Daye Hagel is a veteran wilderness kayak guide and a Canadian Certified Counsellor (C.C.C.) with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. With over 1,500 kayaking and wilderness guiding days under her belt, Daye is currently also a clinical counsellor and has primarily served First Nations clients and communities, working alongside Elders and cultural workers all along Vancouver Island and as far north as the Canadian Arctic.

Daye has completed specific training in narrative therapy, eco-therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, expressive play therapy, restorative justice, and myriad cultural trainings. She has graduate degrees in Counselling Psychology and in Anthropology, and founded Mental Health Wilderness First Aid in 2018 as a program to help people better understand and improve their mental health and resilience in backcountry areas.

In addition to MHWFA, Daye is a mama to little ones, and enjoys quilting and teaching amateur astronomy on Salt Spring Island, B.C.