Mike DeGagné helps indigenous students find, and achieve, their life purpose in his role as President and CEO of Indspire, Canada’s largest indigenous charity. He previously served as President and Vice-Chancellor of Nipissing University, in northern Ontario.
In 1998, Dr. DeGagné became the founding Executive Director of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation where for 15 years he worked to encourage and support community developed, delivered, and culturally based initiatives addressing the intergenerational effects of abuses suffered in the Indian residential school system. In recognition of his support for residential school survivors and First Nations communities, Dr. DeGagné was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2014, and was also awarded the Order of Ontario. He holds a PhD in Education and honorary LLD from Dalhousie University.