Indigenomics Harnessing the Power of Our Communities Paul Lacerte (Right) Paul Lacerte, managing partner at Raven. Photo courtesy of Raven Indigenous Capital Partners.
Hadih, Dene Za Tsekey Za. Greetings, my respected relatives; greetings, my respected friends. Paul Lacerte Sadnee. My Name is Paul Lacerte. Gilam Giloh Sadnee. My traditional name is Gilam Giloh. Si gunna Luksil Yoo Injan Yinka Dene Keyoh. I am a member of the Cariboo Clan and a citizen of the Carrier First Nation/Indigenous territory in what is now known as northern British Columbia, Canada. I am an intergenerational survivor of the “Indian Residential Schools” in Canada and my late first wife was also a survivor of the same residential school system. The church-run residential school in our Carrier First Nation territory closed in 1984. Indigenous Peoples around the world have had similar experiences and have been subjected to similar colonial policies which were designed to displace and disrupt our societies and our economies. But those efforts have failed and Indigenous social and economic systems are being revitalized. We are pivoting from surviving to thriving, from dependence to independence. We are building a better future; a future in which the beauty and brilliance of our Peoples and our cultures can and will lead the way to a better world for all of us. The emergent concept of Indigenomics and the story of Raven Indigenous Capital Partners is one of strength and resurgence. It is a story of resiliency and revitalization. Carol Anne Hilton is the founder and CEO of the Indigenomics Institute. She is an Indigenous woman of Nuu chah nulth descent and a proud member of the Hesquiaht First Nation on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She has been an independent member of the investment committee of the Raven Indigenous Impact Fund LP since its inception in May 2019; and Raven Indigenous Capital Partners was named to the Indigenomics Institute’s inaugural “Ten to Watch” list in December 2019. It is an honor to share our stories with you, and we are deeply grateful for this opportunity.
2017 Ottawa Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival at Vincent Massey Park. Photo by Bing Wen.
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Raven Indigenous Capital Partners
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n many ways, Raven Indigenous Capital Partners (Raven) is an expression of Indigenomics. Raven was founded in 2018 with three interrelated objectives: to address the equity gap for innovative, scalable Indigenous enterprises; to decolonize the investment process and provide cultural safety to Indigenous entrepreneurs; and to build investment platforms that would enable allies to participate in building a vibrant reconciliation economy. As founders, we believed that investing in purpose-driven Indigenous enterprises would create a positive impact in their communities while also providing competitive financial returns. We chose the Raven as our symbol, as it is central to rebirth and transformation in many Indigenous cultures. Our founding partnership is also an expression of reconciliation and the power and potential of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples working together to support and enable the Indigenous economy. By design, we chose to create a strength-based model that included myself, a First Nations partner, and a Métis partner, Jeff Cyr. Both continued on page 14
