Neal Kewistep (MPA’11) is someone who lives his values every day, using his education to help advocate for Truth and Reconciliation and for the wellbeing of Indigenous communities across Saskatchewan. A member of the Yellow Quill First Nation, Kewistep was the first First Nation student to join the newly formed Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS) in 2009. There, he completed the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at the school’s University of Saskatchewan campus. He came to the graduate program with a strong foundation of traditional teachings from Elders and with the goal of further enhancing his knowledge of the role of a servant leader.

As both a residential school survivor and the son of a survivor, Kewistep is committed to creating opportunities for Truth and Reconciliation in his community and through his work in the public sector. He was a co-founder of the very successful Wîcihitowin Indigenous Engagement Conference, which aimed to honour residential school survivors and survivors of the Sixties Scoop and to support the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action. The conference ran for eight years in Saskatoon and brought together community organizations, various levels of government, and members of the broader community to learn and grow together.

With the encouragement of his family, community, and JSGS, Kewistep graduated from USask with his MPA degree in 2011. Since then, his impact throughout the province, and on JSGS, has been profound. He has spent his career fostering relationships with government, Indigenous, and community-based organizations and, in 2018, he was appointed as an executive-in-residence at JSGS. He has been instrumental in building a partnership between the policy school and the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv). Together, the partners have co-developed the Indigenous Leadership Program and the FNUniv Board Governance Program, through which Kewistep has been involved in the leadership training of many chiefs, councillors, and senior band administrators.

Kewistep has served as the interim director of the Population Public Health unit with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, as the director of operations for the Native Counselling Services of Alberta, and as a community development advisor with Yellow Quill First Nation in addition to providing consulting services to the Saskatoon Tribal Council and Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools. In 2017, he was awarded CBC’s Future 40 under 40 in recognition of his work in the health-care sector. Kewistep is highly respected throughout the province for his work in Indigenous governance and economic development, and for having a deep personal commitment to building respectful relationships.