Leadership Team

Chief Jim Boucher, AOC, CBHF

President and Co-Founder

Chief Jim Boucher is President and Co-Founder. He previous served as the long term Chief of Fort McKay First Nation. Jim has been and continues to be one of the most influential and successful Indigenous leaders internationally. Jim believes practice and preservation of one's traditional way of life can occur simultaneously alongside continuous and long-term sustainable energy development. Jim has effectively built relationships with the oil and gas industry and all levels of government. This has built Fort McKay's social and economic strength, facilitated proper consultation, and advanced the rights of his community and its people

Full Bio

Jauvonne Kitto

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder

As a member of Saa Dene executive team, her role is to set the strategic vision and manage the daily operations of the companies.

She continues to be an entrusted chief negotiator for various First Nations Rights and Title based and major and critical economic reconciliation files, leading high-level discussions' and securing landmark agreements.

She is well respected for advocating Indigenous self-determination economic development, and meaningful consultation and collaboration with industry and government, grounded in the legal and constitutional foundations that recognize and affirm the rights of Indigenous peoples Constitutional, Treaty and Inherent rights.

Full Bio

Team

Doreen Cardinal-Somers

Doreen is a Haudenosaunee (Mohawk) and Cree woman, from the Treaty 9 territory registered with the Chapleau Cree First Nation. Doreen actively exercises her inherent and Treaty rights and brings a lived, Treaty, and governance-based perspective to her work related to the impacts on Treaty rights from industrial development, as well as government relations. Since relocating to the Treaty 8 territory 2007, Doreen has held senior leadership toles, including Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director with First Nations and First Nation led organizations across the Treaty 6 & 8 territories. Her work focuses on Treaty and Inherent rights, consultation strategy, regulatory and environmental processes and the impacts of industrial development on land, waters, and rights. Doreen has advised Chiefs and Councils on consultation, governance training and development, negotiation, court challenges, and governance alignment to strengthen the protection of Treaty rights. She has also worked at the federal and provincial government, learning their systems and how to navigate the system in the area of land issues, negotiation, and policy development.

Doreen has a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from York University and studied Law at Osgoode Hall Law School. She is known for developing strong and principled relationships grounded in respect, accountability, humility, honesty and integrity. She is grounded by her culture and traditions and thoroughly enjoys creating, whether it is beading or making traditional clothing. Doreen is incredibly dedicated and passionate about her family, her Nation and the ensuring that our traditions are passed onto youth and kept alive for future generations.

Dan Stuckless

Dan has extensive experience in driving sustainable growth and fostering Indigenous and community-driven collaboration in the Alberta Oil Sands region. I have experience managing environmental and multi-stakeholder programs involving air quality and industrial odours, traditional land use studies, and traditional ecological knowledge projects. I have also been involved in developing and evaluating government policies, regulations, and land management initiatives — providing strategic and technical advice that may impact benefit agreement negotiations. In addition, I am accustomed to receiving, reviewing and responding to oilsands, forestry, quarry, pipeline and other resource development-related applications to multiple provincial and federal regulators. Dan has a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) from Memorial University of Newfoundland.