Indigenous Education Leadership Collective
The Indigenous Education Leadership Collective (the Collective) is a two-year professional learning experience that brings together First Nations school leaders from across Canada.
About the Collective
Emerging from more than 15 years of partnership with First Nations schools through the Model Schools Literacy Project (MSLP), The First Nations School Principals’ Course (FNSPC), and Leadership in Teaching and Training (LITT), the Collective is grounded in feedback from those partners and in what we have learned about the critical role of school leadership. It reflects a growing understanding of the conditions and supports leaders need to carry out their work effectively in their communities.
Building on the core themes of distributed leadership, community-driven improvement, and systemic sustainability, the Collective connects First Nations school teams in a national network. Through monthly meetings and in-person gatherings, the Collective develops and begins the implementation of special projects tied to the advancement of their schools. Through shared inquiry, reflection, and relationship‑building, participants learn with and from one another—strengthening their leadership and succession practices while honouring local context, governance, and ways of knowing.
How the Collective Works
The Collective intentionally creates a supportive leadership network across First Nations schools—connecting leaders who often face similar challenges while working in unique community contexts. Through ongoing coaching, mentorship, and peer learning, participants build relationships with leaders from First Nations schools across Canada while engaging in shared problem-solving, collaborative inquiry, and structured planning processes that support their work.
At its core, the Collective provides a trusted space for leaders to reflect, learn, and lead together. The Collective is not prescriptive. Each school's work remains locally defined, guided by community priorities and values, while being strengthened through relationships and shared learning across the network.
The Indigenous Education Leadership Collective connects First Nations school leaders from communities across Canada. Each participating Nation brings its own priorities, experiences, and strengths to the network.
The Collective offers coordinated leadership learning, meaningful peer connection, and sustained support—opportunities that are commonly available in provincial school systems, but that leaders in federally funded First Nations schools are too often expected to navigate without.
The term Collective reflects the heart of this work —reciprocity, relationship, shared wisdom, and communal responsibility. Leaders learn with and from one another, strengthening not only individual schools but a national network of First Nations education leadership.
Participants continue the learning through the TREES Network, where they can access videos, resources, and discussion boards to support their work throughout the Collective.
Collaborate with MFI
We invite all Indigenous-led organizations to connect with us. We are excited to learn more about the well-being outcomes you wish to advance for the people in your local school, community, or organization.
Support the Mission
Join MFI in creating new pathways with Indigenous Peoples that lead to a more just system by funding the critical efforts to get there.