Wendy Grant-John

Wendy Grant-John, née Wendy Sparrow, is a prominent First Nations leader in British Columbia. She served three terms as chief of the Musqueam First Nation and was the first woman elected regional vice-chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Early life and education She is the daughter of former Musqueam chief Willard Sparrow and sister of Gail Sparrow. Grant-John also has two other sisters named Debra and Robyn Sparrow who are Indigenous weavers.

Career In 1997 Grant-John came in second to Phil Fontaine in the election for National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. That year, she also enrolled in the University of Northern British Columbia. From 1997 until 2000 she served as Associate Regional Director-General of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs for British Columbia. She was the first woman elected Regional Chief to the Assembly of First Nations.

Grant-John has been involved in the development and operation of several businesses. As Musqueam chief, she helped to create the first aboriginal commercial fishery in Canada and was a founder of Musqueam Weavers, a company that revitalized the local tradition of weaving. She was also a founding member and director of the Aboriginal Healing Commission in 1998. As well, in 2006, she was appointed the Minister of Indian Affairs and named Assembly of First Nations Commission Co-chair. In 2011, she joined the National Aboriginal Client Services Practice. Two years later, she was appointed a member of Vancouver Police Board.

Awards Grant-John received the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for Social Action in 2001, an honorary Doctor of Laws from Royal Roads University in 2003,

Personal life Grant-John is married to Edward John and has four children from her previous marriage to Howard Grant.