OUR TEAM
Coming together from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, our skilled team of professionals and graduate students, are the backbone of IPI. Their ideas help shape the direction and mission of our organization as it continues to develop. Read on to learn about our incredible team members.
Our Executive Team
Co-Director
Maria De Almeida
Maria Fernanda De Almeida is a graduate student at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, specializing in Global Policy and Human Rights and Justice. With a background in History and Political Science from the University of Toronto, Maria has focused her academic and professional pursuits on issues of Indigenous sovereignty, rights, and self-determination, particularly in Latin America.
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As Co-Chair of IPI, Maria aims to foster dialogue and action on pressing Indigenous issues, emphasizing identity, territorial belonging, and policy reform. She envisions IPI as a platform for collaboration with initiatives like the Summer Leadership Institute, where she also serves as Co-Director, to amplify Indigenous voices and perspectives.
Co-Director
Autry Johnson
Autry Johnson is an enrolled citizen of the Forest County Potawatomi in Wisconsin, USA. He was raised on his father's reservation, where he developed a deep connection with his cultural heritage. At home, Autry actively engages with his community, working closely with elders from the greater Anishinaabek nations, Ojibwe, and Ottawa- in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He participates in local healing-circle events and regularly volunteers at the First Nations House at the University of Toronto.
For his higher education, Autry attended Michigan State University, where he pursued a double major in International Relations and Comparative Cultures and Politics, complemented by a minor in European Studies. This academic background provided him with nuanced understanding of Indigenous sovereignty and its complexities in the contemporary world.
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Our Policy Analysts
Maya Rotstein
Maya Rotstein is currently a first-year Master of Global Affairs candidate at Munk. She completed her undergraduate degree in International Development at McGill University. Maya has a variety of interdisciplinary passions including gender equality, refugee rights, sustainability, and Indigenous rights. She is super excited to be a part of IPI in order to create impactful change in a variety of Indigenous issues, and is passionate about developing sustainable and innovative solutions to support inclusive and equitable growth for all. She is particularly interested in policy work that addresses how governments can include Indigenous-led conservation and community empowerment to address collaborative approaches to climate adaptation policies.
Lindsay Bain
Lindsay Bain (she/her) is a proud Anishinaabe’kwe from Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation in Treaty #3 territory, currently in the final year of the MPP program at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Her research on nuclear policy, Indigenous rights, and consent-based siting for projects involving Indigenous partners has garnered a prestigious SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship. She is employed part time in the Territorial Planning Unit (Environmental Department) of Grand Council Treaty #3 as the TPU Regulatory Manager where she works with proponents, governments, and other organizations alongside the TPU to educate and ensure respect and compliance of Treaty #3 laws and processes (specifically Manito Aki Inaakonigewin) in relation to any development in the Treaty #3 Territory. Lindsay’s passionate about Indigenous policy and is looking forward to supporting IPI’s efforts and advocacy through the year.
Chela Rafferty
Chela Rafferty is a first year Masters of Public Policy student at Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Equity, Diversity, and Human Rights from Laurentian University. Chela has six years of experience working in perinatal health as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Her work in healthcare has made her passionate about understanding and advocating for those who are being underrepresented in policy work and politics.
Claire Posno
Claire Posno is a Master of Global Affairs candidate at the University of Toronto's Munk School. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, with majors in Criminology and Sociology. Claire is interested in the ways racialized travellers may dissociate from their religion and/or cultures to avoid targeted security at international borders. Another area of interest is how borders and surveillance will evolve in the Arctic and the implications this will have on Indigenous Peoples.