Kassandra McKeown

Kassie McKeown is a young professional, born and raised in Alderville First Nation, located on the southern shore of Rice Lake, Ontario.

Kassie grew up in her community, surrounded by family and culture. She is a dancer, hand drummer, and crafter. She has worked in many capacities within her community, be it at the Health and Social Services Building, the Alderville Black Oak Savanna, or volunteering for many community events such as the annual powwow. Currently, Kassie sits on the Alderville Community Trust as Vice-treasurer, and on the Alderville Lands Advisory Committee, working to develop and implement a Land Code for the community. She also sits on the Board of Directors for Alderville Solar Inc., the first 100% First Nations owned and operated solar farm in Ontario.

Kassie graduated from Carleton University with a B.A Honours focusing on Law, Indigenous Studies and Psychology. During her time at Carleton, she began working at the Toronto Zoo as a Field Technician, where she gained in-depth knowledge of environmental conservation monitoring techniques and practices. This experience, coupled with her relationship with the Black Oak Savanna inspired her to pursue a post-graduate degree in Environmental Planning at Fleming College’s School of Environmental and Natural Resource Science. Through her post graduate degree, she obtained a fulltime, permanent position with Cambium Indigenous Professional Services (CIPS), currently in the position of Project Lead.

As Project Lead at CIPS, Kassie works in a variety of capacities to inform good practices regarding land stewardship and the bridging of Western Science with Indigenous Ways of Knowing. She works with many ENGO’s, Governmental departments, and Indigenous Nations throughout Canada to foster good relations.

Kassie recently finished facilitating a two-year program with the Ontario Aboriginal Lands Association that focused on enhancing community driven land stewardship for 7 First Nation communities in Ontario, following the process set out in the ECCC funded, CIPS developed, “Land Relationship Visioning” toolkit. Kassie is eager to learn and continue to grow professionally and personally, deepening her understanding of internal processes and the best path(s) forward for a prosperous future that cares for future generations.