Indigenous-Led Consulting · Founded 2010
Walking in a
Good Way.
Research. Training. Engagement. Advocacy.
Leadership in Business
About Us
An Agency Born from Advocacy
Tamara Kwe Consulting was founded in 2010 by Tamara Bernard — a proud mixed-race Anishinaabe Kwe and member of Gull Bay First Nation — rooted in lived experience and a lifelong commitment to justice for Indigenous women, girls, and communities.
From research and curriculum to professional training and systems-level engagement, Tamara Kwe operates across every sector and level — from front-line service workers to executive leadership, from community halls to Senate chambers.
As an Indigenous-led organization, we are guided by Seven Generations thinking and the teachings of Mino-Bimaadiziwin — walking in a good way and with a good mind.
Indigenous-Owned & Operated
Wholly Indigenous-led, ensuring authentic representation and community accountability in every engagement.
OCAP® Certified
Trained and certified in Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession — upholding Indigenous data sovereignty in all research and evaluation work.
20+ Communities Served
Extensive experience working alongside more than 20 Indigenous communities across Canada with culturally responsive, community-driven approaches.
Multi-Sector Reach
Clients include APTN, FNIGC, Dilico Anishinabek Family Care, Mississauga First Nation, Atlohsa, CTV Bell Media, Ontario Government, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and Chiefs of Ontario.
Core Expertise
Where We Work
Indigenous-Led Research & Evaluation
Rigorous, story-based methodologies centring lived experience, sovereignty, and community-led knowledge mobilization. OCAP® throughout. Published national research for FNIGC, PARO, and the Ontario Government.
Gender-Based Violence & MMIWG
Nearly two decades of specialized expertise in MMIWG, intimate partner violence, human trafficking, and systemic advocacy — grounded in family membership, coroner-level death review analysis, and survivor-centred approaches.
Justice Systems & Reintegration
In-depth work with correctional institutions, probation and parole processes, Gladue principles, and community-led diversion and reintegration initiatives. Training delivered to OPP, parole officers, and Crown prosecutors.
Training & Curriculum Development
Curriculum designed and delivered internationally and nationally — across First Nations communities, primary and secondary schools, post-secondary institutions, corporate organizations, and non-profit agencies. Programs span Indigenous history, MMIWG, trauma-informed practice, TRC implementation, and land-based rights.
Policy Analysis & Development
Rights-based policy frameworks aligned with TRC Calls to Action, UNDRIPA, and the Calls to Justice. Tamara Kwe contributed directly to the National Inquiry into MMIWG and advises the Ontario Chief Coroner's Domestic Violence Death Review Committee. Policy support provided to First Nations, tribal councils, non-profit organizations, businesses, and government bodies.
Community Engagement & Strategy
Designing and facilitating trauma-informed, culturally safe engagement processes with First Nations leadership, Knowledge Keepers, service providers, and community members — from sharing circles to national consultation processes.
Child Welfare & Mental Health
Indigenous trauma-informed, culturally safe child welfare training — development and delivery in collaboration with Indigenous child welfare organizations and agencies. Strengthens and supports Indigenous mental health capacity through training, education, community engagement, advisory roles, and program evaluation.
Knowledge Mobilization & Media
High-level report writing, research engagement and analysis, and community-accessible knowledge sharing, training, and transmission of knowledges. Communications across multimedia platforms including social media, video, report briefs, public education exhibits, campaigns, and advisory committee work.
Training & Education
A Multi-Level Learning Experience
Tamara Kwe designs and delivers education that meets people where they are — whether they are community members beginning to understand Indigenous history, front-line practitioners navigating complex systems, or senior leaders shaping organizational policy. Our training is never generic. Every program is custom-built, rooted in current research, and facilitated with cultural integrity.
Raising Awareness & Building Understanding
Accessible, story-centred education designed to shift public understanding and reduce harm. Delivered in community spaces, schools, libraries, and public venues. Grounded in humanizing narratives, not statistics.
- MMIWG and Red Dress Day public talks and keynotes
- Human trafficking and domestic violence awareness
- See Me travelling exhibit — co-led, launched 2014, re-launched 2024
- Building Our Bundles community education exhibit
- Indigenous history, residential schools, and TRC education
- Bystander intervention and community safety sessions
- Land rights, UNDRIP, and sovereignty education for general audiences
Capacity Building for Practitioners & Organizations
Structured professional development for those whose work intersects with Indigenous communities. Designed for multi-day or modular delivery. Meets workplace PD requirements and organizational accountability mandates.
