Bios

Irene "Strong Oak" Lefebvre, MSSA is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Visioning B.E.A.R. Circle Intertribal Coalition Inc. They are of Mi’Kmaq and Maliseet descent. In 2017, Strong Oak received the Visionary Voice Award from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, representing the state of Massachusetts in recognition of their work to end sexual violence. Strong Oak served on the Advisory Council for the National Sexual Resource Center from 2010-2016. They are currently a Peer Cohort, representing CIC, with the Just Beginnings Collaborative, a funding organization that seeks to build a movement to end childhood sexual assault nationwide. Strong Oak is a member of the Governor’s Statutory Restorative Justice Advisory Committee in Massachusetts and is currently serving a six-year term that began in November 2018. They are also a member of the Raliance Policy Group working on a three-year study on mandated reporting and its impact on survivors from marginalized communities.