Lea Nicholas-MacKenzie

Biography

Lea Nicholas-MacKenzie is the founder of LNM Indigenous Consulting, working with Indigenous Peoples, governments, organizations and corporations to achieve transformative change, focusing on Indigenous engagement, inclusion, human rights and reconciliation. She is a member of the Wəlastəkwey (Maliseet) Nation at Negwotkok (Tobique), in New Brunswick. She holds a BA in French Language and Linguistics from the University of New Brunswick and an MA in Leadership and Training from Royal Roads University.

Lea has held a number of senior roles within Indigenous organizations as well as in the federal government, such as the Special Advisor for Indigenous Issues based at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN in New York, the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Director of Aboriginal Participation and Chief of Protocol for the Four Host First Nations, and  Chief of Staff to the National Chief at the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). She also has extensive experience in international policy and relations, including a focus on Indigenous women, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and numerous national and international committee positions.

Lea is a founding member of the Honouring Nations Canada Circle of Advisors at Fulbright Canada. She is featured as one of 150 Indigenous women on the “Influential Indigenous Women Timeline” at the Canada School of Public Service, as was recently recognized with a 2021 Inclusion Vanguard Award as part of WXN Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100.