Irene “Strong Oak” Lefebvre

Irene “Strong Oak” Lefebvre is the executive director and founder of the Visioning B.E.A.R. Circle Intertribal Coalition Inc. Strong Oak is an American Indian of Maliseet and Mi’kmaq descent. She is coauthor of the Walking in Balance with All Our Relations teaching curriculum, a violence prevention bystander approach that is based on the traditional values of indigenous people prior to colonization. The curriculum is designed to decolonize indigenous peoples and reclaim historical ways of being in the community. It can also be embraced by multicultural groups seeking an understanding of structural racism and how it has impacted all communities today.