Meet the Program Team
ImaGENation Program Staff
Aubrey-Anne Laliberte Pewapisconias | ImaGENation Program Manager
Aubrey-Anne Laliberte-Pewapisconias (she/her) is a nêhiyâskwew from Canoe Lake Cree First Nation on Treaty 10 Territory and Little Pine First Nation on Treaty 6 Territory. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance, a Global Business Certificate, and an Indigenous Governance and Politics Certificate from the University of Saskatchewan. Now, she is a graduate student pursuing her Master of Sustainability in Energy Security. As an advocate for Indigenous Youth and an environmentalist rooted in her ancestral teachings, she takes great pride in her role as the ImaGENation Program Manager.
Dedicated to fostering collaboration with Indigenous Peoples in the realm of climate action, Aubrey-Anne has participated in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP27, served as Canada’s 2023 Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction negotiator at the G20 Youth Summit, and successfully completed the Generation Power program.
Aubrey-Anne's community involvement extends to various organizations, including Tatâga Inc., Indigenous Youth Roots, the Indigenous Leadership Circle, the City of Saskatoon Indigenous Technical Advisory Group, and Leading Change Canada. Outside of these commitments, she can be found immersed in outdoor activities or exercising her creativity and teachings making ribbon skirts alongside the women in her family.
Justin Pelan | ImaGENation Program Coordinator
Justin (He/Him) is a multidisciplinary educator, skilled carpenter, and mechanic that is passionate about science, climate justice, and youth empowerment. Justin grew up in Treaty 6 Territory (Edmonton, Ab.) and currently resides on the traditional and unceded territory of the sqilxʷ/syilx (okanagan) peoples.
He is interested in the clean energy transition through sustainable development that is informed by both Indigenous knowledge systems and western science. With a background in Education from the University of Saskatchewan focused on science and social studies, Justin aims to support youth towards their vision of a clean energy future by building strong relationships and empowering them with learning resources that are aligned with cultural values.
Justin’s hobbies include building science, fine woodworking, producing music, photography, and troubleshooting machines and electronics for friends and family.
Ray Burrage-Goodwin | ImaGENation Program Coordinator
Ray (He/Him) is the Indigenous Youth Mentorship Program Coordinator for ICE. Ray is a person of settler descent from Wampanoag territory in Massachusetts, United States. He currently resides on traditional Algonquin Anishinaabe territory in Ottawa, Ontario.
Ray holds a Masters in Environmental History from Memorial University of Newfoundland, with a research background focused on the intersection of humans and the living environment, specifically the legacies of chemical warfare, resource extraction, and species degradation.
Ray is passionate about the work ICE is doing to encourage a holistic framework for environmental remediation through Indigenous self-sovereignty, and is grateful to be a part of a team advocating for the decolonization of community, policy, and thought.
When not working, Ray enjoys swimming, rowing, reading, and being outdoors with friends and family.
SevenGen Indigenous Youth Energy Council
The SevenGen Council is made up of Indigenous youth leaders from the north, south, east, and west, who work together to guide and develop SevenGen Energy’s programs, which includes the SevenGen Summit and the ImaGENation Indigenous Youth Mentorship Program. We act as the vision holders and leaders of the SevenGen Summit 2024.
Left to right, front: Raylene Mitchell, Serena Mendizabal, Janelle Lapointe, Mihskakwan James Harper
Left to right, back: Dakota Norris, Willow Bearhead, Connor Johnston
Program Directors
Alexandra Thomson | Indigenous Clean Energy - Director, Youth Programs
Alexandra (She/Her) is a Nakoda woman mixed with French descent, belonging to Cega’kin (Carry the Kettle) First Nation, Treaty 4 Territory.
Alexandra holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan. A community-driven individual, Alexandra strives to apply her education in combination with Indigenous ways of knowing to solve issues that impact Indigenous communities as it relates to energy, infrastructure, sustainability, and socioeconomics. Alexandra’s goal is to empower Indigenous communities to establish sovereignty through community-based project work and capacity-building initiatives. She hopes to nurture an interest in STEM amongst Indigenous women and youth, as it is her belief that Indigenous knowledge can largely contribute to an evolving holistic framework in the field, which will ultimately advance meaningful, tangible, and long-lasting solutions for Indigenous communities.
James Jenkins | Indigenous Clean Energy - Executive Director
James is a member of Walpole Island First Nation, where he has previously served as Chief Executive Officer. James led the development of First Nation equity participation in two 100MW wind farms. These and similar experiences led James to become a champion of Indigenous community and business partnerships in clean energy.
James holds an M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and is a former municipal clerk. He has also spent time running a consulting business, Aijaak Solutions, which provided governance and management support for First Nations and businesses. James is a sessional instructor at Western University’s Public Administration Program. He is a proud father of three, a multi-instrumentalist, and an avid outdoorsman who loves camping, boating, hunting, and fishing.
Helen Watts | Student Energy - Executive Director
Helen Watts is Student Energy’s Executive Director, a Forbes 30 Under 30 lister, on the Corporate Knight’s 30 Under 30, and is a recognized young clean energy and intergenerational equity advocate.
Since 2017, Helen has worked with Student Energy to empower tens of thousands of young people around the world to work on solutions for a clean and equitable energy transition. She co-leads the Solutions Movement, a UN-Energy Compact designed to support 10,000 youth clean energy projects by 2030. She led the development of the first Global Youth Energy Outlook with twelve young energy leaders to gather 41,000 youth perspectives on the energy transition by 2030. Helen co-founded Greenpreneurs, a training and grantmaking mechanism that has mobilized over USD 100,000 in funding to youth-led climate enterprises, and she is regularly engaged by the international community on the role of youth in the energy transition.
Helen approaches the urgent, complex nature of the climate crisis with the belief that equipping young people with the tools and pathways to act is one of our most effective strategies. Advocating for youth inclusion at every level of decision-making processes, she has built a network of 47 partners across the climate-energy-youth ecosystem committed to empowering young people.