Sqwulutsultun (William) Yoachim

Transforming Indigenous child and family services on Vancouver Island

Sqwulutsultun (William) Yoachim has spent his career quietly reshaping what child and family wellness can look like when it is rooted in culture, compassion and community accountability. A graduate of the School of Social Work at the University of Victoria, Yoachim is the executive director of Kw’umut Lelum Child and Family Services, an Indigenous-led agency serving nine Coast Salish nations on Vancouver Island.

Yoachim arrived at UVic with frontline experience working with youth already behind him. He describes his degree not as an abstract credential, but as a grounding blend of Indigenous specialization and broader social work that allowed him to enter a profession he was passionate about without losing sight of humanity.

“It gave me the space to be a free thinker and safe, where I could be vulnerable and free to express what I thought,” he recalls.

Leadership grounded in culture and community accountability

Since joining Kw’umut Lelum in 2008, Yoachim has guided the organization from a small guardianship agency into a comprehensive child and family wellness system employing nearly 200 staff. While the organization’s scope has expanded significantly, Yoachim’s focus remains firmly on culture rather than hierarchy.

“I just want people to feel supported to work in ways where they feel they can make a difference,” he says.

That same philosophy has informed his public service as a longtime elected leader with Snuneymuxw First Nation and as a former Nanaimo city councillor. The approach, he says, traces directly back to his education.

“It’s the mindset I received at UVic,” Yoachim explains. “I try to bring that to how I govern myself when making decisions.”

At Kw’umut Lelum, one principle anchors every decision: children are never politicized. Keeping the child at the centre creates clarity, alignment and shared responsibility.

“When the child’s at the centre, leadership comes together,” he says. “They give me the mandate, and that’s why I think we have success.”

Under Yoachim’s leadership, the agency has prioritized keeping children within their families and communities, supported by extended kinship networks and culturally grounded practice. He describes Kw’umut Lelum as fully indigenized, an approach now recognized as a model nationally.

“Our practice is totally based on Coast Salish values and teachings,” he says. One guiding metaphor comes from the longhouse: “Hang your bias at the door so you can meet everyone with no judgment.”

That philosophy informs everything from frontline practice to major innovations, including Orca Lelum—British Columbia’s first Indigenous-led youth treatment centre for ages 12 to 18—created in response to the overdose crisis.

“Wherever there is a need, we try to fill that void,” Yoachim says.

The same instinct led to the creation of the Kw’umut Lelum Foundation, the first Indigenous-owned and led community foundation in British Columbia. Established during the COVID-19 period, the foundation helps close a long-standing gap by making cultural, educational and recreational opportunities available to Indigenous children and families, not only those involved in the child-welfare system.

“You shouldn’t have to be in care to access your inherent cultural rights,” Yoachim says.

Reclaiming agency through education and healing

Yoachim speaks openly about how his own childhood experiences shaped his path and his understanding of trauma. As a survivor of sexual abuse, he describes carrying that loss quietly for years. Growing up in a time when such experiences were rarely spoken about or addressed, he learned to numb the pain rather than process it.

“I felt I lost the innocence of childhood,” he says.

For much of his early adulthood, from the outside his life appeared stable. Inside, however, he felt disconnected and adrift.

That perspective now informs how Yoachim works with families and communities, bringing a deep empathy to his leadership and a clear conviction that trauma should never be the defining story of a person’s life.

“I truly know how they felt: worthless and useless. I don’t want trauma and abuse to define individuals.”

When asked what advice he would offer today’s UVic students, Yoachim returns to a principle that has guided his own remarkable journey.

“Just be you,” he says. “You don’t get to that position in life by not being you.”