Ava Hill, whose traditional name is Iohahatie, was born on the Six Nations Reserve and is a Mohawk, Wolf Clan. Ava was the Elected Chief of the 56th and 57th Six Nations Elected Council. Prior to holding the Office of the Elected Chief, Ava was a Councillor for District Two for three terms, a total of nine years. After serving for fifteen years as a member of the Six Nations Elected Council, Ava did not seek re-election in 2019.
During her tenure as Chief, Ava represented the Chiefs in Ontario on the Ontario Provincial Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion up until June 2018.
In the 80s and 90s, Ava spent time working with the Chiefs in Ontario as the Executive Director of the Chiefs in Ontario Office and also at the Assembly of First Nations as the Executive Assistant to the National Chief. Subsequent to her work at the AFN, Ava was the Executive Assistant to the Co-Chair of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
Ava is a former member of the Board of Governors at the University of Waterloo. She is currently a member of the National Consortium for Indigenous Economic Development at the University of Victoria and a member of the Advisory Council for Victoria Forum 2020. She is also the Co-Chair, along with the President of the International Commonwealth Games Federation, for a Working Group that is working on a Declaration on Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples Through Sports.
Ava is a Board Director for Commonwealth Sport Canada. As well, she is a member of the Canadian Advisory Board for Right to Play.
Ava is currently one of the Co-Chairs for the Capital Campaign Committee which is raising funds for a New Museum and Art Gallery at the Woodland Cultural Centre.
She is also a member of the Amethyst Selection Committee for the Ontario Public Service and was invited to be a Witness Ambassador for the Four Host First Nations/Canadian Olympic Committee Bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler.
She was awarded with the YMCA Peacemaker Medal for 2020, which was presented by the YMCA of Hamilton, Burlington and Brantford, and also received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Brock University in October 2021.