About Jolene

Jolene Ashini is an associate and a member of the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation in Labrador. She earned a Bachelor of Science in geology from Acadia University before studying law at the University of Victoria, where she was part of the first cohort in the joint common law and Indigenous legal orders degree program. She is the first Labrador Innu woman to earn a law degree and the first Labrador Innu person to become a licensed legal practitioner. Raised by a prominent Innu leader, she has spent significant time on the land learning and applying Innu teachings within Canada's legal and governance systems, and she previously served as a band councillor for her First Nation. In 2022 the Royal Society of Canada gave her its inaugural Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella Prize, awarded to a graduating law student likely to advance equity and social justice. She now co-chairs the board of trustees of the Mamu-Tshishkutamashutau Innu Education organization.

Practice areas

Indigenous Law

Education & credentials

Law school
University of Victoria

Listing compiled from public sources. Verify licence status on the Law Society of Ontario directory.