Sonia Leo
Inherent Rights Fellow
Sonia Leo is a proud Lil̓wat7úl member of the Líl̓wat Nation. For over thirteen years, she has worked to serve the Indigenous community in various capacities and industries ranging from television to non-profit organizations. Throughout her heart-based approach to work and research, Sonia shares her skills, energy, and enthusiasm to help uplift Indigenous people and inspires them to shine. Most recently, her proposal writing has secured over $19 million in funding with a proposal success rate of 86%.
To date, one of Sonia’s proudest achievements is when she was granted the opportunity to research her community’s attitude towards tourism. The main result of this research highlighted the importance of cultural sustainability for Indigenous empowerment and self-determination. This experience gave her a deeper understanding of the importance of building trust and bridging silos with Indigenous people for community engagement.
Through her Inherent Rights Fellow role, Sonia aspires to make a positive impact by working towards harmonious and prosperous outcomes as Indigenous communities strive to transition from Indian Act administrations to self-determining governments.