Rick Colbourne
Associate Dean, Equity and Inclusive Communities; Assistant Professor, Indigenous Leadership and Management
Dr. Rick Colbourne (Algonquin Anishinaabe member of the Mattawa/North Bay Algonquin First Nation) is Associate Dean, Equity and Inclusive Communities and Assistant Professor, Indigenous Leadership and Management.
Dr. Colbourne joined Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business to contribute back to Algonquin communities in Ontario and Quebec through building collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous peoples, communities, and organizations. He focuses on Indigenous entrepreneurship and economic development, Indigenous governance and leadership, hybrid venture creation and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Indigenous entrepreneurship and economic development are more successful when the rights of Indigenous peoples are addressed and when these initiatives are led by or engage Indigenous communities.
Dr. Colbourne works to promote the acceptance and legitimization of Indigenous world views, ways of knowing and ways of being through co-creating and co-generating Indigenous-led, community-based participatory action research that contributes to community sovereignty, self-determination and socioeconomic health and well-being. He explores critical questions about bridging Indigenous ways of knowing and ways of being with western perspectives using Two-Eyed Seeing as a way to contextualize research methodologies in an ethical space of engagement.
He is an award-winning educator and Fulbright Fellow (Visiting Research Chair in Indigenous Entrepreneurship), who has taught at universities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. He teaches entrepreneurship (international, Indigenous, social), ethics, research methods, strategy, leadership, and management on Indigenous and non-Indigenous undergraduate, MBA and Executive Education programs. He is a recipient of the University of Northern British Columbia’s University Achievement Award for Teaching; the Government of Canada’s Deputy Minister’s Recognition Award for Collaboration and Partnerships (AANDC); Canadian Council for Learning’s Award for Excellence in Learning (Learning Strategies Group); and the University of Westminster’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.