Overview
TLC is governed by a Board of eminent Indigenous language specialists, both speakers and linguists. The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall direction and decision-making of the organization. Directors are elected for two-year terms from candidates nominated from within the Board.
Board Members
Lisa Perley-Dutcher is a Maliseet/Wolastoqi woman from the Tobique First Nation. She is a mother of 4 sons and grandmother to 4 granddaughters. She has been a registered nurse for 30 years with a Masters Degree in nursing from the University of New Brunswick. The focus of her career as a nurse has focused on contributing to the improvement of health outcomes for Indigenous peoples in Canada. Lisa worked as a community health nurse in one of the first communities that transferred health services to a First Nation community in the Atlantic Region. She was also at the forefront of the First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care Program when it was being launched into First Nations across the country. She established the first Aboriginal Nursing Initiative Director position at UNB Faculty of Nursing. She also worked as the Director of Mental Wellness for the Atlantic Regions First Nation and Inuit Health Branch. Lisa and her husband Stephen are partner consultants providing on-line educational sessions, facilitation and research services on various topics related to Indigenous history and health. She served as President of the Indigenous Nurses Association of Canada. She is currently a student studying her Wolastoqey Language and is heavily involved in language revitalization.
Sabre Pictou Lee, J.D. (Mi’kmaw) is an Indigenous liaison and researcher with over ten years of experience in the areas of Indigenous and Aboriginal law, mediation, Indigenous arts & culture, identity, health, and language revitalization. She holds a Juris Doctor of Law with a specialization in Indigenous and Aboriginal Law from Dalhousie University, an M.A. in Indigenous and Canadian Studies from Carleton University and a B.F.A. in Art History and Indigenous Studies from Concordia University. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Archipel Research & Consulting.
Dr. Janine Pease (Crow) is an educator and advocate. She is the founding president of Little Big Horn College, past president of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, and former director of the American Indian College Fund. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education and the White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities. She has also served as a trustee of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
Dr. Jan Ullrich is Linguistic Director and Vice-Chairman of The Language Conservancy. He is one of the world’s leading applied linguists and the foremost authority on the Lakota language. Mr. Ullrich brings these skills and specializations in curriculum development and teacher-training to his leadership of TLC’s endangered language programming work.