies, and futures.
From 2018 to 2025, Kluane served as the Assembly of First Nations Yukon Regional Chief, working alongside First Nations leaders, Matriarchs, Knowledge Keepers, youth, governments, and industry. Her leadership is grounded in the understanding that meaningful partnerships must respect each Nation’s rights, laws, cultures, and priorities while creating lasting benefits for communities and future generations.
Kluane was recently appointed Vice-Chair of the National Council for Reconciliation and serves as Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Council to Canada’s Major Projects Office. She is also a Trustee of the Kluane First Nation Trust, a Director on the Board of WWF-Canada, and a Board Member of the Yukon First Nations Chamber of Commerce. Through her consulting corporation, she continues to support Indigenous leadership, meaningful partnerships, and community-driven change.
Guided by her grandparents and the Matriarchs who came before her, Kluane believes leadership begins with values. While she carries many roles, the one she holds most closely—and considers most important—is being a mother to her daughter, Tayāna Copper-Jane.
Ojay Matias
Director of Partnerships & Development, Cheslatta Development Corporation
Ojay Matias is the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Development at Cheslatta Contracting LP, where he works with a dynamic team to advance cross-industry partnerships, business growth, and sustainable economic development. With a background in airline operations management and over 17 years of experience in major industrial construction and infrastructure projects across British Columbia, he brings extensive leadership and business development expertise. His work spans environmental protection, wildfire resiliency, mining and mineral development, major infrastructure projects, and industrial services. A dedicated husband, father, and community leader, Ojay is passionate about building strategic partnerships between Indigenous communities, industry, and government that strengthen Indigenous participation and create lasting economic opportunities.
Rich Truman
Independent External Relations Expert & Consultant
Rich Truman is an award-winning communicator focusing on helping natural resource organizations and First Nations find certainty by bridging the gap between technical requirements and the productive relationships required to mitigate risk and to progress.
Richard Piche
President, Cascade Projects Ltd
Richard Piche is a Cree and Métis executive with more than 50 years in the energy sector in Canada and internationally. He is Interim CEO of yáqʷa, the Haisla Nation's development corporation, where he previously served as Board Co-Chair, and he sits on the Board of the Alberta Energy Regulator.
Richard's career was built in gas processing and major project delivery. He held senior roles with Northridge Exploration (now TC Energy), ConocoPhillips in Indonesia, Niko Resources in India, Gas Liquids Engineering and Keywest Projects, directing capital projects of up to $5.5 billion, from Montney gas facilities in northeast BC and the O'Chiese Nees-Ohpawganu'ck deep-cut gas plant to LNG and carbon capture engineering. Today he applies that experience on Canada's north coast, where LNG is creating a new economic foundation for the Haisla Nation and the base for its diversification.
He has always invested in the people around him. In Indonesia with ConocoPhillips and in India with Niko Resources, Richard developed and taught operations training programs for national staff, including a national employee training program delivered in partnership with SAIT and a safety program built on training, documentation and operating standards.
Richard holds the ICD.D designation through the Institute of Corporate Directors' Directors Education Program (University of Toronto and University of Alberta), with further director training from the University of Calgary in audit committee effectiveness, boardroom financial essentials, Crown director effectiveness and enterprise risk oversight. He is also a PMP and a graduate of SAIT's Natural Gas Processing program. He has chaired Apeetogosan (Métis) Development Inc. and Métis Economic Development Inc., served on the Board of Governors of the Canadian Energy Executive Association, and was CEO of Alberta Métis Incorporated. He is the founder of Cascade Projects Ltd., an Indigenous-owned project management and Indigenous relations firm.
Throughout his career, Richard has helped industry and government understand the Indigenous economy: how Nations invest, partner and build lasting wealth on their own terms. On the Trans Mountain Expansion, he helped lead two rounds of engagement between Finance Canada and Indigenous Nations, the first with 159 and the second with 129, on equity and revenue-sharing participation models.
With that many years in the industry, Richard keeps finding ways to give back. He has co-developed a course on Indigenous and corporate governance for directors, serves on advisory boards for Parks Canada and the Energy Futures Lab, and is a certified emergency first response instructor.
Richard is a descendant of Chief Peechee (Pesew) of the Mountain Cree and of Gabriel Dumont. He lives in Cochrane, Alberta, with his wife Darlene.
Shannon Joseph
Chair, Energy for a Secure Future
Ms. Joseph is an accomplished sustainable development and public affairs professional, currently serving as Chair of Energy for a Secure Future (ESF) — a nonpartisan initiative of business, labour, municipal and Indigenous leaders, as well as industry organizations across various sectors, focused on building a secure energy future for Canada and its international allies.
She is motivated by the strong conviction that energy is about people and that abundant, affordable, low-emission energy is a pre-condition for growing the middle class, protecting the environment and in Canada, advancing reconciliation.
