Our Board
James Lavallée
James Lavallée is a proud Red River Métis from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and a co-founder of Waterways. A former member of Canada’s national sprint kayak team, James has always believed in the power of paddling to build confidence, community, and connection to culture.
James holds a Bachelor of Commerce with distinction from Concordia University, where he majored in Management and minored in Political Science. He currently works as Senior Program Coordinator at the National Association of Friendship Centres, where he supports urban Indigenous programming and employment and economic development initiatives across the country. James also serves as Vice-Chair of the Manitoba Métis Federation’s Bison Local and co-leads the Métis Harvesting Collective, which creates space for urban Métis youth to reconnect with traditional harvesting practices.
Denis Lavallée
Denis is Métis and a member of the Manitoba Metis Federation. He graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1978 with a Bachelor of Commerce and earned his CPA designation in 1981. He has held senior financial positions with various privately owned, public-traded, and government organizations throughout his career. Denis is married and has two children.
Caralynn Nault
Caralynn is a 2-Spirit Métis, living on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of their people in Winnipeg. She has a particular calling to help build spaces for Indigenous girls, women, and 2-Spirit people to feel safe and celebrated in Sport and Recreation.
Their work has included program design, facilitation, consultation, and public speaking around Reconciliation, EDI, and traditional land based learning/activities. She is currently working towards a certificate in Non-Profit Management from Simon Fraser University, and believes that learning is a lifelong experience based in humility and curiosity.
As an adult, the reclamation of play has been a large part of the evolution in Caralynn’s journey with the sport and recreation sector professionally, as well as their personal relationship with movement, her body, spirit, and the land. Through both work and personal life, she has experienced the joy, empowerment, and healing that movement and connection to the land and water brings to people (of all ages) and loves to share it with others whenever given the chance.
Samuel Anthony
Sam was first introduced to canoeing during a week-long backcountry expedition in northwestern Ontario at 3 years old. A childhood of canoe expeditions led to Sam starting Twin River Travel, a backcountry canoe outfitter in 2016. From there he expanded into Polar Bear guiding in Churchill Mb, running youth canoe programs for schools across Manitoba, and working for Spirit North as the regional coordinator for outdoor recreation programs in Indigenous communities across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Sam is passionate about the importance of outdoor recreation and excited to help Waterways offer high-quality wilderness experiences to youth. He is currently living in Montreal pursuing a law degree at McGill University.
Dené Sinclair
She acknowledges her traditional homeland around Selkirk, Manitoba (St. Peter’s Indian Band). She is a member of Peguis First Nation and a proud Ojibwe-Anishinaabekwe. Today, Dené lives in Winnipeg and works as a business management consultant specializing in strategic planning, communications and non-profit development. She is a committed student of the plants, lands and waters throughout our region, as well as a life-long learner of Anishinaabemowin.
Dené has a Masters of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from Royal Roads University (2019) specializing in Intercultural Communications, Tourism Management & Indigenous Studies, as well as a Diploma in Public Relations from the University of Winnipeg (2013). In 2018, Dené was counted as Canadian Traveller Magazine’s Top 40 under 40. She was recognized as a Finalist for the YM-YWCA Women of Distinction in 2016 as well as being included in 2016's CBC Manitoba's Future 40.