Board of Directors

Frank James Froh

Chairperson

James is a Métis Nation citizen, born and raised in Saskatchewan. Over his career, Froh has worked for Indigenous, church and government organizations in Ontario and Saskatchewan. Starting in 2001, he has worked with the public service in Saskatchewan in increasingly senior leadership positions over the years. He has always focused on forging crucial relationships, demonstrating core values, and developing expertise in various aspects of public administration.  Froh has provided invaluable advice to many senior leaders; has championed collaborative, interest-based public engagement and policy development, continuous learning, and the development of public service employees and leaders. Following his retirement from the Saskatchewan public service in 2017, James served with IPAC as its executive in residence until 2019 at which time he returned to study as a graduate student at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Regina.

Frances Abele

Frances Abele is Distinguished Research Professor and Chancellor’s Professor Emerita of Public Policy and Administration, Research Fellow at the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation, and Research Fellow of the Broadbent Institute. During 1992-96, she was seconded to the research directorate at the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), where she was responsible for research and policy on the North and governance. A political scientist born in Alberta, Dr. Abele has worked with Indigenous peoples all over Canada for most of her career. Her research has focused on northern economic and political development, self-government, policy and programs important to Aboriginal people living in cities, policy and program evaluation, qualitative research and citizen engagement.

Brenna Latimer

Brenna is a member of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation from the Wei Wai Kum First Nation on northern Vancouver Island. She brings over 20 years of experience in communications and public relations, working at the community, provincial, and national levels with various Indigenous communities and organizations. She has held various leadership roles in Indigenous health, self-governance, treaty, and community engagement. She is a specialist in corporate/internal communications, public relations, media/government relations, crisis communications, marketing and branding and digital communications. She has led several large website overhaul projects and organizational rebranding exercises. Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts in First Nations Studies from Vancouver Island University and master’s-level training in Professional Communications from Royal Roads University. She is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS). 

Brenna has led numerous successful Indigenous-targeted campaigns and public education initiatives. In 2019, she provided communications leadership for the IABC Gold Quill Award-winning campaign, Indigenous Strengths. She has directed multiple video storytelling projects and conducted numerous interviews with First Nations community members and leaders, both behind the camera and for print. Brenna is passionate about communicating with integrity and respect for culture, ethical storytelling and honouring the unique teachings of First Nations individuals, communities, and Nations.

Dan McCarthy

Dan McCarthy is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Planning Education and Research at University College Cork, having taken up this new position in August of 2024.  His current research explores the complexity-informed implications of planning in the context of the metacrisis. Prior to taking up this position, Dan was an Associate Professor in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, as well as the Director of the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience (WISIR) at the University of Waterloo from 2008 to 2024. McCarthy’s transdisciplinary academic background focuses on exploring the utility of complex systems-based approaches to understanding and intervening in linked social-ecological systems to foster innovation, social learning and psycho-social development.  He developed research interests and partnerships that related to fostering adaptive capacity, social and environmental justice and social innovation in the field of environmental policy.  In Canada, his work was based in respectful, trust-based, long-standing, mutually-beneficial collaborations with a number of Indigenous Nations and Indigenous-led organizations across the country, specifically in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia.