Suzanne Katsi'tsiarihshion Brant, M.E.S, I.M.C, P.H.C.P,
PRESIDENT
suzanne@fnti.net
Suzanne provides leadership, vision and innovation in Indigenous post-secondary education at the First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI). She is Bear Clan and a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, located along the shores of the beautiful Bay of Quinte.
She holds a Master’s degree from York University in Environmental Studies with a focus on Indigenous post-secondary programming. Suzanne graduated from the Institute of Integrated Medicine as an Integrated Medical Clinician. Suzanne is a current and founding board member of Honouring Indigenous Peoples, HIP, (“Understanding the Past, Moving Forward Together”) an initiative of Rotary International and a committee member of the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force.
Suzanne is a past board member of: Aboriginal Institutes Consortium (Vice-Chair), St. Lawrence College Board of Governors, Prevent Cancer Now (national board), member of the Great Lakes United (bi-national) and founding board member of CKWE Tyendinaga radio.
She is a past committee member of the Remedial Action Plan/Bay of Quinte, the Environmental Advisory Committee - Mohawks of Bay of Quinte, and the Health
Advisory Committee - Mohawks of Bay of Quinte
Suzanne is the 2019 recipient of York University’s Bryden Alumni “Tentanda Via” award, recognizing a graduate who has demonstrated innovative, unconventional and daring leadership and success, reflecting the University’s motto – Tentanda Via (“The Way Must Be Tried”).
Suzanne was appointed in July 2020 to sit on the Premier's Council on Equality of Opportunity, an intergenerational and cross-sector advisory group to provide advice on how young people can overcome social and economic barriers and achieve success.
Suzanne has a strong commitment to Indigenous language, culture and traditions. She is an accomplished visual artist and photographer who has exhibited her work at the Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford and Gallery 121, Belleville. She is a seasoned gardener and specializes in traditional food systems and medicinal plants. Suzanne has four incredible children and four beautiful granddaughters.
Select Publications:
Williams, K., & Brant, S. (2021). Plant persons, more-than-human power, and institutional practices in Indigenous higher education. In V. Fletcher & A. Dare (Eds.)Intimate Relations: Communicating in the Anthropocene(pp. 197-214). Lexington Books.
Williams, K.J., Umangay, U. & Brant, S. (2020). Advancing Indigenous research sovereignty: Public administration trends and the opportunity for meaningful conversations in Canadian research governance.The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 11(1). doi: https://doi.org/ 10.18584/iipj.2020.11.1.10237
Williams, K., & Brant, S. (2019). Good Words, Good Food, Good Mind: Restoring Indigenous Identities and Ecologies through Transformative Learning.Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development,9(B), 1-14.https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2019.09B.010
Adam Hopkins, B.A., M.P.A.
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC
adamh@fnti.net
Adam is Lunapeew and Anishinaabe and grew up in Eelünaapéewi Lahkéewiit, formally known as the Delaware Nation - Moraviantown. He also spent a lot of his childhood in Bkejwanong (Walpole Island), which is his mother’s community. Adam is proud a graduate of Trent University and a joint graduate program at FNTI/Queen’s. He’s spent 10 years working in the university sector, mostly in student support and recruitment, before coming to FNTI in September 2016.
Currently, as the Senior Vice-President, Academic, he oversees the following portfolios at FNTI: Standalone Programs, Partnered Programs, First Peoples Aviation and Information Technology. Adam was heavily involved in the provincial recognition process of Indigenous Institutes as the third pillar of publicly assisted, post-secondary institutions. In his new role as SVPA, he is most excited about seeing FNTI receive accreditation for standalone Bachelor level degrees and assisting in continuing to build FNTI’s profile as a global leader in Indigenous education.
Shari Beaver
VICE PRESIDENT, ENROLMENT MANAGEMENT AND STUDENT SERVICES
sharib@fnti.net
Proud Michi Saagig Anishinaabe Kwe of Alderville First Nation. A graduate of both Wilfred Laurier and George Brown College, followed by years of travel and teaching abroad, Shari began her journey in post-secondary in 2012 from the lens of an Indigenous recruiter travelling across Ontario gaining a perspective on the needs of Indigenous students. This created a passion to remove barriers so that Indigenous students can see themselves represented in their post-secondary experiences and find safe learning environments to learn and grow.
Cathie Stewart Findlay
DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS
In early 2015 Cathie joined FNTI in the Marketing Department. After initiating outreach efforts to all First Nation communities in Ontario and Canada, establishing an online presence, FNTI’s visibility and brand recognition reached prominence within Indigenous communities, with stakeholders and allies, leading to increased enrollment and institutional growth.
Cathie then moved into the position of Government Relations & Communication, working with the leadership team to advance FNTI’s key priorities, including establishing and sustaining relationships. Since that time, FNTI’s visibility and stakeholder relationships have continued to grow, along with funding support from project-specific applications and philanthropic outreach.
Prior to joining FNTI, Cathie served for a decade with an agency of Employment Ontario, building employer and employee networks and positively affecting employment and skills training outcomes, economic development, Indigenous participation and career opportunities in Hastings, Lennox and Addington and Prince Edward County.
Cathie has travelled to the Andes of Ecuador with an International Baccalaureate group to work on continuing community development in areas of computer and technical upgrading for young learners, development of eco-tourism programming, installation of garden sites at various community school locations in the Andes, to help promote food access, sustainability and innovation, and fostering Indigenous inter-cultural relationships.
Having served on committees and boards related to homelessness, civic engagement, city business improvement, economic and social development, heritage preservation, street level art projects, Cathie brings valuable experience, insight and energy to the conversation.
Cathie brings a background in marketing, communication, business innovation and entrepreneurship, economic development, food innovation and branding, volunteerism and community development, plus a strong background in animated and live action film and advertising media, Indigenous community development, Indigenous food sustainability and government relations.
Shawn Chorney
VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE SERVICES
Shawn.Chorney@fnti.net
Shawn Chorney is a lifelong learner who firmly believes in the transformative social and economic development impacts of postsecondary education. As a leading and innovative executive in the Ontario postsecondary sector, Shawn has championed projects that immerse learners in opportunities to meaningfully connect with their communities, building skills, attitudes and critical thinking to differentiate graduate potential.
Shawn has led the development of The Village, Canada's largest social inclusion project for older adults bringing together intergenerational and intercultural experiential learning as well as the development of Sustainable Canadore, bringing the college to within 15% of its carbon neutral goal in three years. Shawn has also spent nearly 25 years deepening program and service delivery focussed on expanded Indigenous education in Ontario, leading partnerships that have supported more than 10,000 Indigenous people in attaining their college education.
Shawn holds a BA, MBA and is a college graduate. Career highlights include more than 20 years combined, in the Ontario College sector at Northern College as Associate Regional Director, and Canadore College as Vice President and more recently, Shawn joined the FNTI Team in March 2026 as Senior Vice President Corporate Services.