Rebecca Jamieson

Jamieson began her career as a post-secondary student counsellor with Six Nations. She then worked as a teacher, a consultant, and director of student services with the Grand River Education Office. She helped found Grand River Polytechnic Institute (now Six Nations Polytechnic, SNP) in 1993. It has since grown into a leading indigenous institute in Ontario. In 2009 she became SNP's president and CEO.^[1]

Jamieson built partnerships between SNP and dozens of other aboriginal institutes, colleges and universities. These partnerships saw university courses taught at Six Nations, with diplomas and degrees offered through partner institutions.^[4][5] In 2017, SNP became the first indigenous institution to confer its own accredited degree^[6][7] which was also the world's first degree program for an indigenous language.^[8]

When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its findings and recommendations in 2015, Jamieson and SNP already had decades of experience in line with its "calls to action". However, she cautioned against making indigenous learning compulsory, noting, "You can't indigenize something that isn't Indigenous". She has preferred to instead work through mutual understanding and respect.^[9][10]

Jamieson has been increasingly sought after for her expertise. She served as the executive director of the College Standards and Accreditation Council (CSAC), and on the board of governors for several universities in Ontario.^[1][11] In 2017, Jamieson and SNP hosted the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Indigenous Education (WIPCE) with 3,000 attendees.^[9][3]

• 2007 – Member of the Order of Ontario^[1][12]
• 2015 – Distinguished Fellow, Mohawk College^[13]
• 2015 – Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD), University of Western Ontario^[1]
• 2017 – Honorary Doctorate of Laws, Wilfrid Laurier University^[11]
• 2018 – Member of the Order of Canada (CM)^[14][15]