IBC, AltaGas is able to support the creation
and growth of sources of revenue for First Na-
tions.”
FEMALE-FOCUS
IBC recently launched an Indigenous Women’s
Fund to empower Indigenous women with
the capital to start their own businesses, build
capacity, promote self-sufficiency, and create
opportunities. In an exhaustive and thorough
strategic plan, IBC is investigating the econom-
ic barriers specific to Indigenous women in
Canada, then creating training, programs, and
business plans aimed directly at overcoming
them.
“We recognize that this is an important and
complex issue, and that the ideas presented
in their strategic plan represent the first steps
toward addressing it,” says Rollingson. “How-
ever, unless further concrete action is taken,
the situation will not improve. We believe the
following two steps are essential to ensuring
Indigenous women have greater access to
entrepreneurship: to establish Canada’s first
dedicated loan fund for Indigenous women’s
entrepreneurship, and ensure women are at
the centre of the development of this fund.
Rollingson says First Nations members inWest-
ern Canada are welcome to approach IBC any-
time. Together, he says, IBC hopes to establish
a level playing field for all those participating
in the Canadian economy.
SEPTEMBER 2018 | BUSINESS ELITE CANADA 11
