A Canada-wide mentorship program for Indigenous high school students interested in business has received $500,000 from the Royal Bank of Canada, which will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the federal government.
The donation, to be dispersed over five years, will support the Purdy Crawford Chair in Aboriginal Business Studies at Cape Breton University.
‘They want to do it’
In. Business: A National Mentorship Program for Indigenous Youth began at CBU in 2012 as a Nova Scotia pilot program, but has expanded to involve 250 young people in every province and territory.
Keith Brown, CBU’s vice-president of International and Aboriginal Affairs, says the enthusiasm shown by the students is very rewarding.
“They do this outside of school hours. They don’t get any marks for it,” he said. “So, they’re committed; they want to do it.”
Challenges
The students are matched with Indigenous mentors who give their time.
Because of the remoteness of some communities and the sheer size of the country, program participants are connected with each other and sometimes with their mentors by smart technology and social media.
“They do what we call ‘challenges’ — because calling it ‘homework’ wouldn’t be very cool — and they’re very specific challenges to do with Indigenous business,” said Brown.
“What you find over the year, the students go from thinking I’m the only one in my community interested in business — it’s tremendous to watch what support and mentorship can do.”
CBU has partnered with Nipissing University, the University of Winnipeg, Vancouver Island University and Yukon University to execute the program across the country.