In addition to her role with ESF, Ms. Joseph is a member of the board of directors of Tamarack Valley Energy, a Canadian oil and gas company operating in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. She is also an Energy Forum Fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a member of the Energy Committee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
Previously, Ms. Joseph served as Vice-President, Government Relations and Indigenous Affairs with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and as the founding Director of the $75 million Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Over her career, she has served in senior roles focused on federal environmental policy, Indigenous and stakeholder relations and environmental program implementation. Ms. Joseph is a professional engineer with the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and holds a Bachelor of Engineering from McGill University and a Master of Applied Science – Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto.
Shona Nelson
Indigenous Initiatives and Sustainability, SN Advisory Corporation
Drawing on twenty-five years First Nation public sector experience inclusive of Comprehensive Community Planning (CCP) and First Nation organizational development, Shona has built and implemented governance, community and organizational plans that reflect community priorities and support long-term Nation-driven growth. Her work ensured that corporate and fiscal structures are aligned with a First Nation’s generational vision and goals.
During her time as Band Manager of Doig River First Nation, Shona was responsible for the negotiation and implementation of several major project agreements including the Coastal Gas Link, Prince Rupert Gas Transmission and associated pipeline benefits agreements. Shona also worked on the Site C Clean Energy Project from its initiation in 2007 to its recent completion. Building relationship agreements with industry proponents and local government was also a key part of her role in external relations with the Nation.
Shona played a key leadership role in developing the administration at Doig River First Nation that included opting into the First Nation Fiscal Management Act and the Framework Agreement on Lands Management resulting in the Nation enacting a Financial Administration Law, First Nation Taxation Laws and a Land Code.
During her time at Doig River, the Nation was a recipient of the AFOA Canada’s First Nation’s Award of Excellence in Leadership and Administration and in 2022, Shona was recipient of the BC AFOA’s Band Administrator Recognition Award.
Across all projects, Shona brings a Nation-centered, practical approach, building scalable governance and development systems that support strong corporate structures, land-based economic opportunities, and sustainable, self-determined futures for First Nations.
Stewart Muir
Resource Works
Stewart Muir is a historian, award-winning journalist, and communicator specializing in Canadian natural resources and energy policy. As founder and CEO of Resource Works, he advocates for responsible resource development. He created the Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase (IPSS) to highlight economic opportunity and successful Reconciliation partnerships between industry and Indigenous communities.
Tim Joyce
Owner | Director of Nooma Logic
Tim Joyce is an Australian-Canadian entrepreneur and Founder of Nooma Logic, a Prince George-based business strategy and digital transformation company supporting Indigenous economic development corporations, resource companies and Northern businesses across British Columbia and the Yukon.
His career spans military service, financial technology, natural resources, construction and business development. After serving in the Australian Army, Tim went on to lead national marketing campaigns for Tyro, one of Australia's prominent banking and payments technology companies. His experience includes business ownership, strategic partnerships and working alongside industry and Indigenous organizations to develop commercial opportunities across Western Canada.
Through Nooma Logic, Tim combines business strategy with emerging technologies, helping organizations strengthen their operations, build capacity and identify new revenue opportunities. His work includes artificial intelligence, automation, feasibility preparation, funding intelligence and procurement systems, with a particular focus on helping Indigenous development corporations and Northern businesses participate in major projects and diversify their economies.
Tim represents Northern BC and the Yukon on the Western Canada Committee of the Canadian Australian Chamber of Commerce, strengthening connections between businesses, communities and international markets.
A former competitive diver, Tim also founded a not-for-profit diving club in Prince George and previously served as Funding Director at Engage Sport North, reflecting his commitment to community development and creating opportunities for others.
Tim is passionate about building practical partnerships that create long-term economic opportunities for Northern communities and local businesses.
Trevor Bruintjes
CEO, AI Edge | AI Strategist, Trainer & Business Leader
Trevor Bruintjes is the CEO of AI Edge, a Canadian AI training company focused on helping people develop the practical skills to confidently use artificial intelligence in their everyday work.
With over 30 years of business leadership experience, Trevor understands that the true value of AI isn't simply having access to the technology. It's knowing how to use it effectively.
Through AI Edge, Trevor and his team have helped more than 65 organizations embrace AI, teaching business owners, employees, and leaders how to build their own AI assistants, improve decision-making, automate repetitive tasks, and reclaim valuable time.
His approach is simple: Teach the skills, not just the tools. By making AI accessible, practical, and immediately useful, Trevor helps organizations move beyond curiosity and start seeing measurable results.
Trevor believes AI should empower people, strengthen businesses, and create new opportunities for communities. His guiding philosophy is that AI doesn't make us less human. It gives us more time to be human.
