ISSUE 105
SINCE 2002
INDIGENOUS BUSINESS
Indigenous Inclusion
in Corporate Leadership
Mr. Bannock
Indigenous Leadership Development Institute Inc. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to circulation dept: Kildonan Place, RPO Box 43084, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R2C 5G7
Building Community Capacity for Over 20 Years
PM 43436539 PRINTED IN CANADA $6.99
Food Truck Brings Indigenous Cuisine to the Streets of Vancouver
FUNDING FOR EMPLOYERS DID YOU KNOW?
JOBS FOR YOUTH
First Nations, First Nations businesses and community-serving non-profits are eligible to receive a 50% Green Jobs wage match to hire local youth.
SINCE 2018, PLT CANADA HAS
FROM MORE THAN
500
INTO PAID GREEN JOBS WORK EXPERIENCES
HELPED TO PLACE
+ YOUTH
80
FIRST NATIONS
Many right in their own communities!
Youth can also access mentorship opportunities, skill-building webinars, mental health services, equipment subsidies, and much more. Learn more: pltcanada.org.
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SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE SFI-00001
PROJECT LEARNING TREE CANADA
PLT is an initiative of SFI Funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy
SINCE 2002
8 Indigenous Journalists Shine Spotlight on Anti-Indigenous Ideologies
CONTENTS
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ISSUE 105
INDIGENOUS BUSINESS
SAY MAGAZINE Volume 19, Issue 5 SAY Magazine publishes eight times a year: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, as well as an annual Education Guide and other special editions. SAY Magazine is published by Spirit of Aboriginal Youth Inc. Mailing Address: Kildonan Place, RPO Box 43084 Winnipeg, MB Canada R2C 5G7
SAY Magazine assumes no responsibility for statements made by advertisers or in submitted material. Graphics, photographs, editorial content and other printed material are the property of SAY Magazine and may not be used without the written permission of SAY Magazine.
E: info@saymag.com www.saymag.com
ISSN: 1707-3049 All copy copyright 2020 by SAY Magazine
Publishers Dominick Blais and Kent Brown
GST: 856627534RT0001
Editor-in-Chief Danielle Vienneau editor@saymag.com
Art Director Orli Gelfat - Orli G. Design Ad Sales Megan Henry advertising@saymag.com Terra MacPhail terra@saymag.com Printed in Canada Website and Social Media Sphere Media Agency info@spheremediaagency.com Submissions are welcome. Articles, letters, queries, etc. should be sent by email to the editor at editor@saymag.com. SAY Magazine assumes no responsibility for submitted material. Connect with us: www.facebook.com/saymagazine www.twitter.com/SAYMagazine www.instagram.com/say_magazine www.pinterest.ca/SAYMagazine
6 A Career Comes Full Circle 21 Music Culture Essential 26 A Woman's Journey 16 Indigenous to Business Becoming an Entrepreneur Veterans 17 Indigenous Initiative
Two Incredible 27 Literature: Book Releases
18 Embracing a Career in HR 28 Trauma-Informed Lawyering 20 The Untold Relocation Story
Content Creator Terra MacPhail terra@saymag.com Contributing Editor Sarah Ritchie
Cover Story: Indigenous Leadership Development Institute Inc. is Forging a New Path to Nation Building
SAY Magazine acknowledges that we live in Treaty One Territory, at the crossroads of the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene Nations, and at the heart of the Métis Nation homeland.
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Entrepreneur Brenda LaRose Advocates for Indigenous Voices at the Highest Level of Decision-Making in Business
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Chef Paul Natrall is Keeping Indigenous Food Culture Alive BUSINESS | 3
COVER STORY
ILDI staff from left to right: Alicia Hunt, Summer Student; Miranda Smoke, Manager Special Projects and Finance; Sandra Ducharme, Project Coordinator; Rosa Walker, President and CEO; Amber Sumner, Project Coordinator; Melanie Dean, Director Executive Training; Mackenzie Oatway, Project Assistant.
Building a Legacy of Indigenous Leadership
T
he Indigenous Leadership Development Institute Inc. (ILDI), a non-profit organization located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, has been building the leadership capacities of First Nation, Metis and Inuit Peoples for more than 20 years. Since its inception in 2000, ILDI has delivered quality training for self-governance, supporting Indigenous excellence, creating strategic plans, providing high-level negotiation skills and bridging cultural awareness training to corporations across Canada and beyond.
