Dr. Dawn Memee Lavell Harvard, Ph.D., is a proud member of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation, on Manitoulin Island and currently serves as the Director at the First Peoples House of Learning at Trent University. She was recognized as the first Indigenous Trudeau Scholar for her work in Indigenous education and has sought to advance the rights of Indigenous women and their families in various roles including her past presidency of the Native Women’s Association of Canada. She continues her advocacy through her current role on the Board of the Canadian Women's Foundation, the National Indigenous Women's Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, Roots of Empathy, Mothers Matter Centers, and the local Community Health Center.