Desneige Frandsen (Law '23) decided she would go into law when she was around six years old.
She remembers sitting in the backseat of her auntie's car, driving along a dirt road just outside Midland, Ont., when her auntie asked her cousin what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her cousin said she wanted to be a judge.
"I thought, 'This kind and compassionate person is interested in this profession,'" Frandsen recalls. "Maybe that's something that I want to do too."
As Frandsen, who is Metis, got older, she saw that the justice system wasn't always fair to marginalized communities, especially those who were Indigenous. As a result, she became even more inspired to enter law.
After completing her undergraduate degree in criminal justice and public policy and then working as a mental health research analyst for a few years, she decided to pursue a law degree at TMU.
It's clear Frandsen's choice was the right one. During her time in the law program, she was vice-president of the Lincoln Alexander Law Society, helping to establish more than 20 clubs and associations. She was president of the school's Indigenous Law Students Association, and also worked with professor Scott Franks, who is Metis, on a project to incorporate Indigenous legal orders, issues and perspectives in the law school curriculum.
For her contributions, Frandsen earned the Dr. Anver Saloojee Anti-Discrimination Award in 2020/21, the Spring Forward Award at graduation in 2023 and has also since been recognized with a TMU Alumni Achievement Award.
"As a small-town, Indigenous woman, I definitely had some imposter syndrome. I still wake up and have to pinch myself... that I'm fulfilling my dreams," she said.
From law school to Level Justice
Three years after graduation, Frandsen now works at Level Justice, a national justice education and human rights charity, where she oversees their Indigenous youth outreach program, which provides legal and advocacy training to Indigenous youth across Canada and exposes them to legal careers. She also delivers cultural humility and empathy training to companies and organizations, including TMU.
Frandsen also leads presentations, discussions and mock trial activities with youth at her former high school, and the Enaahtig Healing Lodge.
"I talk about how there are around 40,000 lawyers in Canada and just over 330 members of the Indigenous bar. That's an access to justice and a systemic racism issue. Indigenous Peoples don't see themselves reflected in this legal system."
- Desneige Frandsen
Watching youth find their voice
She often sees youth transform in the program, from passively listening to challenging speakers, asking questions and voicing their disagreements. "The program teaches the power of advocacy and the power that youth voices hold," she says.
As for being the first in her family to pursue a legal career, and one of the first Indigenous lawyers to graduate from Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Frandsen says: "Blazing a trail means that you need a strong team and a strong community around you to be able to push through. There was no individuality in that. We were all doing that together and working together."
She hopes the path she and her fellow cohort forged makes it easier for the Indigenous law students who come after her. "I hope that they feel less imposter syndrome and more belonging. I hope that they feel that law is a place that is for them."