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“We have seen Indigenous People taking more control over their own governance, over their own communities,” said Rosa Walker, president and chief executive officer of ILDI. “Communities need more than a ‘drop-in approach’ to delivering programs and services, where someone just flies in to deliver them then flies out without leaving anything—no capacity behind. We as Indigenous People know the needs of our communities. We use contemporary leadership skills and traditional ways to meet [our] unique needs.”
ILDI has worked with Indigenous communities to support the evolution to self-governance, working to help communities build their capacities through leadership development, training and skill building, and helping to bring important economic development to communities. ILDI operates under the principles of “Indigenous Leadership for Tomorrow, Today”. As an all-Indigenous organization— including its ownership, board and staff, who all happen to be women—it works with over fifty Indigenous facilitators who
COVER STORY
bring their knowledge and expertise to centres across Canada. “It’s personal,” added Walker, referring to the work that ILDI does. “We have a personal stake in our people doing well. We have community knowledge; we live our roots, our culture, our teachings.” This deeply personal approach is infused into everything the organization does, and it begins with programs that invest in Indigenous youth and a vision for their success. Empowering Indigenous Youth in Governance and Leadership (EIYGL) provides mentorship and meaningful skill development through ILDI’s Executive Training, giving Indigenous youth opportunities to facilitate and learn as well as to lead training, all under the guidance of ILDI and its senior facilitators. This legacy program builds effective leaders using traditional community practices and learnings from Elders as well as contemporary leaders, noted Walker. The facilitators that ILDI works with are Indigenous and have decades of experience working directly in the areas of human resources, law, administration and project management—all areas that are needed for capacity building, self-governance, professional development and nation building. “Our facilitators want to give back to their communities, to contribute to the success of our people, to share best practices, lessons learned, knowledge and experience that they have acquired throughout their careers,” said Walker. ILDI training offers many course titles, such as Governance Requisites for Leaders, Strategic Planning, Mediation, Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, Board Training, How Government Works and the Online E-Learning Canadian Indigenous Culture Training: Truth and Reconciliation Edition. After its first decade of operation, ILDI noticed that something was missing: a broader, global approach to Indigenous community development. In 2010, they partnered with the World Business Forum (WBF) in New York City and launched
the first-ever World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF). Since then, WIBF has held events in the USA, Canada, Australia, Namibia, Guatemala, Santiago de Chile and New Zealand. The forum is developed by Indigenous Peoples leading Indigenous organizations, staff and partners, but open to Indigenous and non-Indigenous entrepreneurs, companies and individuals. The event has attracted close to a thousand Indigenous business people every year since 2010. With the overwhelming success of the WIBF and the business partnerships
engagement, mentorship and workshops— all customized to meet the needs of communities, from education and conflict resolution to governance, accountability and intergovernmental relations. “We are doing everything we can to deliver programs online, to provide advancement and leadership tools, and to do it in a cost efficient manner to help communities stretch their training dollars,” said Walker. “In spite of challenges, including underfunding, Indigenous communities have continued to grow and govern themselves.
“We have a personal stake in our people doing well. We have community knowledge; we live our roots, our culture, our teachings.”
- ILDI President and CEO, Rosa Walker formed at the event, the World Indigenous Business Network (WIBN) protocol was signed by international Indigenous leaders in Guatemala, Chile, Canada, USA, Namibia, Australia and New Zealand. This created an online community that helps to connect, inspire and mobilize organizations and entrepreneurs for the sustainable development of Indigenous businesses, providing opportunities to widen markets, skip intermediaries and build Indigenous prosperity through economic growth. The current global pandemic is the biggest challenge ILDI has encountered in its 20-year history as a leader in training and skill development, noted Walker. To meet the challenges of this COVID-19 world, ILDI has changed the way it is meeting community needs by continuing to develop online programming, training,
We’ve worked across Canada with First Nations, Inuit and Métis People. It’s growing and it’s remarkable to see.” The ILDI Board of Directors is made up of volunteers; its members embody decades of leadership and commitment as chiefs, elected officials, band councillors, ministers, board chairs, CEOs, senior advisors and lawyers. The current ILDI Board includes Andrew Carrier, Debbie Burka, Irene Linklater, Ivan Makil, Milton Tootoosis and Chief Dennis Meeches. ILDI acknowledges the contributions of past Board Members Ted Fontaine, Dan Highway, Alan Luby, and former staff members Georgina Liberty, Barb Moran and Barb Hambleton.
For more information on ILDI, visit ildii.ca. BUSINESS | 11