Nicole McDonald is the founder of Indigenous Philanthropy Advisors. She works alongside Indigenous-led organizations, foundations, charities, businesses, boards, and collaborative initiatives to navigate complexity, build stronger partnerships, and shape approaches to philanthropy, governance, and collaboration that reflect Indigenous leadership and community priorities.

Born and raised on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis Nation, Nicole is a citizen of the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan. Her work has focused on advancing Indigenous self-determination and wellbeing through philanthropy, public policy, governance, and organizational change.

For more than two decades, Nicole has worked across the public, philanthropic, and non-profit sectors. She began her career in the federal public service, where she spent a decade contributing to Indigenous policy development, program design, and intergovernmental collaboration. She later held senior leadership roles at the McConnell Foundation and MakeWay, where she supported Indigenous-led initiatives and worked with philanthropic organizations to strengthen their approaches to Indigenous partnerships, community investment, and grantmaking.

Nicole also brings extensive governance experience and currently serves on the boards of the Definity Foundation and the Institute for the Study of Spirit. She is a former founding board member of the Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund and a former Board Chair of SeedChange.

Nicole lives and works in Quebec, with gratitude, on Anicinape territory.