Board of Directors

James Froh

Chair Person

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 1992-1996, 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.

Ray Gerow

Ray Gerow is Wet’suwet’en from Ts’il Kaz Koh in Central British Columbia and is a Canadian Military veteran. He served a brief term as elected Chief of his nation (Ts’il Kaz Koh), prior to that he was the CEO for the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA), and previously the CEO for the Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation (HEDC), and has been a leader in the area of Aboriginal economic and community development for over 30 years. Prior to joining HEDC his primary activity was to provide services to support Aboriginal entrepreneurs, both on and off reserve, through the Aboriginal Business and Community Development Centre, which he helped establish in 1996.

He has lent his expertise to establishing two other Aboriginal business support centres and an Aboriginal Business Support Network in the Province of B.C. Ray has an extensive background in managing and coordinating projects and events, including 5 years of convening the “Strategic Conversations” conferences aimed at bringing together the B.C. Aboriginal economic development network into a learning environment where the network was able to share experiences. Ray was a co-lead in a three year National SSHRC project in partnership with the University of Northern British Columbia with a focus on urban Aboriginal economic development.

While in Prince George, Ray worked to better integrate the urban Aboriginal population with the mainstream community. His leadership in the Urban Aboriginal Strategy in Prince George, and his service on a diverse range of boards, underlines his dedication to, and talents for, creating an environment in which Aboriginal people can participate in the mainstream economy and society. As a result of Ray’s involvement, in Oct. of 2009 he was recognized as the Prince George Citizen of the Year, the first Aboriginal person to receive this award and in 2011 he was recognized by the Prince George Chamber of Commerce as the Prince George businessperson of the year.

Dan McCarthy

Brenna Latimer