Candice Lys

Candice Lys grew up in a very large Métis family in Fort Smith, NWT and now resides in Yellowknife.  She holds a PhD in Public Health Science, is a community-based sexual and mental health researcher and is a Research Associate at Aurora College.  She is the Co-Founder/Executive Director of FOXY (Fostering Open eXpression among Youth) and SMASH (Strength, Masculinities, and Sexual Health).  FOXY and SMASH are peer-led, trauma-informed, arts-based sexual and mental health programs that use the arts to facilitate discussion, education, and healing among Northern and Indigenous youth.  In 2014, FOXY was the first organization to be awarded the entire $1 million Arctic Inspiration Prize.  Candice is recognized as the 53rd Ashoka Fellow from Canada and has earned the Meritorious Service Medal (Civil Division) from the Governor General of Canada for her work with FOXY and SMASH.  She is a life partner to Remi, and a mom to a little human Luca and a rambunctious beagle named Maple