People, planet and profit
Ka'nahsohon (Kevin Deer), an elder from Kahnawake, welcomed everyone to Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) during the opening ceremony on Friday.
The kick-off event was held at the John Molson School of Business (JMSB), with a keynote talk by Kam’ayaam/Chachim’multhnii (Cliff Atleo, Jr.), an instructor in the Department of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. His research focuses on Indigenous governance, community development and political economy.
Atleo’s presentation, “Indigenous Economic Independence in an Era of Neoliberal Capitalism,” suggested that First Nations communities need to consider how to best navigate, adopt or resist mainstream capitalism while working to sustain their unique cultural identities.
He ended by encouraging the youth contingent to orient themselves to their projects in a way that is most relevant to their own community.
The event continued at the SCPA with activities to refine business models and explore sources of funding for social economy projects. Participants were shown a business model template that respects the “triple bottom line” of people, planet and profit.