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Living the Weldon Tradition

Posted by Stephanie Hurley on October 20, 2025 in News, Indigenous Blacks & Mi'kmaq Initative, Alumni & Friends, Awards
Marissa Prosper (Photo by Tammi Hayne)
Marissa Prosper (Photo by Tammi Hayne)

The ±«Óătv Law Alumni Association Emerging Leader Impact Award was established to recognize the exceptional accomplishments of an alum who has graduated from the Schulich School of Law within the past decade. This year’s recipient is Marissa Prosper (’20), a Crown Attorney with the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service and the first Indigenous Crown in the Pictou office.

The award reflects the law school’s commitment to fostering a community of excellence and inspiration by honouring a remarkable graduate who embodies the esteemed values of the Weldon Tradition of unselfish public service, seamlessly merging outstanding professional achievements with a significant commitment to the community.

From Pictou Landing to the courtroom

When Prosper was growing up in Pictou Landing First Nation, a Mi’kmaq community located on Nova Scotia’s Northumberland Strait, becoming a lawyer was something she could have only dreamed of.

“I have always been driven to make a meaningful difference in my community and Nation, and I saw education as a powerful tool to achieve that,” she shares. “However, it wasn’t until I was in my final year at StFX that I saw law school as an option. Up until then, I hadn’t seen myself reflected in the legal profession, so it never felt like a space where I belonged.”

Prosper says that discovering the Indigenous Blacks & Mi'kmaq (IB&M) Initiative at the Schulich School of Law changed that. The program, established in 1989, works toÌęincrease representation of Indigenous Blacks and Mi'kmaq in the legal profession to reduce discrimination.

“It showed me that we belong in these spaces and our voices are needed,” she says. “Before learning about the IB&M Initiative, I had never met an Indigenous lawyer.” This shift in perspective allowed her to see the value she could bring to the legal profession, and that a legal education could be a powerful way to achieve her goals.

She applied to the Schulich School of Law and was accepted in 2016. As the first person from her family and her community to pursue a law degree, she recalls the culture shock she felt when she arrived at Weldon.

“Being the first to do anything, isn’t easy and the transition was harder than I expected,” she admits. “Community is such a large part of Mi’kmaq identity and I found myself further away from home, my family and supports. I often felt isolated, had an overwhelming sense of self-doubt and questioned whether I belonged.”

Overcoming challenges and embracing identity

She was able to find her community through the IB&M Initiative and a welcoming faculty at the law school who helped her navigate the new environment. Prosper turned to cultural teachings and ceremony to reconnect and ground herself. She began smudging and beading, which served as a way to support herself financially through the program. “I learned to embrace my identity and lived experiences and see the strength in that,” she says.

“Earning my law degree and getting called to the Bar was more than just a personal goal – it was a way to empower and encourage others,” she adds. “Becoming a first-time mother during the Bar Admissions Program only deepened that commitment. I want my daughter to grow up knowing that our voices matter and that she comes from strength as a Lnu’skw (Mi’kmaw woman).”

Empowering the next generation

Prosper, is now passing on that knowledge to the next generation interested in law. This year, theÌęy introduced a new internship program, Inspiring Future Indigenous Black & Mi’kmaq Lawyers Internship Pathways (IB&MIP), decades after the Marshall Inquiry recommended steps to increase the representation of Mi'kmawÌęand African Nova Scotians working in the justice system. The program offers Indigenous Black and Mi’kmaq high school students in grades 10-12, from across the province, the opportunity to be exposed to the legal profession through a week-long intensive program.

“Helping to create spaces to encourage others to see themselves reflected in law has always been a passion of mine, and my role with IB&MIP is another way for me to do that,” says Prosper, who serves as the project coordinator. “Encouraging and welcoming youth at an earlier opportunity is also a way to honour the late Donald Marshall Jr. and the Inquiry’s recommendations.”

In 2025, during March break, 20 students – 10 Mi’kmaq/Indigenous students and 10 African Nova Scotian/Black students – took part in the inaugural program in Halifax, where participants gained hands-on experience while meeting lawyers and judges from diverse areas of the legal profession. Thanks to overwhelmingly positive feedback, plans for next year’s program are already underway.

Leading with purpose

Prosper is also an active committee member, serving on the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee, the Public Prosecution Service’s Equity and Diversity Committee, and , a committee of Mi’kmaq lawyers.

“Marissa’s mentorship, collaborative approach to justice reform, and ongoing advocacy for systemic change makes her an ideal recipient of the Emerging Leader Impact Award,” says one of her nominators. “She is not only a rising leader in law, but within the Mi’kmaw Nation – she is a force for transformational change. Her work and spirit embodies every element of the award: community impact, leadership, and collaboration. She is a deep inspiration to others.”

For Prosper, the work to make a difference in her community and Nation continues. “To use my legal education and my personal background to serve the public, as well as my community, is a dream come true.”
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