Wanda Brascoupé

Wanda is Bear Clan, Kanien’keha, Skarù rę’, Anishinabe, and member of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg. Her career in the for and non-profit sectors has focused on working alongside partners committed to the path toward long-term, meaningful relationships with Indigenous peoples by guiding and shaping change through tangible, actionable approaches. Wanda brings both vision and practical drive and has a keen ability to recognize and accelerate strengths, forge consensus and effectively guide through obstacles.

In 1999, she began a consulting firm specializing in high tech outsourcing that successfully sustained client relationships for over 20 years. During this time, she started her philanthropy path as a volunteer, board member, and national leadership positions in the new arena of Indigenous philanthropy in Canada. She has been a part of reshaping relationships through actionable pathways for private and public foundations to act on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As a founding board member of Reconciliation Canada to her current leadership with the Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund (IPRF), Wanda is committed to actioning real relationships with Indigenous peoples.

As COVID began, she and a small team created The Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund. The first-ever Indigenous-led fund recognizes that innovative actions regularly actioned in Indigenous communities often go unsupported. IPRF responds to critical community needs while taking a long-term view on supporting community resilience from coast to coast to coast.

Wanda’s successful path to walking in two worlds stems from being the beneficiary of parents and grandparents who held uncommon common sense and belief in the brilliance and ingenuity of our peoples and humanity as a whole. Her traditional education was shaped from her maternal side rooted in Haudenosaunee teachings. Wanda’s recent western education includes Harvard Business School Executive Education and current work on her Masters of Philanthropy and Non-profit Leadership at Carleton University.

She is most proud of her three daughters, Sarah, Lauren and Bella and their personal and educational accomplishments, including all three attending Cornell University.