Leona Makokis

Leona Makokis

Education (2012)

“Recognize your gifts, create a vision, know your purpose, be the change agent for the betterment of our communities.”

Leona Makokis’ diligence and dedication has allowed numerous students to obtain diplomas in Indigenous knowledge, ceremony, and language. In the mid-seventies, she was invited by Blue Quills First Nations College to instruct in the Secretarial Arts Program with Alberta Vocational College. This was the beginning of a long career at Blue Quills as Executive Director from 1982 to 1988 and then as President from 1992 until retirement in 2010. During this time, she also earned a long list of academic credentials including a Bachelor of Administration, Bachelor of Education, Master of Arts in Education Leadership, and a Doctorate in Education. Throughout her tenure at Blue Quills she transformed the College from being only a host campus for other institutions to becoming the first independently accredited Indigenous institution to offer its own degrees. Being told as a child that she would never amount to anything, Makokis continues to travel internationally spreading the message of self-determination through Indigenous knowledge.