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the eskina collaboration
About us
How we came together
As individual practitioners with our own experience and expertise, we often found ourselves working in areas where an interdisciplinary team - including not just a diversity of skills but also new perspectives and ways of thinking through complexity - would bring added value to our respective work. We found ourselves wanting to be challenged and to be supported. We found ourselves asking tough questions with no easy answers. We were each looking for more, and realized we already had the building blocks in each other – our existing colleagues, friends, and relations.  

It was from this place of curiosity and a desire to always be learning, that The Eskina Collaboration was born. As individual practitioners, we each bring a network of experts and evolving theories and best-practice from our respective fields. As a collaboration, we maximize these spaces, approaching our work with novelty, interest, and passion, and bringing a diversity of useful tools to support our clients’ needs.
As individual practitioners with our own experience and expertise, we often found ourselves working in areas where an interdisciplinary team - including not just a diversity of skills but also new perspectives and ways of thinking through complexity - would bring added value to our respective work.

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We found ourselves wanting to be challenged and to be supported. We found ourselves asking tough questions with no easy answers. We were each looking for more, and realized we already had the building blocks in each other – our existing colleagues, friends, and relations.  It was from this place of curiosity and a desire to always be learning, that The Eskina Collaboration was born. As individual practitioners, we each bring a network of experts and evolving theories and best-practice from our respective fields. As a collaboration, we maximize these spaces, approaching our work with novelty, interest, and passion, and bringing a diversity of useful tools to support our clients’ needs.

OUR VALUES

Respect

  • We respect each other, our associates, partners, clients, and all who could be impacted by our work. We are fundamentally guided by what matters to the people and communities we work for, and we respect the health of our shared environment.

Respect +

We respect each other, our associates, partners, clients, and all who could be impacted by our work. We are fundamentally guided by what matters to the people and communities we work for, and we respect the health of our shared environment.

Relationship-oriented
collaboration +

We recognize and draw on the strengths of each other, our clients, and our collaborators, and we prioritize positive physical and mental health for ourselves and those we work with. We build and maintain relationships based on mutual respect, trust, and learning, and we always aim to create inspirational, safe, and comfortable spaces for the exploration of hard topics.

High impact work +

We pursue and conduct high quality, creative, and forward-thinking work that is relevant, actionable, and aligns with our vision. We work on tangible projects that move forward. We are reliable, transparent, and responsive to ourselves and those we work with.

Continuous learning +

We pursue and conduct high quality, creative, and forward-thinking work that is relevant, actionable, and aligns with our vision. We work on tangible projects that move forward. We are reliable, transparent, and responsive to ourselves and those we work with.

Relationship-oriented Collaboration

  • We recognize and draw on the strengths of each other, our clients, and our collaborators, and we prioritize positive physical and mental health for ourselves and those we work with. We build and maintain relationships based on mutual respect, trust, and learning, and we always aim to create inspirational, safe, and comfortable spaces for the exploration of hard topics.

High Impact Work

  • We pursue and conduct high quality, creative, and forward-thinking work that is relevant, actionable, and aligns with our vision. We work on tangible projects that move forward. We are reliable, transparent, and responsive to ourselves and those we work with.

Continuous Learning

  • We learn from each other, from our colleagues, and from our clients. We learn from the complexity and interconnectedness of the world in which we work, and we remain engaged in emerging theories, research, and best-practice in our respective fields.

Collectively, we have over 35 years of experience working with Indigenous communities, organizations, and governments.
Survey design
Data collection and analysis
Statistical analysis
Data sovereignty and management
Research ethics
Policy development
Knowledge translation/mobilization
Indigenous law
Decolonizing research methods
Compensation methods
Decision analysis
Climate justice and adaptation
Land and marine planning
Environmental assessment
Conflict resolution
Cumulative effects management
Organizational development
Negotiation
the eskina team

Esther Usborne, PhD

How can Indigenous nations and organizations conduct their own research and fully make use of their own data to support health, wellness, and self-determination?

