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Mr. Phil Fontaine is the owner of Ishkonigan Inc., a company specializing in Indigenous engagement, consultation and negotiation. Mr. Fontaine is also the Special Advisor of the Royal Bank of Canada. Mr. Fontaine served as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations for an unprecedented three terms. He is a Member of Order of Manitoba and has received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Equitas Human Rights Education Award, the Distinguished Leadership Award from the University of Ottawa, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and most recently was appointed to the Order of Canada. Mr. Fontaine also holds eighteen Honorary Doctorates from Canada and the United States.

Michael Bryant, BA, MA (UBC), JD (Osgoode Hall), LLM (Harvard) is the 7th Executive Director & General Counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, founded in 1964. Bryant was the 35th and youngest-ever Attorney General of Ontario, and the longest-serving Attorney after Hon. Roy McMurtry and Ian Scott. Mr. Bryant is a barrister certified by the Law Society of Ontario. He has appeared before all levels of court, from bail courts as Duty Counsel through the Ontario Court of Appeal and Ontario Review Board as solo practitioner, to the Supreme Court of Canada as counsel at McCarthy Tetrault LLP. Bryant was the Chief Negotiator for the Chippewas of Kettle & Stony Point, resulting in the historic 2016 Ipperwash Settlement Agreement. In the '90s, Bryant clerked for the former Chief Justice of Canada, and served as Lecturer in Law at King’s College, London, and Adjunct Professor at U of T and Osgoode Hall. In 2019, Bryant was named Canadian Lawyer's Top 25 Most Influential in the justice system and legal profession in Canada.

Dr. Sandra Krahn is the executive director at the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties and teaches conflict resolution at the University of Winnipeg. She has a bachelor of education, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in peace and conflict studies. Sandra started her career teaching high school. Her teaching included being a project leader for a UNESCO school. Storytelling is an integral part of her peacebuilding practice, and she has participated in many storytelling projects with youth. She is passionate about youth leadership and exploring creative methods to promote social change.

Dr. Brenda McPhail is the Director of CCLA’s Privacy, Technology and Surveillance Program. Brenda received her PhD from the University of Toronto Faculty of Information, and holds Master’s degrees in Information Studies and English. Her work focuses on litigation, advocacy and public education relating to the ways in which privacy rights are at risk in contemporary society. Current areas of focus include national security, intelligence, and law enforcement surveillance technologies, information sharing in the public and private sector, and the social impacts of existing and emerging technologies such as smart city tech, the internet of things, big data and artificial intelligence.

Maria Krasinski is the Managing Director of News Decoder where she oversees school partnerships, operations, and communications, and provides editorial assistance to the Editor in Chief. Previously she was Vice President of WorldChicago, a nonprofit partner of the U.S. Department of State leading educational and professional exchange programs. From 2017–18 she served in the Peace Corps in Tbilisi, Georgia working on human rights and media literacy programs for youth. A multimedia artist, she also published an illustrated book on New York City art history in 2020, with a Paris sequel due in 2022. She holds master’s degrees in International Relations and Public Policy from the University of Chicago, where she also earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Visual Art.