Impact Report 2023
Re-building thriving Indigenous communities across Canada
TOGETHER TODAY, TOMORROW FOR ALL
OUR WHY Many Indigenous communities continue to face significant challenges, including limited access to basic necessities such as healthy food, clean drinking water, adequate housing and dependable energy. Indigenous children are 89% likely to develop diabetes in their lifetime. Many Indigenous youth must choose between food or starting a business. Without consistent energy sources, local economic opportunities and education are limited. Overcrowding and deplorable housing conditions are putting families at constant risk and insecurity. What is needed is access to skills, tools and resources to build the foundations upon which families and communities can thrive once more. The solutions are with the people living this reality daily.
What we do Founded in 2014, Global Indigenous Development Trust (GIDT) is an Indigenous non-profit and registered charity created to support the re-building of healthy, natural and prosperous Indigenous communities. We build leadership and development capacity for productive local economies to flourish. Our Champions of Change Leadership Program offers coaching, mentoring and training that combines traditional wisdom and contemporary technology and science, enabling Indigenous leaders and entrepreneurs to define their future on their own terms. GIDT is led by some of Canada’s most prominent Indigenous leaders with deep-rooted experience that has lifted entire nations out of poverty. Our organization has positively impacted more than 100,000 people across 77 communities, trained more than 500 leaders and implemented more than 2 dozen projects and partnerships in the 10 years since its inception. 100,000 People Positively Impacted across 77 communities!
77
100,000+
Communities Involved
People Positively Impacted
GIDT 2023 | 2
Our vision is a woven tapestry of selfdetermined people and communities, working together for the prosperity of all.
THE CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE (COC) PROGRAM Goals To deliver advanced leadership training and education based on Indigenous knowledge and methodologies To strengthen capacity in business, community leadership, holistic economic development, and resource management To create a national community of learning and wise practice
Outcomes Through the CoC Leadership School, we inaugurated the Advanced Leadership Training for Community Re-Building course in September, 2022 and ran a second cohort in April, 2023. This 12week live online course provides training, mentorship, tools and resources that equip Indigenous leaders to become sovereign thinkers and develop a productive mindset that puts people to work, supports ongoing innovation and grows community prosperity. The CoC Community is a hub of learning and collaboration that brings together students, alumni, instructors, Elders, mentors and partners. This online meeting space is a network of wise practice that supports graduates to maintain the momentum gained in the CoC Leadership School and benefits all community members. The CoC Un-Learning Resource Library is a collection of Indigenous and non-Indigenous resources that supports the re-building of thriving communities. The library includes case studies, templates, training videos, and links to sites showcasing Indigenous initiatives in areas such as green energy, food sovereignty and healthy housing. Fostering cultural pride, the library promotes the ongoing development and education of Indigenous leaders and communities.
GIDT 2023| 3
NEXT STEPS
COMING IN 2024 Community of Learning and Wise Practice Everyone learning from everyone. We are just getting started with our vision to create an innovative, customized space where relevant training, practical tools, and a library of resources can be accessed, and the latest in green technologies and innovative practices can be shared between community members. The hub will include streams for specific topics of interest, such as food sovereignty and clean energy, and will open the door for Indigenous communities, organizations and partners from across the country to work together on the common goal of building thriving local communities.
Time Bank We rely on the expertise of our partners. Time banking is an exchange of specific skills and knowledge that will support community projects. We plan to build a network of giving where graduates, community members and partners can support each other to learn and grow together. Through the voluntary exchange of services and expertise, in areas such as business, negotiation and cultural knowledge, relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous members grow while skills and capacities are developed.
Champions of Change Leadership Course Our third cohort starts January 30, 2024! Excitement is building as we anticipate the start of the third cohort of the Champions of Change Advanced Leadership Course in January! Our social media followers will be able to follow along for stories of collaboration and meaningful change that extend far beyond the course. Together we are leaving a lasting impact on communities and the world.
