Jessica Steele

Jessica Steele (she/her/elle) is a climate justice activist, ocean conservationist and youth engager, striving to tread lightly and with intention on the unceded, traditional and ancestral lands of the Coast Salish Peoples. After completing a BSc in Biology (Specialization in Marine Biology) from UVic in 2015, Jessica did an International Youth Internship Placement (IYIP) with the Institut Africain de Gestion Urbaine in Dakar, Senegal where she worked on waste management projects. In 2017, Jessica joined Ocean Wise Conservation Association’s national ocean education initiatives working as an Educator on the Mobile Programs team and as a Program Coordinator for Ocean Bridge/Portail Ocean. She is currently a Sr. Referrals Analyst with səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) where she upholds Indigenous Rights through Consultation on environmental assessment projects. Jessica sits on the Primate World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF)’s National Youth Council and has been the PWRDF representative to the KAIROS Ecological Justice Circle since 2018. In December 2018, she attended the UNFCCC’s COP24 on behalf of KAIROS. She is part of the British Columbia Council for International Cooperation (BCCIC)’s delegation to the 2022 UN Oceans Conference and a co-author of the delegation’s policy paper “Achieving Equity in Canada’s Blue Economy”. Jessica loves jumping in the ocean, riding her bike, summer picnics and backpacking backcountry trails.