In.Business Youth Celebrate At VIU

32 Aboriginal youth from across BC and Alberta came together for the conclusion of six-month business program

There were many high fives being thrown about along with a lot of hugs and a few tears at Vancouver Island University (VIU) as 32 Aboriginal high school students celebrated the successful completion of the 2016 In.Business program.

The group came to the Nanaimo Campus from across BC and Alberta for a two day conference that had them sharing business ideas, listening to successful business executives speak and producing 60-second ‘sell videos’ in the hopes of winning a $1,000 scholarship.

In.Business is a national mentorship program for Indigenous youth facilitated by the Purdy Crawford Chair in Aboriginal Business studies at Cape Breton University (CBU). What started at CBU in 2011 as a Nova Scotia pilot project has now gained national recognition. The 2013 Federal budget granted the program $5 million in matching funds so it could be rolled out across Canada. The Pacific region, which is one of five In.Business regions across Canada, consists of the provinces of BC and Alberta and is facilitated by CBU in partnership with VIU. 

“This program is about introducing different concepts of business to Aboriginal high school students so they have a better idea about where a degree in business can lead them,” said In.Business Pacific Regional Manager, Koren Bear. “We show them business is not just about accounting and selling but that it’s about building relationships, being creative and developing strong leadership qualities.”

Many of the students who are in the program are referred by their teachers, especially in regions where the program is fairly new, but students all across Canada are free to apply online without referrals. Karen Woods is a youth and family worker with Outreach Alternate School, a division of Britannia Secondary in Vancouver. She referred four students to the In.Business program and says after convincing them to go outside of their comfort zone, the students agreed to participate and came back more confident and excited about their futures.

“The students had to engage with a lot of people during the six month program and they were challenged to do a lot of independent learning in that time,” said Woods. “The professionals that worked with them really inspired them. I think it really changed the way they thought about their future and the fact they got to spend time on the VIU campus made them comfortable with the idea of attending university.”

The core of the program is based on pairing student participants with Aboriginal business mentors who are working professionals with a background in business. Mentors in the program this year included managers from HSBC and the Government of Alberta, an entrepreneur who owns a T-shirt business and a Dairy Queen franchise, and even a Revenue Canada executive.

During the closing ceremonies at VIU, tweets from the students were being broadcast live and displayed on a big screen in the conference room. Comments like “I don’t want this to end” and “Best thing that ever happened to us” scrolled across the screen in real time. Cook’s Ferry First Nation youth Lauranna Carlson was feeling a little emotional knowing the program was at an end.

“I made a lot of friends by doing this and it really expanded my ability to network,” said Carlson. “It really got me thinking about business and how to work with people. My goal is to become a cardiovascular surgeon and I really think the skills I learned through this program will help me get there.”

For Bear, saying goodbye to the students after the conference was hard but she’s confident she will be seeing some of them again when the time comes.

“I know from talking with the students that VIU is now a destination university for many of them and I couldn’t be happier about that,” said Bear. “It makes me proud that this program removes barriers to post-secondary education for Aboriginal youth and gives them the confidence to pursue their dreams, whatever those dreams may be.”

To learn more about the program please go to In.Business. 

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

Dane Gibson, Communications Officer, Vancouver Island University

P: 250.740.6288 | E: Communications@viu.ca T: #viunews