Ashley Sheppard (She, her)

Manager, Learning and Knowledge Solutions (See Different)

Ashley Sheppard (she/her) is a Mi’kmaw and Ukrainian educator and scholar who believes that learning is most powerful when rooted in land, culture, and community. Mi’kmaw through her father’s family from St. George’s Bay, Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland), and Ukrainian through her mother’s family, she was raised in Alberta until 15, when her family moved home to Newfoundland. That return marked the beginning of a lifelong journey of cultural reclamation, language learning, and commitment to relational accountability.

Ashley is the Manager and Lead Facilitator of CCDI’s youth education initiative, See Different, a certification program and national network for youth in Canada aged 15-26. In this role, she designs and delivers interactive programs that help young people across Canada build leadership skills, challenge inequity, and create change in their schools and communities.

She holds a master’s degree in international relations from McMaster University and is currently pursuing her Doctor of Education at Ontario Tech University, with a focus on Indigenous youth, digital belonging, and community-driven learning spaces. Multilingual and multicultural, Ashley spent over six years living and working abroad, where she learned to speak French, Spanish, and Japanese. She is currently working hard to learn Mi’kmaw. 

Now living in Nova Scotia with her partner and their two dogs, Millie and Watson, Ashley brings heart, humour, and a deep commitment to creating spaces where young people feel seen, supported, and trusted to lead on their own terms.