On Tuesday, March 22 at 1:00 pm (EDT) The Assembly of First Nations will be hosting a webinar entitled “First Nations Social Innovation and Social Finance; First Nation Access to Credit”, with speakers from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and Forrest Green, a Licensed Credit Bureau. Highlighted are invited testimonials by partnering First Nations and First Nation financial organizations. The following have been invited: Pic River First Nation, the Atlantic Policy Congress, Tribal Whi-Chi-Way-Win Capital Corporation (TWCC) and the Aboriginal Savings Corporation of Canada (ABSCAN)
About this Webinar:
Join us for this webinar as speakers discuss First Nation exclusion from the credit rating system, its impact on borrowing and the implications for economic development, employment, housing and access to capital for First Nation individuals, corporations and governments. A series of early adopters of the initiative will discuss First Nation community, political and corporate perspectives on this issue.
To join the webinar on Tuesday, March 22nd, click on the link below:
https://livestream.com/afn/fnaccesstocredit.
About the Speakers
Randy Jenkins is a Senior Analyst with the Office of the Indian Registrar in the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. He formally held positions as Senior Economic Analyst within the Community Infrastructure Branch and Senior Advisor within the Lands Branch where the credit initiative was first developed.
Blair McMurren is Director of Social Innovation in the Strategic and Service Policy Branch at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), where he is responsible for policy development as well as outreach and engagement related to the Government of Canada’s commitments to explore the potential of social finance. He has recently helped to launch an Innovation Lab that will develop and test innovative solutions to policy, program, and service delivery challenges across the ESDC portfolio, in collaboration with other emerging public innovation hubs and labs.
Murray Rowe Junior is the owner and President of Forrest Green registered credit bureau that is partnered with TransUnion a Consumer Credit Reporting Agency and Dun & Bradstreet a Global Business Credit Bureau. For over 20 years, Murray has been supporting private and public sector clients by implementing technology solutions using credit reporting agency data, secure web portals, training, eLearning, automated workflow and intelligent documents. Murray has provided expert testimony to the House of Commons and Senate on credit issues impacting Indigenous Peoples.
Invited:
Garland Moses, a member of the Ojibways of the Pic River First Nation, is employed as a Capital Housing Manager and is charged with the responsibilities of Capital and Housing responsibilities. Over the past twenty years, Garland has brought improvement to a new Water Treatment Plant which is currently extracting its water supply from ground source that is being treated with slow sand with an ozonation treatment system. In addition, Garland has assisted in the development of a new Daycare centre located in the community which is now known as Children and Family Learning Centre. To support the overall need in wellness of the community and the surrounding area, Garland has been instrumental in the capital development of the Holistic Treatment Centre, the Biibaaban Healing Lodge. His latest support to the community infrastructure is the completion of a new office to support the Anishinabek Police Service. With the assistance of the Housing Committee support by our leadership and management team, the housing program has grown up to 160 residential units which includes a Senior Complex as well as a Six Complex which was recently completed in March 2010. With the completion of the Six Plex, the Housing Program has completed a major part of the Ojibways of the Pic River Ten Year completion which addresses the need to construct up to forty residential units. Today, along with the Home Improvement Program, which has completed renovations to nineteen of existing residential structures, another eighteen units are currently in process and are slated for completion by the end of March 2011. Garland was involved in the genesis of this initiative and continues to work through access to credit in the area of housing in Pic River.
John Paul is the Executive Director of the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Taking direction from the Atlantic Chiefs through frequent All Chiefs Forums and Executive Chiefs Meetings, Mr. Paul provides policy analysis and strategic advice on a wide range of policy issues facing First Nations in Atlantic Canada and Eastern Quebec. The APC Secretariat’s mandate is to research, analyze and develop alternatives to federal policies affecting its member First Nation communities. Mr. Paul has a Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies and received his Master of Public Administration in Financial Management from Halifax’s Dalhousie University in 1982. A dedicated advocate for First Nations, Mr. Paul has worked toward positive change for First Nations communities in diverse policy areas for more than 25 years.
Chief Shining Turtle has been the Chief of Whitefish River First Nation for 11 years and is family man with a strong desire to help his Community move forward. As an Engineer by trade, the Chief has helped his Community secure over 30-million dollars in new infrastructure funding; his drive and determination is extraordinary. Chief Shining Turtle’s education includes Bachelor of Engineering from Lakehead University, Diploma of Technology from Seneca College, a Technical Leadership Certificate from the University of Florida, and a Water Systems Supply Certificate from California State University.
Jean Vincent, is the Vice-Grand Chief of the Huron-Wendat First Nation. For the past 22 years, Chief Vincent has been the President and General Manager of the Native Commercial Credit Corporation (SOCCA), which provides commercial financing to Quebec Aboriginal-controlled businesses in the start-up or expansion phase. He is also President and General Manager of the Aboriginal Savings Corporation of Canada (ABSCAN) offering Aboriginal peoples corporate bonds adapted to their needs; and financing in the form of secured loans in the real estate, institutional and commercial sectors. ABSCAN was incorporated on October 21, 2005 under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act to serve as a fund-gathering medium offering Aboriginal peoples control over their economic development.
Brenda Zurba is the Vice President of Sales, Marketing & Development for Tribal Wi-Chi-Way-Win Capital Corporation (TWCC), a Winnipeg-based Aboriginal Capital Corporation. She brings 17 years of experience in marketing, sales, sales management and executive leadership as well as a post-secondary education in psychology, commerce and marketing. Brenda was employed with a publicly traded, multi-billion dollar organization for more than 10 years and led a nationally specialized team that consulted with small businesses across Canada to develop their annual and semi-annual marketing strategies. Prior to joining TWCC, Brenda served as the National Sales and Marketing Director for Telpay Incorporated, where she managed customer support, marketing operations, as well as multi-channel sales of 24 million transactions worth $14 billion annually. Brenda is a designated member of the Canadian Professional Sales Association, which is a national institute that provides guidelines and professional standards in the sales and marketing profession. At the 2013 Social Enterprise World Forum in Calgary, Brenda was a speaker on the “Building Indigenous Social Enterprise” panel.
