Mackenzie Englishoe

Mackenzie Englishoe is the daughter of Nicole James from Gwichyaa Zhee, and granddaughter of Denise James of Gwichyaa Zhee and Sonny Jonas of Canyon Village. Her tribe is Gwichyaa Zhee, located in the Yukon Flats in Interior, Alaska. She is currently 20-years-old and serves on the Emerging Leaders board representing the Yukon Flats, and on Arctic Youth Ambassadors. 

When Mackenzie turned 15, she had the opportunity to attend her first climate conference – the 2018 Climate Change in my Community. This was the first time she had ever been involved in this area of advocacy and work and from then on, she was hooked. Mackenzie became part of the worldwide team of the GLOBE Project, an international, NASA-funded research project aimed at creating, testing, and validating theories relating to the relationship between culture and societal, organizational and leadership effectiveness. Mackenzie and her mother began studying and collecting data on blueberries in the Fairbanks area. They noticed they were not growing as ripe, the quantity of them began degrading and they were falling earlier than usual. After collecting this data, they reported it to the GLOBE App for anyone to see and study.

Mackenzie spends her time at as many conferences, summits, trainings and climate change projects as she can. She has been involved with the Yukon salmon, land protection, MMIWG2S+ movement, food security, weaving together traditional knowledge with western science, indigenous hunting and fishing rights, and climate change. Mackenzie also served as the youth representative for her region the Yukon Flats for TCC Emerging leaders, a 2023 Arctic Youth Ambassador and a member of the 2023 Remembering our Sisters cohort. 

About Mackenzie’s Project

During her time as a 2024 Brave Heart Fellow, Mackenzie developed a workshop on salmon cleaning for young people. Despite the low number of salmon currently in the Gwichyaa Zhee river, she is determined to help keep traditional practice alive.