Stephen Kakfwi was President of the Dene Nation from 1983 to 1987, was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in 1987 and served as Premier from 2000-2003. Stephen currently focuses on achieving a balance of conservation and resource development in the North, focusing on community development in Aboriginal settlements. A Senior Advisor to the Indigenous Leadership Initiative (a group helping strengthen Indigenous nationhood and supporting fulfillment of Indigenous cultural responsibilities to the land), in 2014 he founded Canadians for a New Partnership (a group encouraging relationship building between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples) and is its President and CEO.