Raylene Whitford is a Cree-Métis finance professional with nearly 20 years of international experience in finance and the energy sector, working at the intersection of capital markets, sustainability, and Indigenous rights.

Now a practitioner-scholar, Raylene works with investors and asset managers to develop rights-based investment frameworks that integrate Indigenous rights, governance, and jurisdiction into decision-making and stewardship. She is completing an interdisciplinary PhD in Indigenous Studies and Business at the University of Alberta, where her research examines how corporate reporting frameworks shape the recognition, or omission, of Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

She is Chair-Elect of the First Nations University of Canada Board of Governors and Vice-Chair of Cheam Enterprises Inc. She is also the founder of Canative Energy, a boutique consultancy advising on Indigenous rights, governance, and investment decision-making. She previously served as an inaugural member of the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board and was an equity partner at Deloitte. 

Raylene is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) with an MBA from Aberdeen Business School (UK) and is a member of the Otipemisiwak Métis Nation in Alberta.