Photo: 2021 Awardee, Elijah Mack, Kekuli Cafe Merritt
“Innovation isn’t always about creating new things. Innovation sometimes involves looking back to our old ways and bringing them forward to this new situation.” The Honourable Murray Sinclair, OC
Nominate Now!
Indigenous Business Award (IBA) program alumni have long demonstrated strength and resilience while defining their unique styles of entrepreneurship whether it’s as a youth awardee or a repeat awardee.
The incredible journey of the program’s first youth entrepreneur recipient is one such example. Jacob Beaton now leads the work at Tea Creek – whose mission is to ‘is to revitalize the culture of economic interdependence and food production that was a central part of life for Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas’.
2013 Outstanding Business Achievement and 2020 Award of Distinction recipient, Carol Anne Hilton whose Indigenomics Institute may have launched as a hashtag but has since evolved into a progressive movement, creating space while propelling Indigenous entrepreneurs to activate the financial architecture of the $100 billion-dollar annual Indigenous economy.
Fellow 2013 alumnae Inez Cook and her outstanding restaurant Salmon ‘n Bannock has been leading the way in the food industry for over a decade, reclaiming Indigenous culinary heritage and recently receiving the Georgia Straight’s Golden Plates 2022 recognition. In 2018, Kukpi7 (Wenecwtsin) Wayne Christian accepted the IBA on behalf of Yucwmenlécwu (Caretakers of the Land) and shared the importance of reconnecting tomorrow’s generations with the cultural practices of the past and the need to walk in two worlds:
“You’ve got the western science on one side and, on the other side, is our own science, or traditional knowledge…and you need an understanding of both so that the balance is there all the time. We cannot forget that the knowledge of the land is thousands of years old.”
Indigenous entrepreneurs are leading the way in developing new approaches to business achievement, reclaiming their heritage and practices, supporting their communities and carving a path forward for others to follow.
June 1 marks the opening of the 2022 Call for Nominations for the Indigenous Business Award (IBA) program. Now in its 14th annual celebration, the program boasts over 200 outstanding models of Indigenous business excellence. Help tell the stories of the reclamation of exceptional Indigenous business practices and achievement throughout the province. The online nomination form is open and BC Achievement staff is ready to assist with the process. #Nominatenowbc
2022 Indigenous Business Award Gala is BACK!!
BC Achievement looks forward to welcoming the recipients and guests to the 2022 Indigenous Business Award Gala planned for late November in Vancouver. Please stay tuned for more details about the return of this long awaited in person celebration!
BC Achievement: Elevate Excellence. Share Success. Inspire Change.