GIDT 2023 | 4
THE CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE PROGRAM
GIDT 2023| 5
CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE PROGRAM RESULTS
First Cohort September – December 2023 20 participants:
BC: Wei Wai Kum First Nation Tahltan Nation Nuxalk Nation Iskut Band
Second Cohort April – June 2023 24 participants:
Quebec: Cree Nation of Wemindji Mohawk East: Kingsclear First Nation Mikmaw
Prairies: Plains Cree Metis Louis Bull Tribe
Territories: Inuit Carmacks
Ontario: Six Nations, Oneida Six Nations, Cayuga Mattagami First Nation Wikwemikong First Nation Tyendinaga Mohawk Chippewas of Georgina Island Michipicoten First Nation Matachewan First Nation Wunnumin Lake First Nation
International: Garifuna Mayan Shuar Arawak Taino Carib
As a result of the training received, a number of projects have been created or advanced: Food Security
Healthy Housing
GIDT 2023 | 6
Green Energy
CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE TESTIMONIALS
GIDT 2023 | 7
GIDT Projects Mno Aki Land Trust Environmental Stewardship Biomass Energy Food Sovereignty GIDT 2023 | 8
MNO AKI LAND TRUST Spearheaded by a graduate of the first cohort of our CoC Leadership School, Becky Big Canoe, this project brings together Indigenous Grandmothers representing different First Nations groups, to lead traditional governance, economic resilience, land stewardship and cultural revitalization through land access across Canada. In January, 2023 the Trust became a registered charity able to receive land donations. To learn more, visit mnoaki.org
"To heal our communities and provide thriving futures for our children that are based on our cultural values, we need access to land." Working in partnership with GIDT, the Mno Aki Land Trust conducted its first meeting on the land with Elders in September, initiating the process of building a model for Indigenous-led land stewardship. GIDT helped to facilitate agreements with the Greenbelt Foundation and the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust during the year for stronger community partnerships. Upcoming in 2024: A land-based Opening Event is planned for June that will bring together partners from across Canada for activities including presentations, medicine walks, and workshops with Elders.
GIDT 2023 | 9
A BRAIDED APPROACH
TO INDIGENOUS-LED ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP This project is a collaborative effort between GIDT, Green Feet Ecosystem Services, and Indigenous communities across Canada that will demonstrate how Indigenous-led environmental stewardship enhances land-based initiatives and supports ecosystem services such as freshwater, clean air and healthy soils. We are helping to develop a framework that braids modern science with nature and community in order to value and support the critical relationship between these three elements.
KEY OBJECTIVES To create a system for the valuation of human relationships with natural resources, including minerals, water, wildlife, migration routes, and plant medicines based on Traditional Ecological Knowledge and modern science. To translate the value of human relationships with natural resources into an operational Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) program, which will reward the caretaking of healthy ecosystems. To provide a publicly-available framework for natural resource management and environmental stewardship that weaves Indigenous knowledge, Western valuation systems, and scientific relationships together.
COMMUNITY
Representing the importance of Indigenous Knowledge.
NATURE
Representing the integration with Environmental Stewardship.
SCIENCE
Representing the support of Scientific & Technological Advancements.
GIDT 2023 | 10
ENERGY AND FOOD SYSTEMS FOR AND BY THE COMMUNITY
We are supporting the development of two community-led biomass energy initiatives in Northern BC and Northern Ontario that will bring clean energy and jobs to remote First Nation communities. We take a braided approach to weaving knowledge systems and provide frameworks for the inclusion of the community in project development. We facilitate discussions between youth, Elders and local members to ensure the integration of community vision and culture throughout. We are in the advanced stages of obtaining an AgriScience grant to develop a full-circle integrated approach to food sovereignty that is Indigenous-led, soil-to-table, and based on local production. This is a multi-partner project that will strengthen local food systems and community resilience. With all our projects, our goal is to maximize value for communities by evaluating the related opportunities based on the true value held in local ecosystems and human capital. We support local economies that are “for the community by the community”. Supporting healthy and self-reliant energy and food systems is our focus for 2024.
GIDT 2023 | 11
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS & SPONSORS GIDT would like to acknowledge the incredible kindness, vision and generosity of its partners and sponsors. It is the strength and grounding of these pioneers that inspire us all to greatness.
Del Zotto Family
R.E.A.L. School
GIDT 2023 | 12