Dr. Beverly Jacobs is the Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Relations and Outreach at the University of Windsor and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law. She held Associate Dean (Academic) and Acting Dean appointments in the Faculty of Law. She practices law part-time at her home community of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Her research focuses on Indigenous Legal Orders, Indigenous Wholistic Health, Indigenous Research Methodologies, and Decolonization of Eurocentric Law. Beverly has obtained a Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of Windsor in 1994, a Master of Law Degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 2000 and a PhD from the University of Calgary in 2018. Beverly is also a consultant/researcher/writer/public speaker. Her work centres around ending gendered colonial violence against Indigenous people and restoring Indigenous laws, beliefs, values, and traditions. A prolific scholar, her published work has earned her numerous awards; her research combined with her advocacy has translated into national and international recognition.
Dr. Jacobs is a former President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (elected 2004 to 2009). She is nationally known for her work and commitment to Indigenous politics in Canada, is universally respected in this regard, and is understood to be a tireless and formidable advocate. She is a leading voice and an expert with respect to a multitude of issues facing Indigenous people in her community, in Ontario, across Canada and on an international scale.
Dr. Jacobs received the Laura Legge Award from the Law Society of Ontario in 2021 and she was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2018. She received two awards from Mohawk College in 2018: Alumni of Distinction Award and Distinguished Fellow – Adjunct Professor. In her first year of teaching at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor in 2017, she received an Office of Human Rights, Equity & Accessibility, Human Rights and Social Justice Award. In 2016, she received a Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law from the Governments of France and Germany for her human rights fight for the issues relating to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. In 2008, she also received a Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Person’s Case, an Esquao Award from the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women and a Canadian Voice of Women of Peace Award from the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative and Civilian Peace Service Canada.