Leena Minifie is a Gitxaala (Tsimshian) and British digital strategist, impact and media producer based in the unceded Coast Salish Territories of Vancouver. She is the owner and founder of Stories First Leena holds a BA in Indigenous Studies and BFA in New Media from the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico. Leena’s experience includes media projects including series, documentaries, webinars, radio broadcast, culture retention projects and news sites. She has worked as a journalist for agencies such as CBC Radio One, CTV, Native American Calling (US), APTN National News and was a co-founder of Ricochet Media. Leena has deep experience in film, television, but focuses primarily on online digital campaigns and digital strategy for social good. Before starting her consultancy, she worked at a boutique digital agency in Minnesota with philanthropic clients like W. K. Kellogg, Northwest Area Foundation, First Nations Development and Energy Institute. In 2019, she returned to Vancouver to work with Screen Siren Pictures and Animikii Digital for the #Next150 campaign for the filem Indian Horse and implemented strategies for theatrical release in Canada and the USA. Through her work bringing the film to rural Canada and USA audiences and on a limited budget, it broke the 2 Million mark in box office sales in North America. Additionally, Stories First was a key member of The Grizzlies movie’s digital roll-out, developed a risk management report and strategy for theatrical launch and is now currently developing the strategy for the educational online campaign. Leena is currently the only First Nations woman to participate in the Aspen Institute and the U.S. Embassy’s Edward R. Murrow Journalism Program in Washington, DC.
Leena leads with visual and pattern thinking and a multi-disciplinary approach to problem-solving. She believes that communication is all about creativity and passion with a healthy dose of radical truth, transparency, authenticity, reciprocity and a pinch of out-of-the-box thinking.