Indigenous Entrepreneurship and the Social Enterprise Movement

By  Alexander Keone Kapuni Oldroyd, 1st year MDP student

During my undergrad at Brigham Young University I became enamored with the social innovation movement that has found its way into business school curricula the world over. I was especially taken with social enterprise models. In my mind, this was the future, the next iteration of capitalism that was more inclusive, more sustainable, more focused on community wellbeing. Just think of the progress we could make by applying commercial strategies (and by extension private capital) to social problems, by breaking down the silos of government, the social sector, and the private sector! I left BYU feeling like this was new frontier, and I resolved to make my mark at the intersection of social innovation and Indigenous development.

Fast forward a few years to my time in the MDP program. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to connect with many incredible Indigenous entrepreneurs and innovators here in Winnipeg and across the country. My work with Carol Anne Hilton and the Indigenomics Institute in particular has brought me into contact with the likes of Jeff Ward of Animikii Indigenous Technology, Ashoka Fellow Jeff Cyr of Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, and Jenn Harper of Cheekbone Beauty. As part of my field placement this summer, I’m in the process of connecting with another slate of incredible Indigenous entrepreneurs for the 2020 Indigenomics 10 to Watch List.

As I’ve talked with these entrepreneurs about their work, I’ve noticed certain patterns and characteristics about how they do business that is unique from traditional forms of entrepreneurship. In academic terms, I would call it a uniquely Indigenous entrepreneurial paradigm. What follows are a few of my key takeaways. In general, these Indigenous entrepreneurs:

•             Build community as the core of their business models, not just by providing employment but also meeting other community needs.

•             Use their businesses to support non-business-related community programs such as youth education.

•             Maximize every resource available, minimize waste, and behave sustainably.

•             Balance at least the bottom lines of profit, social impact, environmental impact, and community culture.

•             Overcome market failures by striving to reach all members of the community, not just the most profitable segments.

•             Incorporate values and worldview into every aspect of the business.

•             Are willing to work with other organizations and businesses to increase community impact even when it means giving up some competitive advantages.

•             Are incredibly resilient and able to overcome multiple complex challenges and barriers to success while drawing on the unique strengths of their communities.

Most of these aren’t surprising. I’ve been around Indigenous businesses long enough to know how committed Indigenous entrepreneurs are to their communities, and entrepreneurship has long been thought of as essential for community economic development. What was surprising, however, was just how much these quintessentially Indigenous ways of doing business mirror the social enterprise frameworks that are becoming increasingly mainstream (to much acclaim). And it was surprising because, for the most part, the language and frameworks of contemporary social innovation thinking are not common in many Indigenous contexts. Which is to say that the way of doing business expressed by these entrepreneurs (and Indigenous entrepreneurs across the country) doesn’t come from any new trends in business thinking or social innovation methodology, but from the worldviews of Indigenous communities that have existed on this land since time immemorial. 

Jeff Ward on Indigenous Innovation at TEDX

Jeff Ward put it best when he said that “Innovation is typically thought of as using new ideas to make things better. And while we certainly have new challenges and opportunities, we have to understand that Indigenous Peoples have been innovating on these lands for millennia... As the original inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs on these lands, Indigenous Peoples have thrived here, sustainably, and we’ve never stopped innovating.”

What we’re seeing is the rest of the world catching up to how Indigenous peoples have been doing business for centuries. As the social innovation movement continues to popularize the next iteration of capitalism, we would all do well to learn from what Indigenous entrepreneurs have known for centuries.