Cathleen Anne Tenning (She/Her/Hers; preferred name – Anne)

Anne Tenning is a member of the Stz'uminus First Nation on Vancouver Island. She is of Coast Salish ancestry on her mother’s side and of European and Japanese ancestry on her father’s side.

Anne's late mother, Elizabeth Tenning, attended Kuper Island Residential School and Anne considers her mother to be her greatest influence and role model. Anne’s father, Keith Tenning, took great pride in his role as a school custodian for many years in the Victoria School District, helping to inspire Anne’s decision to become an educator. Anne’s maternal grandparents were Isabelle Peall from Stz’uminus and Benedict Alphonse from Cowichan Tribes.

Anne has been an educator in the BC K-12 education system for 24 years, specializing in Indigenous Education. She has worked as a secondary teacher (SD44, SD61), a District Principal of Indigenous Education (SD67, SD68, and SD83), and as the Senior Manager of Curriculum with FNESC. Anne started an educational consulting business in 2022. She is also an aspiring writer with a children’s book and a memoir in the works.

In 2008, Anne received the Governor General's Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award for the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria. She currently lives on the beautiful, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Secwepemc peoples with her husband.