- Indigenous cultural awareness and safety training for government ministries and Crown organizations
- Trauma-informed practice for social workers, health providers, and educators
- MMIWG and GBV training for police services and OPP
- Gladue principles and reintegration training for parole and probation officers
- Truth and Reconciliation implementation for corporate and Crown organizations
- Child welfare and Indigenous healing frameworks for practitioners
- OCAP® and Indigenous data sovereignty for researchers and evaluators
- UNDRIP and Indigenous rights frameworks for policy professionals
Academic, Policy & Leadership-Level Learning
Professor at multiple post-secondary institutions. University-credit, policy-level, and systems-thinking education for students, researchers, youth leaders, and senior decision-makers — grounded in Indigenous scholarship and international rights frameworks.
- Professor — Lakehead University (Indigenous Learning, Research Approaches, Land Law & Governance, Story Pedagogy)
- Professor — Mount Allison University
- Professor — Seven Generations Education Institute
- Curriculum development — Lakehead University, Mount Allison University, Dilico Anishinaabek Family Care, Ontario Native Women's Association, Creative Fire LP, Seven Generations Education Institute, Indigenous Youth Roots — Northern Indigenous Policy School, Ministry of Education
- Graduate and undergraduate course design in self-determination and land-based rights
- SSHRC-funded PhD research on Indigenous trauma frameworks and MMIWG
- Building Our Bundles TRC curriculum for Ontario K–12 schools — Ministry of Education funded
Tamara Bernard is ODARA licensed to train and facilitate learning Ontario-wide, supporting First Nations communities to learn domestic violence risk assessment tools for prevention and safety planning. ODARA (Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment) training is delivered with an Indigenous lens — centring the lived realities of Indigenous women and families.
Signature Training
Indigenous Trauma-Informed Practice
Signature Training
The Right to Safety for Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada
Signature Training
I Am More Than Murdered and Missing
ODARA Licensed — Signature Training
Beyond the Checklist: Using ODARA within an Indigenous Lens
Recent Engagements
Work That Matters
APTN — National
Living Languages Project — National Indigenous Language Speaker Database & CHUMS Framework
Lead researcher and project manager building a national database of Indigenous language speakers, developing a CHUMS versioning framework, and producing a landscape review report aligned to APTN's CRTC Languages proposal and 2030 Strategic Plan.
2026–2029
Ontario Chief Coroner
Domestic Violence Death Review Committee — Indigenous Sub-Committee Lead
National advisory member and Indigenous Sub-Committee lead — analyzing domestic violence deaths involving Indigenous women, identifying systemic failures and missed intervention points, and contributing to provincial policy and practice recommendations.
Ongoing
Creative Fire — National
National Advisory Role — Indigenous Knowledge & Education Systems
National advisory member contributing Indigenous knowledge systems expertise, curriculum guidance, and community engagement strategy to Creative Fire's network of Indigenous education and research practitioners across Canada.
2025–2026
IYR — Inuvik & Iqaluit
Northern Policy School — Indigenous Youth Policy & Advocacy Curriculum
Co-developing a multi-day curriculum for the IYR Northern Policy School — equipping Indigenous youth with policy literacy, advocacy skills, and land rights frameworks for participation in national and international decision-making spaces.
2026
Indspire — National
Reconciliation Research Support
Research support role contributing to Indspire's reconciliation-focused initiatives — providing Indigenous research expertise, analysis, and knowledge mobilization in support of Indigenous student success and education equity across Canada.
2026
Mississauga First Nation
Policy Development & Support
Policy development and support services for Mississauga First Nation — grounded in community priorities, Indigenous rights frameworks, and culturally safe, Nation-specific approaches to governance and community wellbeing.
2026
Mississauga First Nation
Beyond the Checklist: Using ODARA within an Indigenous Lens
Delivering Tamara Kwe's signature ODARA training — equipping Mississauga First Nation staff and service providers with culturally grounded domestic violence risk assessment skills that centre Indigenous women's safety and community-led prevention.
