Mike Kuba's contact information:

mikekuba@hotmail.com

LinkedIn profile

1:27  Frank describes his move from a national Indigenous financial institute to the newly created NationFUND business.

2:06  Growing up in northern Manitoba and watching the devastating impact of a mine closure.

3:14   How a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Studies and an aptitude for numbers helped shape his career in finance.

5:04 The value of relationship-building and his role as a translator between 'creatives' and 'the bean-counters.'

6:04  He joins the FNFA thanks to his wife's chance airport encounter with Ernie Daniels.

12:13 He sees progress, but systemic barriers are still there.

15:05 How a colonial mindset limits economic development in some First Nations.

18:00.  Policy barriers as reserves as seen as 'the Queen's land.'

19:20 The Covid pandemic strikes just as Frank and his partners establish their business.

21:12  The marketing model to find new business.

24:26  Taking the Robin Hood approach to leveraging $$ in community development.

26:14  The Malahat Studio project that shows development can be more than a convenience store.

26:54   The need for equity and the right to sit at the table.

28:08   He sees growth in renewable energy and local food production technology.

31:18   The need to tread a fine line when exploring Indigenous tourism.

33:58   Author Frank Busch and his award-winning Grey Eyes book.

39:41   How to contact Frank for more information – www.nationfund.ca

Karen MacKenzie is a proud Cree-Métis woman and the co-founder and president of MacKintosh Canada, an indigenous-owned, international consulting company.

Karen brings her traditional knowledge of indigenous ways into the contemporary workplace as this wisdom and way-of-being reflect “wise practices of high-performance organizations”. She is also a special advisor to the Indigenous Women in Community Leadership program at Coady International Institute.

As an international professional speaker, Karen inspires audiences to find their inner passion and to move forward in the direction of their dreams. She challenges individuals to recognize their own gifts, talents, and genius and to “let it all out”. Most importantly she assists individuals, teams and families, organizations and communities from moving where they are today to where they want to be.

If the Indigenous economy in Canada is going to hit $100 billion per year, it will be due in part to the tenacity and no-quit attitudes of young entrepreneurs like Tara Everett. The doors to her co-working space aren't open yet, but not for lack of effort. This 29-year old Anishinaabe woman in Winnipeg (Treaty One territory) has a unique business idea with an opportunity for the right kind of investor.

Victoria LaBillois, a very determined Mi'kmaq entrepreneur, has come a long way from her first entrepreneurial venture – a t-shirt printing business. She built a construction company, invested in other ventures and is now a mentor to Indigenous women across Turtle Island.

"We came from a land of abundance to a postage stamp-sized reserve, a place of poverty. I'm working my way out of it. I'm not asking permission, and I'm taking my whole family, the whole community, the whole nation."

(My apologies for the occasional Internet audio gremlins, but the content is SO worth it.)

David Paul is a consultant specializing in business and community development from Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick. He shares his insights into the necessity for Indigenous communities to assert their jurisdiction with taxation powers, business development and taking over land management from the federal government.

From his upbringing in Squamish Nation in B.C. to his studies at the London School of Economics, Jason Calla talks about his journey and the critical need for infrastructure in First Nation communities (and a better way to fund it.)

Recorded at the First Nations Leading the Way conference in Treaty 7 Territory, Calgary, Alberta on May 31st, 2019. Here for FNII website.

Harold Calla remembers the day his business on Squamish Nation in British Columbia was turned down for a payday loan and what the bankers told him about needing "ministerial approval."

Today, the executive chair of the First Nations Financial Management Board guides an operation that provides training and sets standards to help launch communities toward economic prosperity and financial security. Recorded at the First Nations Leading the Way conference in Treaty 7 Territory, Calgary, Alberta on May 30, 2019. Here for FNFMB website.