Jenni Lessard is a chef and culinary consultant who grew up in the boreal forest near La Ronge, in Northern Saskatchewan, and now lives and works in Lumsden, in the Qu’Appelle Valley near Regina. Jenni is a member of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan and is the interim Executive Director of the Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations. She started cooking at the age of eight and opened her first food business, a hamburger stand, at her local airport at the age of 14. After spending time in the Rocky Mountains, Jenni started selling soup and baking at a farmer’s market in Prince Albert, SK. In 2005 she opened a small cafe’ in Birch Hills, SK, called New Ground Cafe’, serving Fair Trade coffee and a daily changing menu with local and Indigenous ingredients. She quickly expanded the restaurant to a larger space that showcased local art and live music. In 2012 Jenni moved to Saskatoon and started a catering company called Chef Jenni Cuisine. In 2019 she became the first Indigenous and female executive chef at Wanuskewin Heritage Park near Saskatoon. Now, with Inspired by Nature Culinary Consulting, Jenni creates menus and recipes for a wide variety of organizations and spends most of the summer months harvesting ingredients from the land.