Inspire NWT building new generation of young Northern entrepreneurs

Inspire NWT is training a new generation of young Northern entrepreneurs with a three month course that gives them the skills, mentorship and support they need to launch their own business, nonprofits and community organizations. 

"I love what [Inspire NWT] brings to the table, especially in northern communities where it's definitely needed to bring voices from smaller communities in the North to be heard and push other young aspiring entrepreneurs to believe in their ideas," said Jamie Wetrade-Stevenson, a self-taught photographer and program instructor for Inspire NWT.

The winter cohort has sprawling entrepreneurial ambitions — like launching a sewing supply and workshop, starting a food truck, running Northern advocacy and healing programs,or building therapy supports for people who are in contact with the law. 

Inspire NWT launched as a pilot in September and the first ever winter cohort is split up into two virtual programs: a regional cohort with participants from the Dehcho, Sahtu and Beaufort Delta and an N.W.T.-wide cohort with participants from Fort Providence, Yellowknife, and the Tłı̨chǫ region.

Wetrade-Stevenson, 22, is from Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T. and said having recognizable mentors has built interest in the program.

"I wanted to be able to properly showcase that there's somebody that looks like you that's from the same community as you, that's doing great things," said Wetrade-Stevenson.

In high school, Wetrade-Stevenson was never taught about owning a business and didn't know anyone personally who ran their own business.

"I didn't even think it was something that could become a reality," she said.

That potential is "really, really important to showcase, especially to our youth who might not feel empowered or have that self-confidence because they feel like they're too young," said Wetrade-Stevenson.

Past participants have launched their own small businesses and in Fort Providence, N.W.T. five program graduates are on the cusp of launching the River Peace Association, a non-profit that will run the local youth centre, she said. 

During the incoming cohort, participants will learn about prototyping, supply chains, branding, tax and financial management, and finding sponsorship and funders. 

They also receive a $400 weekly stipend for training, to assist participants taking time away from their current jobs, said Wetrade-Stevenson.

Fall cohort takes on youth centre

The fall cohort of participants in Fort Providence "walked away with the fundamentals — a knowledge of starting a business and figuring out that idea, the passion and their mission and values," said Stevenson.

The participants from Inspire NWT's pilot program are from Deh Gáh Got'ı̨ę First Nation and through River Peace Association, will provide "culturally responsive" programming to families, elders and youth, said Inspire NWT program instructor, Niroja Thiru.

"There is a huge gap in programming for older youth in the community," said Thiru, who mentored the fall pilot program.

"It's really exciting… to see these youth leaning on each other and realizing that they are the leaders of today, not tomorrow. Taking that in their own hands has been inspiring," said Thiru. 

Flexible and virtual

Roxanne Kotchilea is a Tłı̨chǫ artist selling beadwork products she makes, alongside works by Toncha Charlo, her sister-in-law, and her mother, Doris Kotchilea, creator of Granny Hanky Apparel.

"Beading was non-existent for three generations within my matriarch lineage," she said. 

As a teenager, she was drawn to beadwork and said through her business, she wants to "share traditional and modern beadwork and to inspire every Indigenous person to reconnect, reclaim, and heal through beading and cultural practices." 

She enrolled in Inspire NWT's program to expand Tundra Beauty and it connected her with entrepreneurs across the territory. The program is flexible and virtual, making it ideal for high school students, adults and stay-at-home parents, she said. 

'Finding my own niche'

In Behchoko, N.W.T., program participant Russell Sharif is laying the foundation for Shooting Starz, a non-profit for restorative justice, mental health services and repairing harm. 

Sharif is a Scarborough-born Afghan man registered as a social worker in Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

Here, there are not enough services for people who are "displaced through the criminal justice system" winding up in the courts, in jail, or struggling to integrate upon their release, said Russell.

Shooting Starz will support people at any stage of the legal system and to confront the "stigmatization" that comes with it. 

"I've been through the system and I saw how much of it stigmatized me and I felt the real world consequences of it," he said. 

"It's not a system that encourages [restorative justice], and it's not a system that encourages self esteem. These are the factors that motivate me," he said.

Sharif is surveying community members on what supports they want, but expects to provide individual and group counselling, and professional networks for clients to access psychiatry, nurses, and community Elders. 

Sharif said he and his board of directors bring a unique ability for empathy for the clients they will serve, because they've been through the justice system themselves.

"It's not enough for professionals to say they're being supportive and being empathic, It's more necessary for [people] receiving services to feel that empathy," he said.

Partaking in Inspire NWT's programming, he said, is "really about finding my own niche and trying to realize my potential."