Bio
Cassidy Caron is a Métis woman with roots in the historic Métis communities of Batoche and St. Louis, Saskatchewan. She grew up closely connected to her Métis traditions, heritage and culture and is driven by her family and community values of respect, honesty, and responsibility.
Cassidy has previously served for four years as a provincially elected representative of the Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC,) as the Provincial Métis Youth Chair and MNBCs Minister Responsible for Youth. Through her role, she supported the coordination, design, resourcing, implementation and evaluation of innovative, culturally-grounded engagement and leadership development opportunities for Métis youth within all levels of MNBC’s governance. Cassidy has gained valuable experience as an advocate for the Métis people by working closely with cabinet ministers, senior officials, and ministerial special representatives to negotiate and design Métis youth-specific funding provisions and policy considerations at the provincial and national levels.
An ambitious and driven young woman, Cassidy brings with her years of professional research and program evaluation experience working with an award winning, all-Indigenous research and program evaluation firm. Her work as a consultant focused on researching and evaluating programs and initiatives implemented in, by and for Indigenous communities throughout Canada in areas such as Indigenous justice and crime prevention, women’s safety and wellness, education, cultural safety, Indigenous health and health promotion, reconciliation, youth programming, mental health, addictions and wellness, economic development, food security and Indigenous governance.
In 2018, Cassidy branched off as an independent consultant and in 2019, she joined First Peoples Group’s circle of Indigenous consultants where she brought her expertise in community-based research with a specific focus on the utilization of Indigenous research methodologies, program evaluation, policy development, meeting and workshop facilitation and strategic planning to the team.
A passionate public speaker, talented facilitator, and strong advocate, Cassidy works with the community at heart. She is guided by her ancestors who led before her, while being mindful of the generations of leaders who will come behind her. Cassidy recognizes the power of bringing together individuals from all walks of life to work together in a spirit of collaboration and harmony, while respecting one another’s history, traditions, ways of knowing and being, to co-create a positive, healthy, and beneficial pathway forward for all.