Emmy Beaton

I build trust and productive relationships between government and First Nations by developing and leading both strategic and operational initiatives. I build partnerships with various levels of government, industry, and First Nations communities on collaborative governance in the context of sustainable natural resource development. Recently I have been leading innovative natural resource sector (NRS) change projects for the Province of BC, creating mechanisms that support First Nations’ communities to incorporate their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and laws into natural resource management in their traditional territories. I have also lead strategic engagements with First Nations to understand the challenges and opportunities communities have associated with natural resource development. By providing strategic advice to executive and leading staff through operational implementation, I create meaningful and innovative engagement processes that lead to improved relationships between First Nations and the Province. A am a thoughtful practitioner with an orientation to lifelong learning and reconciliation, including nine years of post-secondary education with a focus on political and social factors related to Indigenous language shift and language loss, and the interrelationship between policies and laws and the ongoing reconciliation processes between Indigenous communities and governments. I have a Masters of Arts in Dispute Resolution, which provides the theory, tools and tactics necessary to analyze conflict and facilitate the development of shared interests in multi-party negotiations in cross-cultural settings.