Indigenous Women in Community Leadership

Creating a vision for the future: Indigenous Women in Community Leadership

Expect to see Samantha Elijah among Canada’s next generation of Aboriginal leaders. A member of the Walpole Island First Nation near Sarnia, Ontario, the recent business college graduate already has plans to one day run her own consulting business.

So when she saw a scholarship for a new program to support Aboriginal women in community leadership, she didn’t hesitate to put her application forward.

“I felt women were under represented in the top tier of businesses,” says the 28 year-old mother of two. “And Aboriginal women need an advocate to help women identify their skills so they can advance in politics, business and other organizations and have a greater presence in the decision-making processes of these institutions.”

Elijah was one of 12 indigenous women from across Canada selected for the Indigenous Women in Community Leadership program at the Coady International Institute, located at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

The program seeks to engage emerging First Nation, Metis and Inuit women leaders and provide practical skills and experience to support them taking an active role in their communities. The five-year initiative is being supported with $4 million in funding from the Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil foundations.

Students participated in three weeks of classes at the campus in May 2011, followed by a three-month placement in communities across Canada. Throughout the program, the participants are linked with mentors.

“Imperial is excited to be involved with this program that supports education and builds strong Aboriginal communities,” says Susan Swan, president of the Imperial Oil Foundation. “The pairing of students and mentors from different regions across Canada will inspire life-long networks of women supporting Aboriginal community development.”

Elijah will work at the Assembly of First Nations, the national organization of First Nations in Ottawa. She will also help with a housing project in the Whitefish Lake First Nation in northern Ontario to bring energy efficiency upgrades to homes in the community, while building homeowner skills.

“I have learned how to map the skills of my community, how to assess the economics of a community and how to engage others in creating a vision for the future,” she says.

Response to the program in its first year was strong, with five times as many applicants as seats, says program manager Sheila Isaac. She sees that number continuing to grow as the network builds throughout the country.

“The participants and mentors have formed a close-knit learning relationship and I hope they continue to network as friends for community and personal development,” she says.
“These positive links will lead to more people and more knowledge.”

Program mentor Pat Flett, a Metis businesswoman from Fort McKay, Alberta, says she was very impressed with the passion these young women show for their communities.

“They seem to have the mindset that they want to do something and make a difference in a big way,” she said.

Having access to a mentor will help give participants a headstart, she adds.

“What we went through in our own experience is we found them somehow, somewhere,” she said. “But to have them readily available I think just enhances the opportunity for them to become stronger leaders faster and you need to be faster these days.”

For Elijah, being among the first candidates selected for the program is truly an honour, she says.

“The tools we have can make such a difference in our communities,” says Elijah.
“It’s always fun to be first of anything, to set precedents for others to follow and these women set the bar high.”