Jeannine Georgeson is Coast Salish, Sahtu Dene, Irish, and Scottish descent. Like many generations before her, she has called Galiano home for most of her life. Like those before her, she has been fortunate to raise her children here in this community.

After a career shift from the service industry, Jeannine began working with IMERSS, a local non-profit, on an eco-cultural mapping project and as a liaison with their partner organization, Whiteswan Environmental, in Lummi territory. This connection and the work inspired Jeannine to direct her career toward biodiversity, language, cultural preservation, and community engagement. In the Spring of 2022, after working with her mother and matriarchs (aunties) from Galiano and throughout the Salish Sea, Jeannine learned more about her Grandmother Sophie’s roots and her family’s connections to the land and waters they have called home for many generations. Combined with this knowledge, the work she was doing on the mapping project, and her role with Whiteswan, Jeannine was inspired to enrol in hul’q’umi’num’ language classes at SFU. She will graduate from the certificate program this June and is already working on her diploma in the hul’q’umi’num’ language. Jeannine is always looking for ways to incorporate her language into her daily life and looks forward to sharing the language with her family and her community.

Jeannine occasionally has some spare time which she likes to spend at some of her favourite spots on Galiano or in snuneymuhw with her granddaughter.