Culture, Community and Connection: Forward Summit participants propose Indigenous workforce solutions

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

(ANNews) – The question of how to prepare Indigenous students for the workforce was the subject of a May 14 at the Forward Summit, an annual event that brings together Indigenous leaders, entrepreneurs and industry to chart a path towards reconciliation. 

The roundtable discussion, entitled “Urban and Remote Indigenous Workforce Solutions,” occurred at the Grey Eagle Resort and Casino on Tsuut’ina Nation in Treaty 7. 

The speakers consisted of Assiniboine College director of Indigenous engagement Kris Desjarlais; Keelie Goodstriker, a student in the University of Alberta’s Aboriginal Teacher Education Program; Blood Tribe Employment and Skills Training director Levi Little Moustache; and Kesley Davis, the manager of Indigenous communities at data analytics firm Esri Canada.

Desjarlais, a city councillor in Brandon, Man., from Cowessess First Nation, touted “high-flex models” of education and job training as a means of accommodating Indigenous students and encouraging their participation in the workforce.

Assiniboine College does this through its community-based job training program, which sends instructors to remote communities to offer relatively quick job training in specific roles that are needed in the community. 

“Sometimes that might mean adapting a program that’s not accredited, but it’s a program that’s desperately needed,” explained Desjarlais. “We can pivot and potentially accredit it later.” 

He added that “technology has definitely helped” the college offer more flexible programming options. 

Goodstriker, who worked as a probation officer before pursuing education, said that training must be based both on community needs, as well as fields where Indigenous people are underrepresented. 

“When I started my schooling to become a probation officer, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity directly in my community,” said Goodstriker, a member of the Blood Tribe in Treaty 7.

“There’s not a ton of Indigenous representation in the education system, so that’s how I came to the conclusion of being a teacher.” 

The notion of going to school and then figuring out if there’s employment in the field must be “reversed,” she said. 

Goodstriker said that students should instead be asking: “What does my community need? What is missing? What do we need more representation in?”

Little Moustache, who is also a Blood Tribe member, said that the most important metric for job training is “long-term success,” as opposed to “just getting them employed.”

His First Nation’s training and skills program begins with culture and language training to create a “solid foundation” that enables a student to “withstand any storms throughout their life.”

Davis agreed that students need to be regarded as more than just employment figures, proposing the use of a happiness or wellness index to determine student success.

“Are people’s lives better, are communities better and stronger? Is the world in a better place? To me, that’s what it’s about,” he said. 

Little Moustache noted that there’s often few job opportunities on reserves, which he suggested could be resolved through partnerships between First Nations, municipalities and post-secondary institutions.

“There’s different departments doing different aspects of training, but if we can bring those partners together, then it can kind of alleviate that lack of opportunity,” he said. 

This requires a desire to engage in genuine partnerships with First Nations communities, Little Moustache added.

“At the end of the day, a partnership is what that organization or company is going to do for the community, not just come in and make their money and then be gone,” he said.

Desjarlais noted that one of the most impactful changes at Assiniboine College was the introduction of its peer-mentoring program in 2019. He boasted that 98 per cent of peer mentors completed graduation. 

A key factor he identified in Indigenous students overcoming barriers to their success is culture. 

“The lion’s share of students that we see are marginalized. It still holds true, but we see the ones that have strong connections to their culture be so much more successful,” he said.