sXalusat is a Principal at Earnscliffe Strategies. Michele specializes in governance, community consultation, Indigenous relations, and major projects.

A dynamic professional with over 30 years’ experience working with First Nations across Canada, Michele was called to the Bar of British Columbia where she specialized in the area of Aboriginal law, supporting First Nations clients in treaty negotiations with Canada and BC.

Prior to Earnscliffe, Michele founded her own consulting practice specializing in Indigenous governance. She provided governance advisory and Indigenous Nation building, along with community consultation and engagement services. Her approach focuses on strengths in communities to generate ideas and strategies to empower clients to find answers to complex issues.

Michele also served as a Councillor with Musqueam First Nation and on the Boards of Ecojustice and the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. She is a former director for a national non-profit First Nations governance organization, commissioning legal, academic and community-based research on key topics related to Indigenous nation building and governance best practices to assist Nations to realize self-government through incremental steps. Most recently, she worked for a BC Crown agency on major projects and Indigenous Relations. 

Michele was invited to testify as a ‘survivor’ in the federal Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry and is quoted several times in the final report and subsequently appeared to share her testimony with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

A mother and grandmother, Michele is a proud member of Musqueam First Nation.