Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a researcher, writer, educator and activist. She is a citizen of the Nishnaabeg nation, with family roots in the Mississauga community of Alderville First Nation.

Leanne holds a Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba and works with Indigenous communities and organizations across Canada and internationally on issues regarding land, politics, governance and Indigenous Knowledge. She currently teaches at the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research, Athabasca University and in Indigenous Studies at Trent University.

Leanne is co-director of Nishnaabemowin Saswaansing a local language nest for Nishnaabeg families, and a co-director of the Bimaadiziwin Youth Projects, both initiatives of Indigenous Peoples Performance Initiatives. She is the editor of Lighting the Eighth Fire: The Liberation, Resurgence and Protection of Indigenous Nations, published in 2008 from Arbeiter Ring Publishing, and co-editor (with Kiera Ladner) of This is an Honour Song: Twenty Years Since the Blockades, also published by Arbeiter Ring. Leanne is currently working on a book exploring Nishinaabeg resurgence and a book of short stories.

She lives in Nogojiwanong with her partner and homeschools her two beautiful children, Nishna and Minowewebeneshiinh.