Yataltenat Kelley McReynolds

Yataltenat Kelley McReynolds believes leadership is about responsibility: to family, to community, to Ancestors and to future generations.

“I see myself as a matriarch within my community and carry these responsibilities with a deep, personal commitment,” says McReynolds, who is the executive director of the Squamish Nation Nexwninlhewa7nem Ch’awch’aw (People Services). “We are designing something that is empowering our people. It's about promoting wellbeing and seeing our potential.”

McReynolds’ career spans more than three decades in social work and community service, much of it rooted in frontline roles supporting people navigating homelessness, child welfare and community development. In the mid-2000s, she received what she describes as a calling: an invitation to return home and help lead child and family services for Squamish Nation. At the time, her family was living in Alberta, and her children were still young. The decision to return was not simple, but it was clear.

“It was an honour and a responsibility to come home and do this work,” she recalls.

Reimagining systems through culture

That decision marked the beginning of a 16-year tenure at Ayás Mén̓men (Child and Family Services), where McReynolds helped reshape how child welfare could be practised within her Nation. Rather than centring systems designed by colonial institutions, she has worked to build approaches grounded in Squamish values, relationships and prevention.

In 2023, McReynolds stepped into her current role, where she oversees not only Ayás Mén̓men, but also Ta7lnew̓ás (Education, Employment and Training), Yúustway (Health and Wellness) and Ts’ixwts’ixwnítway (Member Services). The scope of the role carries significant responsibility, requiring her to steward multiple community-serving agencies while ensuring their work remains grounded in Squamish values, relationships and long-term wellbeing.

“We engage the community, the people, the Elders and other knowledge keepers. It's got to be coordinated across all sectors of our work, looking at the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs of families and individuals,” she says. “I always say that it's about the tea and Bannock: being able to build that relationship by sitting down and really being genuine in the relationship.”

This holistic vision was also central to McReynolds’ academic journey at University of Victoria. She says that she quickly recognized the Master of Social Work Indigenous Specialization as the program she had been searching for throughout her career. The experience, she says, strengthened her leadership, deepened her self-awareness and gave her space to reflect more intentionally on the impact she could have as an Indigenous leader.

“It was an opportunity for me to devote more time into doing literature reviews, to be able to take a look at research that was out there, expand my ability to take diverse perspectives and to enhance my vision of what's possible in this work,” she reflects.

Beyond her Nation, McReynolds has advocated for Indigenous child welfare reform through her role with the Our Children Our Way Society. Through her involvement in provincial and national advocacy, she has supported Indigenous Nations reclaiming jurisdiction and advancing culturally grounded systems of care.

McReynolds says that one important aspect of leadership is the willingness to sit with discomfort and to engage in difficult conversations with care and in a manner that encourages people to feel safe.

Homecoming and healing

McReynolds applies this approach in her work not only with staff and leadership, but with families and community members navigating systems that have historically caused harm. She says that one of the most profound aspects of her work has been supporting the homecoming of Squamish children and youth who were displaced through child welfare systems.

“Everyone has the right to walk on their traditional lands,” she says.

Homecoming, she emphasizes, is not only physical. Through ceremony, language, stories and innovative tools like digital wellness platforms, McReynolds has helped create pathways for Squamish people—wherever they are—to reconnect with culture, identity and belonging.

“People need to be reminded that they come from good people and that these are their people and their lineage,” she says. “They need to know they are 'wa iy̓ím ta Sḵwx̱wú7mesh', which means ‘Squamish strong,’ and they have many reasons to be proud of that.”