Supporting indigenous young entrepreneurs in Canada

Indigenous youth are one of the largest demographic youth segments in Canada and an integral part of the nation’s economic development and growth, but disproportionally face systemic socio-economic barriers to success when seeking to start and grow a business. YBI is working with its member in Canada Futurpreneur, in collaboration with Indigenous community leaders and entrepreneurs, to produce an all-new informative series dedicated to the financial empowerment of young Indigenous adults. The programme is supported by Accenture as part of its investment in a more equitable future through its Skills to Succeed initiative.

Programme Overview

Working with Indigenous community leaders and entrepreneurs, The Ohpikiwin Series, Journey to financial empowerment run by Futurpreneur will foster economic inclusion and resilience across Canada. It will assist aspiring entrepreneurs in developing their businesses’ financial capacity and entrepreneurship skills through an Indigenous worldview, to foster Indigenous economic empowerment and prosperity. 

The programme forms part of Futurpreneur’s Indigenous Entrepreneur Startup Program, which provides qualifying participants with financing, access to resources and workshops, and matches them with an experienced mentor for up to two years.  As part of the programme, Indigenuity Consulting Group Inc., an Indigenous owned company, will act on behalf of Futurpreneur to complete community engagement round-tables, surveys, and interviews. This will guide Futurpreneur’s collaboration and work alongside various Indigenous communities, community members, elders, knowledge keepers, entrepreneurs and Indigenous led organizations to co-create the series. 

With a commitment to further invest in Indigenous entrepreneurship, YBI has pledged to share learnings with the wider YBI Network and youth entrepreneurship ecosystem to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion and improve outcomes for Indigenous entrepreneurs.