{"id":1682,"date":"2022-05-12T10:45:16","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T14:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/?p=1682"},"modified":"2025-03-03T14:16:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T19:16:33","slug":"future-thinking-and-forward-looking-future-edges-indigenous-entrepreneurship-program-on-supporting-indigenous-entrepreneurs-on-their-startup-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/2022\/future-thinking-and-forward-looking-future-edges-indigenous-entrepreneurship-program-on-supporting-indigenous-entrepreneurs-on-their-startup-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Future-Thinking and Forward Looking: Future EDge\u2019s Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program on Supporting Indigenous Entrepreneurs on their Startup Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Future-Thinking and Forward Looking: Future EDge\u2019s Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program on Supporting Indigenous Entrepreneurs on their Startup Journey\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

By Nehaa Bimal<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future-Thinking and Forward Looking: Future EDge\u2019s Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program on Supporting Indigenous Entrepreneurs on their Startup Journey <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CU Future EDge\u2019s Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program (IEP) is a four-to-five-week leadership program developed by CU Future EDge <\/span>and the Innovation Hub at Carleton University.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only does IEP provide training on leadership development, finance, and project management, amongst other business skills, but it also plans to provide support for Indigenous entrepreneurs after the program has completed.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

IEP Director Richard Tuck is a <\/span>M\u00e9tis serial <\/span>entrepreneur who has helped launch around 150-200 organizations, from environmental non-profits to multinational tech companies.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program looks at social entrepreneurship through an Indigenous lens through talking to Elders, Knowledge Keepers, Indigenous community members and entrepreneurs,\u201d said Richard.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are combining Indigenous ways of knowing and being with the new entrepreneurial process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future EDge\u2019s Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program and the New Entrepreneurial Process<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Richard, the new entrepreneurial process which is featured in the Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program is more efficient. Instead of relying on a business plan, new business owners are advised to invest small amounts of money into their companies as a tester.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis process increases the chance of success while decreasing the amount invested in things that fail,\u201d said Tuck.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the Indigenous entrepreneurs who have joined IEP are first-time business owners.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are often inspired by their families or Indigenous heritage to launch their start-ups, like Daphne March, founder of the <\/span>ShaMaSha Centre<\/span><\/i><\/a>, an Indigenous wellness retreat. Others help fill a gap in the industry, such as Tye Galley and Cody Lystiuk who launched <\/span>Emergency Rush Logistics<\/span><\/i><\/a>, a First Nation logistics company dealing in emergency shipments.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For them, this is the more sustainable, cost-effective way forward for their start-ups, ensuring a higher success rate.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future-Thinking and Forward Looking: IEP Embraces the <\/b>Seventh Generation Principle<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Richard, who was the 2021 Sprott Alumni Good Business Award winner and a 2001 graduate of Carleton\u2019s Bachelor of International Business program, CU Future EDge\u2019s IEP and Carleton\u2019s Innovation Hub are both impressive because they are \u201cfuture thinking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their vision of entrepreneurship looks to the future and this aligns with the decision-making process in some Indigenous communities called t<\/span>he<\/span> Seventh Generation Principle. According to this principle, people should consider the impacts decisions made in the present will have on the next seven generations.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbara Dumont-Hill was the Elder-in-Residence at the final presentations where the IEP\u2019s Indigenous entrepreneurs presented their businesses after the program\u2019s conclusion. She led the attendees in a prayer which mentioned the importance of the Seventh Generation Principle.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe would learn what people from seven generations past knew. This was knowledge <\/span>that would help us sustain and care about the seven generations to come.<\/span> Today, there is a worry and a sadness in our hearts that there might not be resources for the next seven generations,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CU Future EDge\u2019s Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program thus focuses on sustainability, with sessions on environmental entrepreneurship and innovation. The program is sponsored by Eco Canada, which works with and for environmental professionals in regards to job creation and wage funding.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In that sense, the program has helped Indigenous entrepreneurs like Jordan Dooley, the founder of <\/span>Vearthy<\/span><\/i> which sells sustainable textiles, learn more about the intersection between business and environmentalism.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CU Future EDge\u2019s Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program Provides a Support System for Indigenous Entrepreneurs<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cohort based programs are difficult for Indigenous entrepreneurs who do not have the luxury of devoting a majority of their time to the five-week process since many of them have full time jobs and are single parents.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are a bunch of barriers to completing a program like this. The <\/span>Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program <\/span>navigates that arena so that we can get Indigenous entrepreneurs the resources and ability to make it to the next stage of their business process,\u201d said Richard.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program allows participants to have access to mentorship and coaching via Carleton\u2019s Innovation Hub for up to four months after the program\u2019s completion. They are also awarded a  <\/span>professional certificate in Indigenous entrepreneurship from CU Future EDge.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

IEP\u2019s goal is to build a community network and internal support system where Indigenous entrepreneurs can learn from each other and grow their businesses together.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nehaa Bimal Future-Thinking and Forward Looking: Future EDge\u2019s Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program on Supporting Indigenous Entrepreneurs on their Startup Journey  CU Future EDge\u2019s Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program (IEP) is a four-to-five-week leadership program developed by CU Future EDge and the Innovation Hub at Carleton University. Not only does IEP provide training on leadership development, finance, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1682"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1714,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682\/revisions\/1714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/innovationhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}