July 2026
Meet the Founder
Tamara Bernard
Anishinaabe Kwe · Gull Bay First Nation
Tamara
Bernard
Waasaya Migizi Ikwe · Owner & Founder
2020 NOVA AwardNorthwestern Ontario Visionary Award — Leadership in Business
PhD CandidateIndigenous Education · Lakehead University · SSHRC-Funded
Internationally Recognized Researcher, Author & Advocate
Owner · Lead Researcher · Consultant · Educator
Tamara Bernard is a proud mixed-race Anishinaabe Kwe and member of Gull Bay First Nation whose life's work centres on advancing justice, safety, and self-determination for Indigenous women, girls, and communities. She was the first in Canada to publish storied Master's research as a family member within the context of MMIWG — her own family among the known cases.
For nearly two decades, Tamara has been a nationally recognized pioneer of Indigenous, story-based research methodologies. She delivers specialized training across all three levels of education — public, professional, and post-secondary — to police services, correctional institutions, parole officers, corporate organizations, and university students alike.
Her advisory work spans the Ontario Chief Coroner's Domestic Violence Death Review Committee, the Creative Fire national advisory network, and APTN's national language programming — connecting community-level storytelling to systems-level change.
Selected Publications & Works
Social and Economic Well-Being: A First Nations Gender-Balanced Analysis (2021) — Lead researcher and author, First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC)
My Grandmother's Bundle (2024) — advancing Indigenous trauma frameworks distinct from Western paradigms
(Re)Storying Indigenous Womanhood (2021) — Body Studies in Canada, Canadian Scholars' Press
We Are More Than Missing and Murdered (2018) — Master's Thesis, Lakehead University
See Me: MMIWG — Co-led public education exhibit, launched 2014, re-launched 2024 with expanded scope
Building our Bundles — Ministry of Education-funded TRC curriculum for Ontario schools, 2018
Our Approach
The Indigenous 5Rs
Honouring community protocols, lived experience, and Nation-specific governance structures in every engagement.
Discussions and data collection reflect the realities of those directly impacted — not external agendas.
Knowledge shared must result in tangible benefit — not extractive research practices that leave communities behind.
Ethical accountability in how information is gathered, interpreted, stored, and applied — grounded in OCAP®.
Trust, continuity, and cultural safety as the foundation of all engagement — before, during, and after the contract.
Our engagement framework is grounded in the Indigenous 5Rs — guiding how we gather knowledge, design training, and facilitate dialogue with Indigenous communities, governments, and organizations across the country.
Together, the 5Rs create a structured yet culturally grounded approach that centres Indigenous voices, strengthens self-determined pathways, and supports long-term community well-being. This framework shapes everything from how we design a curriculum to how we conduct a community consultation.
Our facilitation methods prioritize sharing circles, storytelling prompts, and participatory exercises that respect diverse communication styles and ensure all participants — from community members to executives — can meaningfully contribute.
"We are guided by Seven Generational thinking and the teachings of Mino-Bimaadiziwin — walking in a good way and with a good mind. The work we do today has lasting impacts on future generations." — Tamara Bernard, Waasaya Migizi Ikwe
Impact & Alignment
A Record of Meaningful Work
Legislative Alignment
Grounded in Rights-Based Frameworks
All Tamara Kwe work actively supports implementation of the following landmark frameworks.
TRC Calls to Action
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action anchor our research, training, and engagement. Tamara co-developed the Ministry of Education-funded Building Our Bundles TRC curriculum resource for Ontario schools.
UNDRIPA
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act informs our advisory practices by centring self-determination, sovereignty, and Indigenous governance — from post-secondary curriculum to professional training for government and corporate organizations.
MMIWG Calls to Justice
The 231 Calls to Justice from the National Inquiry into MMIWG shape the original mandate of Tamara Kwe Consulting — from community-level education to direct advisory work with the Ontario Chief Coroner's Indigenous Sub-Committee.
Get In Touch
Begin a Partnership
We work with First Nations governments, national organizations, provincial bodies, corporate and Crown organizations, post-secondary institutions, and non-profit agencies. If you are seeking a culturally grounded, Indigenous-led consulting partner, we would be honoured to connect.
Lead Consultant
Tamara Bernard, PhD Candidate
tbernard@tamarakwe.com
Based In
Thunder Bay, Ontario — serving nationally
Services
Research · Training · Curriculum · Engagement · Policy · Facilitation
Send the email to complete your inquiry. Miigwech.