By Kara Passey, 1st year MDP student
 |
| Powwow Dancer |
On a sunny Saturday on June 24, the 2017 Summer
Solstice Indigenous Festival held their annual Pow Wow competition in Vincent Massey Park in Ottawa, Ontario. A corresponding event, delivered in
partnership with the Social Innovation Division, Indigenous Social Innovation
& Social Finance, within the Employment and Social Development Canada
department of the Strategic and Service Policy Branch, took place to highlight
the wealth of Indigenous entrepreneurship that is showcased at the Pow Wow. The
event, dubbed the Pow Wow Pitch competition, was created out of acknowledgement
that the Pow Wow is historically a place of innovative social enterprise
through entrepreneurship and trade, and takes on the format of a is a Dragon’s
Den style competition.
Nineteen different Indigenous entrepreneurs had the
opportunity to pitch their projects for 60 seconds to a panel of judges. Those
selected for the second round of judging received coaching and mentorship to
prep them for their next round of pitches. Ultimately, the finalists were
decided by a panel of judges including, Gail Chamberlain, and Kathryn McDade,
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development Canada, and
Director General, Catherine Scott, Director General, Employment and Social
Development Canada. The National Aboriginal Capital Corporation Association
(NACCA) contributed prize funds.
 |
| Treeteas Brewing |
The event was an excellent way to display the
diversity of Indigenous entrepreneurship and innovation; competitors ranged
from beauty products, fashion, food, to community wellness projects. The
majority of projects always had socially consciousness initiatives incorporated
into their mandate – such as Cheek Bone Beauty, who donates 10% of all
purchases to First Nations Child & Caring Society of Canada. Other
competitors included Jay Soule of Chippewar, a graphic design/illustrator/print
shop who is possibly best known for his amazing t-shirts or recreation of
western movie posters with Indigenous imagery, or Treeteas Brewing, an ice tea
manufacturer based in Georgina Island.
Chef Anna Cote won the first place prize of $5000.00 with The Birch Bite, a catering business which delivers healthy meals for her community and also provides classes so that community members can cook for themselves. The second place winner of $2500.00 was Lisa Commanda, a Youth Diversion Worker for Kitigan Zibi, for her new project Commanda Security and Dispatch Services. The third place prize of $1000.00 went to Minda Forcier, for her handmade health and beauty products, which she sells under the name of Anokian Nature. Finally, the people’s choice award was given to Ginger Cote, for her project where she is creating an Indigenous focused toolkit for expecting mothers.
Chef Anna Cote won the first place prize of $5000.00 with The Birch Bite, a catering business which delivers healthy meals for her community and also provides classes so that community members can cook for themselves. The second place winner of $2500.00 was Lisa Commanda, a Youth Diversion Worker for Kitigan Zibi, for her new project Commanda Security and Dispatch Services. The third place prize of $1000.00 went to Minda Forcier, for her handmade health and beauty products, which she sells under the name of Anokian Nature. Finally, the people’s choice award was given to Ginger Cote, for her project where she is creating an Indigenous focused toolkit for expecting mothers.
 |
| L-R: Sunshine Tenasco, Kirsty Jackson, Kara Passey, Lee Seto-Thomas & Greg Dreaver |
No comments:
Post a Comment