Kyle Baker is a writer and filmmaker with an MFA in Social Documentation from the University of California, Santa Cruz. For the past couple of years, he has been developing a documentary film all about Woody Guthrie, the Columbia River, and the fight to save salmon in the Pacific Northwest. He currently resides on the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe.

Immersed in reclaimed European architecture of the past, I focus my artistic practice on photography of abandoned or partially run-down structures before they disappear. Since 2000, my work has focused on a photo-documentary examination of British Columbia’s traditional mining, fishing and forestry industries. The issues of how quickly buildings, closed for economic reasons, disappear along with the elements of culture they encompass are addressed.

In many works, photographs are integrated with ambient sounds, video or interviews to explicitly convey the layers of human experience impacted by industrial and urban changes. My work raises questions of progress, architectural preservation, housing and culture.

I have also developed a photographic abstraction style. In industrial sites, I come across shapes, lines and layers which I study closely, producing abstracted images, sometimes involving optical effects.

I show my work in public art galleries, artist centers and museums.

Clea Schooner is a member of the Heiltsuk Nation and resides in Bella Bella, BC. She has spent all her life on or near the ocean and when she wasn’t able to physically be on the ocean she would leave her heart in the water and her spirit in the tide. Being connected to the ocean meant taking care of all that the ocean provides; the livelihood of Heiltsuk people; Salmon. Clea is passionate about Salmon and finds she resonates with the resiliency exhibited by them. Ms. Schooner works to find ways to preserve the life and spirit of who the salmon are; to her, to her community, and to anyone who shows them, unconditional love. She does so through her personal and professional life as she leads communications for Qqs Projects Society, a community-driven charitable non-profit focused on the Great Bear Rainforest. Her work with Qqs reflects her values and beliefs.

Ian Gill is a writer, critic, bookseller, conservationist and co-creator of Salmon Nation. He is principal of Cause+Effect, a Vancouver-based consulting company focused on designing and implementing strategies for large-scale social transformation. Ian’s interest and experience is in media, communications, social innovation, social finance, conservation, and Indigenous community development.

Prior to establishing Cause+Effect, Ian spent almost eighteen years as CEO of Ecotrust in three countries – Canada, the US and Australia. Before establishing Ecotrust Canada in 1994, Ian was a documentary television reporter with CBC Television. Ian earlier spent seven years as a senior reporter and editor with the Vancouver Sun. He is a fellow of Journalistes en Europe (1986-87); a past director of Vancity Community Credit Union; and the author of four books, most recently No News Is Bad News: Canada’s Media Collapse – And What Comes Next. He is a contributing editor of The Tyee and continues to be published in a wide variety of media. He was president of The Discourse (2016-18); an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Sustainable Community Development at Simon Fraser University (2015-2019); and a Senior Fellow with the Montreal-based McConnell Foundation (2015). In 2019 he was appointed as the inaugural Dan and Priscilla Wieden Foundation Salmon Nation Storytelling Fellow. In 2020, he co-founded an independent bookstore in Vancouver, Upstart & Crow. He lives in Vancouver and on a small island off the West Coast of Salmon Nation.

Olivia Leigh Nowak is a storyteller, artist, and activist. Through her work she aims to connect people, build community, and nurturing creative collaborations that uplift diverse voices working to address some of society’s most critical issues. Recently, her work has included directing and producing documentary content focused on building awareness and catalyzing transformation around racial and gender inequality, climate and environmental change, and building sustainable local communities. Two of these projects, Black Rock and Pandemic Elementary have been featured as CBC short docs. In addition to film, she has spent time working, and learning in Indigenous communities in South America and BC. These experiences and relationships have shaped her values, priorities, and vision for how we can live well in place, and work collectively to heal Mother Earth.