Edith Cloutier

Executive Director of the Val-d’Or Native Friendship Centre since 1989, Edith Cloutier, from the Anishnabe Nation, is also President of the Board of Directors of the Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec. Since 2009, she is co-director of the ODENA Research Alliance, “Aboriginals and the city”. Recognized for her commitment and proactive leadership in improving the quality of life of urban Aboriginals, it is her dynamic and human approach oriented toward solution finding and bridging gaps between Natives and Non-Natives that marks her path. Under her management, the Native Friendship Centre has become an important urban service hub, a living environment and a cultural anchor for First Peoples in Val-d’Or.

 

She received several recognition awards for her community involvement; notably, she was appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre du Québec in 2006 and she received the “Public Service” award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Award Foundation in 2010. In 2013, Edith Cloutier became Member of the Order of Canada in recognition for her outstanding achievement in improving the quality of life of the urban Aboriginal people.