Meet Our Team, MbEN 2025.
Executive Director. James Beddome. James (he/him) joined MbEN as Executive Director in August 2024. He also previously served as a board member from 2014-2018. Before joining MbEN as Executive Director James spent 10 years practicing as a lawyer. His practice focused primarily on serving Indigenous governments, organizations and individuals in a broad variety of areas. This includes experience assisting First Nations to draft their own environmental laws under the First Nations Lands Management Act and representation of tribal organizations at Clean Environment Commission and National Energy Board hearings. Prior to entering law school, Beddome was a founding partner of Wheely Green, a bike taxi service and ecologically focused marketing company in Winnipeg. During law school, Beddome worked as a research consultant for Manitoba Wildlands, a member organization of the Manitoba Eco-Network. James was born and raised on a mixed livestock operation near Rapid City, Manitoba before moving to Winnipeg in 2001 to pursue his academic studies. James has two degrees, both from the University of Manitoba, a L.L.B. (2013) and BA(Hons) with a double major in political studies and economics (2006).
Policy Advocacy Director. Heather Fast. Heather (she/her) transitioned from Board Member to Policy Advocacy Director in July 2021. She is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Manitoba’s Natural Resources Institute and teaches the Environmental Law 3600 course in the Faculty of Law. Heather has three prior degrees from the University of Manitoba from the Faculty of Arts (Global Political Economy) and the Faculty of Law (J.D. and LL.M.). She was called to the Bar in 2014 and undertook legal and policy work for a number of organizations including the Manitoba Law Reform Commission, the Public Interest Law Centre and The Great-West Life Assurance Company (now Canada Life) before returning to her graduate studies.
Project Manager. Sorsha Moore-Peters. Sorsha (she/her) joined MbEN as a Projects Manager in June 2025. She credits her interests in grassroots advocacy and environmental justice as her initial motivation for joining the Manitoba Eco-Network.
Sorsha came to the Eco-Network from the U of M’s Environmental Conservation Lab, a qualitative research lab that serves as a hub for students working on issues related to Indigenous-led environmental justice. As an environmentalist of Irish-settler descent living on Treaty 1 Territory, Sorsha tries to ground her professional ethics within the responsibilities of working to protect the land as someone who is a guest upon it.
Sorsha earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Manitoba from the Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources (Env. Studies). She has a Minor in Geography and a Major in Sustainable Development. During her undergraduate studies she partnered with the University of Manitoba’s International Center and the student-run campus bike shop UMCycle on her ‘Cyclist Road Safety’ project. .
In her spare time she has also completed the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science ‘Beekeeping for the Hobbyist’ Short Course (LOA) and the Manitoba Accessibility Office’s ‘Accessible Employment Standard’ certification.
[1/2] At the Manitoba Eco-Network, we’ve been hard at work this summer to facilitate environmental connections, engage in advocacy opportunities, and undertake community-based research. This week, we thought it’d be a good time to re-introduce our team to all of you!
#mbeconetwork #meetourteam