ELAINE ALEC is from the Syilx (Okanagan) Nation and Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation and is amember of the Penticton Indian Band. She started her first business when she was twenty-one years old. In 2008 she led a four-year process in her community to create aComprehensive Community Plan for the Penticton Indian Band that gained nationalrecognition in Canada.Elaine has worked for provincial and federal governments as both employee andcontractor for the past twenty years and has extensive experience in designing collaborativeand inclusive processes in sensitive and divisive settings. She has worked as a politicaladvisor to British Columbia leadership and served a three-year term as the Union of BC IndianChiefs’ Women’s Representative, advocating for women’s and girls’ safety.Elaine has spent over twenty years in over 100 communities across Canada to promotehealing and wellness with Indigenous knowledge. She is a partner in an Indigenous-ownedand-operated planning company called Alderhill Planning Inc., along with Chris Derickson andJessie Hemphill, who are both leading experts in Indigenous community planning