Teika Newton, Executive Director
Teika is a long-time participant in regional watershed science, policy, and governance activities. Since 2013, she has served in various capacities to the International Joint Commission’s International Rainy–Lake of the Woods Watershed Board, co-chairing the Board’s Community Advisory Group, Engagement Committee, Adaptive Management Committee, and currently, its Aquatic Ecosystem Health Committee. Teika also has been helping to guide the IJC Board’s work on climate adaptation since 2016.
Teika comes to the Foundation following several years at Climate Action Network - Réseau action climat Canada, where she helped grow the network to 150 civil society member organizations and cultivate a powerful team of diplomats and climate policy experts under her leadership as Managing Director. Prior to that, Teika co-founded and ran Transition Initiative Kenora, a non-profit championing policy and action to accelerate the low-carbon energy transition at the local level. Teika has been a long-time environmental and climate advocate, serving on the City of Kenora's Environmental and Sustainability Advisory Committees. She also serves as an elected public school board trustee and has past work experience in coordinating community development projects aimed at implementation of Crown-Indigenous treaties in a contemporary resource management and economic development context.
Born and raised in Kenora, Teika and her husband Mike raised their children Maya and Sam in the off-grid house they built just outside town. Teika holds a Masters degree in plant biology, with a speciality in evolutionary genetics, from the University of British Columbia.
Teika can be reached at
Meghan Mills, International Watershed Coordinator
Meghan Mills joined the Foundation in January 2025 as the new International Watershed Coordinator.
Meg is thrilled to work alongside others dedicated to protecting our shared waters. She lives on Treaty 1 Territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and cherishes time spent off-grid at Pelicanpouch Lake, located on Treaty 3 Territory near Minaki, Ontario.
Meg is currently completing her Master of Natural Resources Management at the University of Manitoba, with a focus on researching meaningful public participation and community engagement in resource management through a co-governance lens. Her background includes diverse environmental projects that blend science and storytelling. She has done community-based monitoring and project coordination work, equipping her with strong technical and communication skills. Continually learning the complexities of water governance, she is deeply committed to relationship-building and meaningful collaboration with diverse groups through empathic approaches to achieve impactful outcomes.
In her free time, Meg enjoys backcountry canoe trips in the summer (a humbling reminder of coexisting with natures quirks, including bugs), cross-country skiing during the long, dark prairie winters, and exploring different art mediums, most recently, needle felting (it’s surprisingly cathartic to repeatedly poke wool with a sharp needle!). Meg looks forward to meeting and working alongside the LOWWSF community, and we are excited to welcome her. Meg can be reached at