Sharon Hobenshield | Executive Director
Please reach out if you have any questions about KLF or would like to explore how we can work together. SHobenshield@klfoundation.ca
Sharon Hobenshield’s traditional name is Ha-Youly. She belongs to the Wilp Malii from the Gitxsan First Nation on her mother’s side and is of German ancestry on her father’s side. Sharon has 25 years’ experience working on Coast Salish Territory as a social worker and educator and has worked at Vancouver Island University in a leadership role since 2006 as the Director of Indigenous Education and Engagement. She believes strongly in Indigenous led and controlled programs and services to ensure authenticity of spirit and culture and to uphold the self-determining rights of Indigenous people.
Sharon has a Bachelor of Social Work, Master’s in Education and Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy. Her dissertation, Haq wil la hlo is sim: Walk Slowly on the Breath of your Ancestors, was an examination of gift-giving within Post-Secondary Education and inspired by her Grandfather’s teachings. Sharon is a proud mother of twin girls and makes her home in Nanoose Bay with her partner and mother.
