Winona was born in Toronto and raised in an Anishnaabe household. Her adopted mother is a band member of Garden River and her birth mother is Metis (French/Blackfoot). She returned to Sault Ste Marie in 1999. She has a varied work experience, beginning with graduating from Humber College as a Child and Youth Worker in 1989. Since then she has accomplished many things, but to highlight a few: she 5 group homes in government licensing and operations; she held the position of Chair of the Staff Training and Retention Sub-Committee for the Ministry of Community and Social Services; she has experience as the manager of Marks and Assistant Store Manager at both Home Depot and Lowe’s, with experience in both roles of Operations Manager and Specialty Manager in Sault Ste. Marie; she managed a weight-loss and nutrition center which allowed me the necessary experience to cross over to retail from the social services industry; she managed Invitational and Regional Swim Competitions as a Meet Manager. Winona is also a Level IV Referee with Swim Ontario. She is running for Councillor of Ward 3 in Sault Ste Marie.