Request for proposal – Indigenous Professional Consultant

Indigenous Professional Consultant

Join CICan to provide strategic advice and support on the co-design of Mamawi, a national strategic program involving colleges working together with Indigenous peoples to advance self-determination and economic reconciliation.

With 86% of Indigenous people living within 50 kilometers of a college campus or service, colleges and institutes are key providers of applied postsecondary education for Indigenous communities across Canada. Many of them have been working actively to create curriculums that respect Indigenous values and cultures. As the national voice of colleges and institutes, Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) is focused on amplifying Indigenous voices and leadership to advance Indigenous knowledge, perspectives, and practices throughout the post-secondary sector, a commitment integral to CICan’s strategic plan and impact goals

CICan is actively seeking an Indigenous Professional Consultant to join the team responsible for the co-design of Mamawi. Mamawi, meaning together in the Algonquin language, aims to advance self-determination and economic reconciliation by leveraging the expertise and know-how of Canada’s colleges and institutes’ business schools, incubators and accelerators, applied research and commercialization centres to raise the level of capital readiness of Indigenous entrepreneurs and to build Indigenous community knowledge in finance and accounting. The co-design of the project is funded by the BHP Foundation.

Indigenous Professional Consultant Competition Supporting Document

The Indigenous Professional Consultant will provide strategic advice and support in the co-design of Mamawi, a national strategic initiative involving colleges walking together with Indigenous Peoples to Advance Self-Determination and Economic Reconciliation.

Summary

Join CICan and provide strategic advice and make recommendations on approaches in the co-design of Mamawi.

Mamawi, meaning together in the Algonquin language, is a national strategic initiative aiming to advance self-determination and economic reconciliation with Indigenous peoples by leveraging the expertise and know-how of Canada’s colleges and institutes’ business schools, incubators and accelerators, applied research and commercialization centres to raise the level of investment readiness of Indigenous entrepreneurs and to build Indigenous community knowledge in finance and accounting.

If you’re an Indigenous professional interested in working with a team environment and in contributing in a meaningful way, you are invited to apply.

Responsibilities

• Provide support and strategic and confidential advice on a broad range of design functions.
• Advise on the opportunities and challenges related to engaging with Indigenous communities for the development of the Mamawi project design.
• Responsible for workshop planning and execution and consultation plan and tools.
• Travel to locations across Canada, as necessary, to support consultations for program design.
• Develop and organize presentations, take notes and prepare briefings.
• Lead the development of a theory of change.
• Provide feedback on key documents such as proposals and project implementation plans.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders both internal and external to CICan.
• Other related duties as assigned

Deliverables

• Consultant workplan.
• Indigenous community engagement strategy.
• Indigenous-oriented consultation plan and tools (i.e. workshop agendas, questions and presentations, etc…)
• Summary of workshop proceedings.
• Stakeholder registry.
• Theory of change.
• Timely feedback on a proposal.
• Timely feedback on a Project Implementation Plan.

Expectations

• Preference will be given to an individual or organization who either is from, located in, and has worked extensively with Indigenous communities.
• Education and/or experience to fulfil the responsibilities and meet the deliverables outlined above.
• Competency in project management, strategic planning and community/social development, in particular, work with Indigenous post-secondary institutions and leaders, non-profits/organizations, leaders and community.
• Knowledge of Indigenous history, culture and political structures.
• Skills in consultation process and tool development and implementation.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to build relationships, consensus, and maintain confidentiality.

Application Process

Interested consultant or consulting firms are invited to submit a CV and an expression of interest demonstrating how you can support the program and meet the deliverables outlined in the supporting document.

Submit your proposal to Brian Carriere, Senior Program Officer via email at bcarriere@cican.org by 5:00 pm EST, January 31, 2025.

This is a fixed term temporary contract.

The individual must be based in Canada.

Opportunity involves travel.

The consultant will receive a flat rate of CAD $ 40,000 plus travel costs.

The process may include a verification of Indigenous membership/ citizenship. Examples of verification with documentation can be, and are not limited to, a letter from a community’s governance body, an Indigenous government-issued membership or citizenship card, or a status card issued by Indigenous Services Canada.

About CICan and Indigenous Education

With 86% of Indigenous people living within 50 kilometers of a college campus or service, colleges and institutes are key providers of applied postsecondary education for Indigenous communities across Canada. They are often the only postsecondary institution present in remote northern communities and many of them have been working actively to create curriculums that respect Indigenous values and cultures. As the national voice of colleges and institutes, Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) is focused on amplifying Indigenous voices and leadership to advance Indigenous knowledge, perspectives, and practices throughout the post-secondary sector, a commitment integral to CICan’s strategic plan.

More About Mamawi

Canada is home to 1.81 million people who identify as Indigenous, representing 5% of the population. The Indigenous population is younger, growing faster and more likely to live in rural areas compared to non-Indigenous people in Canada. Also growing rapidly is Indigenous people and communities engaging in business activities with over 60,000 Indigenous-owned businesses contributing almost $50 billion to the economy in 2020.However, Indigenous peoples have long faced systemic barriers to developing their economies.

Barriers faced by Indigenous entrepreneurs include discrimination and poor access to investment capital, education and training, business networks, skilled employees, reliable internet service and other resources. The poor access to education and training opportunities is a particularly chronic problem, which not only negatively impacts entrepreneurial activity, but also employment outcomes resulting in higher poverty rates, poor access to housing, substance abuse, family violence and ill health.

Although Indigenous educational attainment is on the rise overall in Canada, there is a noticeable shortage of Indigenous students entering accounting and finance post-secondary programs. This shortage is reflected in the labour market. Only 12% of employed Indigenous people are business and finance professionals compared to 23% of non-Indigenous workers in similar jobs. This situation is posing a barrier to Indigenous economic self-determination and economic reconciliation.

Aligning with CICan’s commitment to amplifying Indigenous voices and leadership to advance Indigenous knowledge, perspectives, and practices throughout the post-secondary sector, CICan and its Indigenous member institutions and members institutions serving Indigenous communities are designing Mamawi to advance self-determination and economic reconciliation partnership by:

1. Improving the investment readiness of Indigenous businesses through applied research as well as education and training offered by CICan’s Indigenous members and/or members serving Indigenous communities.
2. Recruiting, supporting, and ensuring the success of Indigenous students interested in taking accounting and finance programs to increase knowledge at the community level.

Mamawi will be co-designed with CICan’s Indigenous members and members serving Indigenous communities with guidance from CICan’s existing Indigenous Education Advisory Committee through a culturally appropriate approach including the formation of a program t Indigenous advisory committee. Co-design principles will be applied throughout Mamawi including (1) prioritizing working together and building mutually beneficial relationships; (2) ensuring learning together and that all partners and rightsholders are learning throughout the life of the initiative; and (3) integrating Indigenous ways of learning, ceremony and other relevant learning approaches such as the important role Elders play in the learning process. The co-design approach is built on the Indigenous concept of reciprocity, that is, recognizing that relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples must be based on mutual respect, understanding, and benefit.