Most Canadians got to know Jody Wilson-Raybould when she was appointed Canada's first Indigenous Justice Minister and Attorney General and her resignation in 2019 over the SNC Lavalin scandal.
However, the former MP is also an author, a First Nations leader, and the keynote speaker at the Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor Essex County Branch's Wake Up, Speak Up event this May.
"Her perspective and experiences promise to be unique and insightful," said Doctor Sonja Grbevski, the local CMHA branch's CEO.
Wilson Raybould is the daughter of a hereditary chief and Indigenous leader. She knew she would seek leadership roles and responsibilities.
Before politics, she was a provincial crown prosecutor in Vancouver.
As a leader in the Indigenous community, Wilson-Raybould worked to improve education and healthcare for First Nations citizens. She served three terms as an elected Commissioner of the BC Treaty Commission and the BC Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. As a We Wai Kai Nation member, she served two terms as an elected councillor for her Nation.
Her most recent book is "True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force For Change." Her political memoir, "'Indian in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power," was a finalist for The Writers' Trust Balsillie Prize for Public Policy and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. She also penned "From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada."
The event, which focuses on speaking up for those who don't have a voice, is on May 4 at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts.
Past keynote speakers include former Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page and mother of Columbine High shooter Dylan Klebold, Sue Klebold.