This question has driven Esther’s work over the past 15 years in various research, policy, and program environments. She is passionate about supporting Indigenous-led research and data initiatives and believes that data can empower and play a unique and powerful role in de-colonization and Indigenous governance.

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After completing a PhD in Social Psychology at McGill University and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Université de Montréal, Esther was recruited into the federal government through the Recruitment of Policy Leaders Program. She worked as a Senior Policy Analyst at Health Canada in the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, providing methodological and statistical expertise to health policy and programs. She has also worked as a Senior Analyst at the First Nations Information Governance Centre, and most recently as a Manager at Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami where she led the development of the Qanuippitaa? National Inuit Health Survey. Esther is currently working as an independent consultant and as part of the Eskina Collaboration supporting First Nations and Inuit organizations to conduct research, analysis, reporting, and evaluation. She has recent training in the Fundamentals of Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP®) of First Nations Data and Trauma Informed Leadership. Esther lives with her husband and two children on Treaty 7 Territory in Southern Alberta.

Nicole Kaechele,
PhD Candidate, MREM

How do we reflect what matters to people in collaborative governance spaces?

This question has been at the core of Nicole’s work and research over the past 15 years. Nicole is passionate about working with people in the places they call home. A primary focus in her practice is understanding what matters to people, and ensuring these values form the foundation of more equitable and resilient partnerships. This focus, alongside her commitment to leveling the playing field across diverse decision-making contexts and supporting the ongoing need to decolonize our systems of governance, drives her dedication to supporting collaborative spaces across diverse scales.

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Nicole holds an MREM from the University of Dalhousie and is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Resource, Environment, and Sustainability, University of British Columbia. She has additional training in Indigenous laws from the University of Victoria Indigenous Law Research Unit; in Structured Decision-Making from Compass Resource Management; and in Conflict Resolution from the Justice Institute of British Columbia. She works with provincial, federal, and elected and hereditary First Nation governments in areas of collaborative governance, Indigenous laws, climate change adaptation, and stewardship planning. Nicole’s expertise stems from a multi-disciplinary background in environmental planning, decision analysis, Indigenous legal theory, anthropology, and philosophy. Nicole’s skills-set is both exacting and flexible; she is adept at multi-stakeholder facilitation, project management, strategic planning and analysis, and at supporting the many scales within Government-to-Government processes. At a personal level, Nicole’s style is relational and direct; she seeks to bring clarity to complex issues while respecting the diversity of worldviews and experience represented within collaborative processes. Nicole calls the Westcoast of British Columbia home: from Prince Rupert, to Bella Coola, to the Sunshine Coast, to Ucluelet. She lives with her husband and two kids. Her non-working time is spent cooking, hiking, ocean swimming, writing, and sometimes farming.

Anna Usborne, MRM

How can Indigenous nations and public governments improve the health of their lands, waters, and communities through effective working and governance relationships?

This question drives Anna’s multiple avenues of work and pushes her to continuously collaborate for more creative, more effective, and more implementable solutions.

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With a Bachelors of Science and a Master’s of Resource and Environmental Management, Anna enjoys understanding how the natural systems of our world work; However, she spends most of her time collaborating with people. With over 15 years of experience working for and with First Nations, Anna can most often be found bridging cultural, scientific, and regulatory gaps to foster reconciling relationships and to generate solutions for improved governance and management of natural resources in Indigenous territories. Anna is particularly experienced working within the BC and Canadian Environmental Assessment regimes but also supports clients in diverse approaches to government-to-government reconciliation efforts, land and resource management planning, capacity building, negotiations, and collaborative conflict resolution. Anna makes her home with her partner and two young children in Terrace, BC where she’s grateful to be able to roam the mountains and rivers of Tsimshian Territory.

Enabling reconciling governments to effect change in natural resource, health, and data management sectors

The Eskina Collaboration is a remote consulting company whose team members live, work, and play across the unceded territories of the Shishalh, Tsimshian, and Treaty 7 Nations. Our work is nourished, informed, and improved by personal and professional relationships with Indigenous communities, organizations, knowledge holders, leaders, and Elders.

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