Angeline (Angie) Gillis is a proud L’nu woman, Mi’kmaw lawyer, advocate and Indigenous leader whose career has been grounded in service to Mi’kmaw people and in advancing practical, Indigenous-led solutions within the systems that most directly affect First Nations people and communities.

Angie serves as Executive Director of the Confederacy of Mi’kmaw Nations (CMN) — formerly The Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq (CMM), a Tribal Council serving and supporting eight Mi’kmaw communities in mainland Nova Scotia. The first woman to hold the position, she leads an organization of approximately 200 employees working across a broad range of priorities including governance, justice and public safety, community development, housing and infrastructure, economic development, environmental stewardship, fisheries, Indigenous Knowledge and major projects.

A practicing member of the Nova Scotia Bar and graduate of Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law, Angie brings a legal, governance and negotiation lens to more than fifteen years of work at the intersection of Mi’kmaw communities, governments, industry, academia and Indigenous organizations. Her career has taken her from legal practice and in-house counsel through environmental and natural-resource leadership to senior executive leadership. A negotiator by training and by nature, she is known for bringing people with different perspectives to the same table, navigating complex issues and finding practical ways forward.

A significant focus of Angie’s work is Indigenous justice, public safety, governance and institutional reform. She participates in senior Indigenous-government tables examining justice, policing and public safety and contributes to national work on Indigenous policing. Her governance experience also includes service on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Departmental Audit Committee and six years as Chair of Natural Resources Canada’s Departmental Audit Committee. Across this work, she is particularly interested in strengthening accountability, Indigenous jurisdiction and culturally grounded approaches to justice and public safety.

Angie’s approach to systems change is informed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the Marshall Inquiry and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Equally important are the lived experiences of Indigenous people navigating institutions that were not designed with them in mind. She believes meaningful reform requires moving beyond identifying systemic problems toward changing the structures, policies and accountability mechanisms that allow those problems to persist.

Earlier in her career, Angie developed extensive expertise in environmental governance, Indigenous Knowledge and impact assessment. She has carried that experience into her work on major projects and broader public-policy questions, bringing together Indigenous Knowledge, law, governance and practical decision-making. At the centre of her approach is a straightforward principle: Indigenous peoples should not simply be consulted about decisions affecting their lands, rights and communities—they should have meaningful roles in making them.

Over the course of her career, Angie has served on numerous national and regional boards, government committees and advisory bodies spanning Indigenous governance, policing, fisheries, natural resources, environmental sustainability, philanthropy, academia and economic development. She has served on Dalhousie University’s Board of Governors, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster and several national advisory bodies, and has appeared before parliamentary committees on matters affecting First Nations. She currently contributes to a number of national and regional tables, including the Assembly of First Nations’ policing and fisheries work, the Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects, Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management Advisory Board, the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia and the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation.

In 2025, Angie was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal, following a nomination by the Assembly of First Nations, in recognition of her service to Indigenous peoples and Canada. Her leadership has also been recognized by the Nova Scotia Legislature, and beyond her professional work, she has been recognized three times by the Mi’kmaw Sport Council of Nova Scotia as Aboriginal Coach of the Year for her contributions to basketball and community.

For all the titles and tables, Angie describes herself much more simply: a mother, farmer’s daughter and Nova Scotian. She believes good leadership is built on relationships, trust, humour and the willingness to have difficult conversations. And she believes lasting change rarely comes from simply finding a seat at someone else’s table. Sometimes, you have to help redesign the table itself.