First Brilliant Incubator: Indigenous Start workshop a success
Indigenous Education and Cultural Services (IECS) recently collaborated with the university’s Brilliant Catalyst to launch Brilliant Incubator: Indigenous Start, a free preparatory workshop that provides structured support to Indigenous students and alumni to help them:
- Develop a business idea.
- Receive one-on-one support from local Indigenous business owners.
- Learn to use their strengths and gifts.
- Access practical resources, connections, funding opportunities and mentorship from industry experts.
The workshop is rooted in traditional Indigenous teachings to help students recognize their strengths and live their unique success stories. The content of the workshop includes videos of personal success stories from Indigenous business owners, teaching from a Traditional Knowledge Keeper, and Medicine Wheel teaching. Participants also reflect on the ‘Four Rs’ model for Indigenizing education, developed by renowned Indigenous scholars Verna J. Kirkness and Ray Barnhardt:
- Respect First Nations cultural integrity.
- Provide education that is relevant to First Nations perspectives and experience.
- Foster reciprocal
- Demonstrate responsibility through participation.
The first session took place May 1 with one participant: Lena McNeil (Bachelor of Health Sciences (Medical Laboratory Science), class of 2020), a student of Inuit heritage. Lena connected over the phone with Amanda Kindzierski, an Indigenous artist, storyteller and media designer in Winnipeg, Manitoba, who answered Lena’s questions and provided mentorship. Afterward, Lena, a talented artist, completed a reflective assignment that tells her story in visual format (pictured above), using the Four Rs model as a guide. Lena presented her activity to Kindzierski, as well as IECS staff; Sarah Rasile, Director, Student Success, Office of Student Life; and the Brilliant leadership team, which included Karen Zavitz, Manager, Brilliant Catalyst, and Osman Hamid, Director, Creativity and Entrepreneurship, Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation.
Lena is currently participating in the four-month summer , which focuses on helping participants develop their venture and expand their entrepreneurial skills.