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In Conversation: Starrlee DeGrace on Building the Table She Once Needed

Reconciliation begins with listening. This National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Lean In Canada is making space for Indigenous women in our community to share their stories, in their own words.

Starrlee DeGrace is the founder of Tea With Starrlee, where career conversations meet human conversations. We asked her about her work, her journey home, and what real support looks like.

We’re also grateful to Starrlee for the time she’s giving as an advisor on our Women of Colour Report, a research project currently underway. Her insight is helping shape that work, and we’re proud to share her story here.

Tell us about yourself and where Tea With Starrlee began.

I’m a wife, daughter, granddaughter of a Residential School Survivor, sister and auntie. These identities matter deeply to me because Tea With Starrlee is rooted in something simple: the whole person.

I’m also a Seneca graduate, a 2023 Globe & Mail Changemaker and the 2025 WCT Mentor of the Year.

After graduating from Seneca, I spent 18 years at IBM, a company I had dreamed of working for since I was 10 years old. So, I know what it feels like to be a young person with a dream, trying to figure out how to get there.

That younger version of me is who Tea With Starrlee was created for.

I wanted to create the space I wish I’d had when I was younger, a place where you can ask the question you’re afraid to ask, find someone who understands the experience, and hear the words you sometimes need most: Keep going.

Today, I bring more than 20 years of experience across recruitment, leadership, sales, technology and DEI, alongside lived experience, curiosity and a healthy dose of real talk.

Because career conversations should be human conversations.

So I invite you to pull up a chair. The kettle is on.

Your story is also one of coming home. What has that journey looked like? 

I’m a proud member of Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, Otter Clan. I’m on a 15-year, perhaps closer to 20-year, journey back to the Red Road.

Reclaiming my identity has reminded me that there is always more to learn. Most recently, I’ve been learning more about my grandfather’s connection to the Blackfoot Confederacy, a part of our family story that neither he nor my late mother had the opportunity to fully explore or embrace.

So I’m still learning. For myself, certainly, but also for them. And in many ways, I’m grateful that I get to continue a journey they never had the chance to finish.

I don’t know everything. I will make mistakes. I give myself permission to make them. And I am unapologetic about learning what was almost stolen from me. For me, learning is part of coming home.

I also believe deeply that the Indigenous experience is not monolithic. Knowing one Indigenous person is not knowing every Indigenous person. I speak from my own lived experience, with humility, curiosity and courage.

My family’s story is also why I created the J.P. Hill Memorial Indigenous Student Awards at Seneca and York University, in honour of my grandfather. My grandfather’s legacy, my own journey home and my commitment to creating access for Indigenous students are all part of the same story.

The scholarships are about more than financial support. They’re about removing barriers, creating access and helping Indigenous students see a pathway to futures they deserve the opportunity to pursue.

What happens over a cup of tea with Starrlee?

Tea With Starrlee is a place to ask the question you’re scared to ask.

Through Virtual Teas (almost 700 to date), mentorship, workshops, speaking engagements and partnerships, I create space for students, emerging professionals, career pivoters and leaders. We talk about what actually happens behind the résumé and in workplaces. Confidence. Identity. Belonging. Burnout. Leadership. Career growth. Finding your voice.

Sometimes people don’t need another answer. They need someone to say, “I see you. Keep going.” That’s the space I’m building.

Many workplaces say they want to support Indigenous women. What does that support look like in practice?

It starts with action. Make room. Then make it possible for us to lead.

Mentorship matters. Sponsorship matters. Access matters. And so does reciprocity.

Equity cannot live only in statements. Equity is built in what we choose to do.

What can our community do, starting today?

Don’t just applaud the work. Participate in it.

Share the opportunity. Make the introduction. Support an Indigenous-owned business. Put someone’s name forward.

When we change access, we change outcomes.

What do you hope people take away from your story?

I hope people take away that you don’t have to have it all figured out before you make an impact.

I built the table I once needed — for the person who’s scared to ask the question, for the person still figuring it out, and for the person who just needs someone to say, “You’re not behind. You’re learning. Keep going.”

And the truth is, I’m still learning too.

I’m still asking questions. I’m still making choices. I’m still figuring some things out.

And I refuse to apologize for that.

If my story gives someone permission to choose themselves, ask the question, take the next step, or simply keep going, then maybe that’s the part of my story that matters most.

Find Starrlee

If you’re looking for a place to ask the question, have the conversation, or simply know you’re not alone, become a Steeper.

And if you’re an employer, leader, or organization looking to create safer spaces where people can ask questions, have honest conversations, feel seen, and know they belong — there’s a place for you at the table, too.

Because safe spaces don’t happen by accident. They’re built through intentional conversations, access, trust, and people willing to make room for one another. 

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