Can I Get a Connection? Exploring the Importance of Connection to Self, Others, and the Land in Education

About Leona
Siy Leona Prince sadnee. Lhts’umusyoo habilh dzees zilh. Lusilyoo haba dza gel dzut. Sne’ Joyce Prince tl’a Sbeb Gordon Barfoot habatnee. Lamaliyaz isleeh. Skiy Shawn Abraham hiyilhnee. Syez tahnee nednee. Kobe, Ella and Ava Habatnee.

Leona Prince is a Dakelh woman from the Lake Babine Nation and Nak’azdli and belongs to the Lhts’umusyoo (Beaver) Clan. She is the mother of three amazing children who are her inspiration in life.

She is a best-selling author and an award-winning educator. In 2017, she was awarded the Alumni of the Year award for Professional Excellence by the Alumni Association of UNBC, her alma mater. She also received an Indspire Award for Educational Leadership at the 2018 Guiding the Journey Educator Awards. Most recently, she was the recipient of the 2024 R.W.B. Jackson award for an article she co-authored Achieving Equity in Graduation Rates and Other Indicators of Success for Indigenous Learners in Canada. Leona is a sought-after speaker and has authored two children’s books, A Dance Through the Seasons, and Be a Good Ancestor which was released in the spring of 2022. Be a Good Ancestor was nominated for a 2023 Forest of Reading – Blue Spruce Award and was shortlisted for the 2023 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s book award.