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Program Information
Overview
This online program renews our relationship with wise practices during a time of great change for humanity. We will activate community wisdom in action through case studies from our local and global interspace, deepen critical skills, reawaken gifts, and re-envision what leaders need in order to thrive, while living wholistically into responsibilities, inherent wellbeing, and abundance.
You will have the opportunity to bring the Wise Practice Indigenous Leadership model to life in your role and organization, while embarking on a personal and professional leadership journey. This program creates the space to regenerate and envision, while expanding roots of identity, knowledge, and cultural values within each person’s authentic leadership style. We will move from theory and practice into action with the guidance of Elders, land-based learning, hands-on case studies, culture, arts, and community dialogue.
Wise Practices in Indigenous Leadership provides the opportunity to center, strengthen, and balance cultural and contemporary leadership competencies.
Please note, this program does not count as credit towards the Certificate of Indigenous Leadership, Governance, and Management Excellence.
What does the program offer?
- Wise Practice Indigenous Leadership model, research, and case studies
- Centering Indigenous wisdom and leadership concepts in practice
- Deep listening and storytelling
- Land-based learning
- Transformational change: cultural illuminance and living systems thinking
- Relational leadership: collaboration and partnerships
- Transformational, value-based leadership
- Wisdom, change leadership, and spherical intelligence
Who should register?
- Indigenous leaders, administrators, and service providers
- Indigenous artists, change-makers, and visionaries
- Senior management and personnel working with or within Indigenous organizations
This program prioritizes Indigenous learners, and those working for Indigenous communities and organizations. Programs are filled on a first come, first served basis. Please register early to secure a confirmation of your spot.
Itinerary
Online Lectures: Use of Zoom for live sessions
- Workbook: Learning Journal PDF
- Use of SharePoint for sharing program resources and materials
To maximize learning for this program, students are required to dedicate approximately 24 hours during the week to this program.
- Complete pre-program assignments (approx. 4 hours)
- Participate in four live Zoom sessions: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, each day from 10:00 am – 2:00pm MDT (4 hrs x 4 days = 16 hours for the week)
- Complete homework outside of class time (approx. 2-4 hours)
Faculty
Alice Kaquitts
Alice Kaquitts is a proud member of the Stoney Nakoda Wesley First Nation. Alice is a respected elder and community leader in the Stoney Nakoda nation and is the daughter of Alice Kaquitts Sr. and Thomas Simeon, and great-granddaughter of renowned Chief Hector Crawler. Alice grew up in a traditional way of life where Nakoda language, culture and protocols were taught and followed.
Alice’s formal education includes a diploma from Mount Royal College and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Calgary. Alice has been working within the Stoney Nakoda Nation in senior level positions for over 20 years. Alice is the former Director and Co-Founder of Nakoda Solutions and the Founder of Okiyabi Consulting, where she has developed teaching models on Traditional Parenting, Community Reconciliation and Cultural Awareness training. Alice has also previously worked with the IAP process in translating Nakoda testimonies fort Nakoda Residential School survivors.
Alice currently co-hosts the radio show “Conversational Nakoda” on Windspeaker Radio FM 88.1, serves on the planning committee for the National Gathering of Elders, and works with the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Mount Royal University on the imbedding of Indigenous Knowledge into course curriculum.
Alice is a healthy, proud grandmother to 5 beautiful grandchildren and mother to two adult sons, and enjoys passing on her traditional knowledge and teachings to the future generations.
Elder
Erin Dixon
Walking with vision and all of life in mind, Erin shares her Otipemisiwak-Métis heritage and passion for life – from Indigenous science through to living systems transformation.
Erin is faculty for Banff Centre, currently supporting Indigenous Leadership and Management Development and Reconciliation and Right Relations programs. For the last six years Erin has held the role of an Indigenous Awareness Trainer for the Ontario Provincial Police co-facilitating five-day transformational learning programs and outreach. She leads the co-creation of multi-sectorial/organizational, community-youth driven life promotion initiatives with northern remote Nations.
A landscape of Erin’s recent collaborations include co-facilitating with mentor Michael Jones in hosting generative spaces and dialogue sessions for leaders on Wasan Island – Breuninger Foundation, Tamarack Institute, The Good Work Institute at Bard College, and the Garrison Institute. She has also co-facilitated with change leaders at Mind Camp and for six years has co-led Mariposa Folk Festival’s award winning greening programs, collaborating with Ryerson University. Erin has worked locally and globally, with every type of organizing structure – cultivating patterns of openness, connection, and reciprocity for collective impact.
Erin carries a BA in Law and Environmental Studies, a MA in Global Leadership from Royal Roads University, with Post Graduate studies in Eco-psychology – land based nature reconnection programs. Her capstone documentary, The Star Blanket Project, invited a shared inquiry into the call for Awakening the Spirit of Place in Transcending Paradigms and she was the first team to ever receive RRU Founders Award for leadership and personal development. Erin was selected to attend Getting to Maybe: A Social Innovation Residency and is currently walking in a traditional year long, Feather Carriers, Life Promotion program.
Erin is at home and naturally walks between and bridges different worlds, braiding pathways towards what is possible, and the essence of what is being called to life.
Faculty
Dr. Cynthia Wesley- Esquimaux
Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux served as Vice Provost for Indigenous Initiatives at Lakehead University for three years. Effective September 2016 she was appointed the 1st Indigenous Chair for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada for Lakehead University and continues to develop pathways forward to reconciliation across Canada.
Cynthia was inducted as a “Honourary Witness” by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2014, and is Chair of the Governing Circle for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba.
She is a member and resident of the Chippewa of Georgina Island First Nation in Ontario and has dedicated her life to building bridges of understanding. She sees endless merit in bringing people from diverse cultures, ages, and backgrounds together to engage in practical dialogue and applied research initiatives.
Faculty
Daryl Kootenay
Daryl Kootenay is a Traditional singer, dancer, artist, speaker, youth leader.
After graduating high school Daryl travelled globally to volunteer his time in countries such as Peru, Nicaragua and Africa working with Canada World Youth first as a participant, then an intern and then employee. He has been a part of CWYs Provisional Aboriginal Youth Committee where he participated in the “Aboriginal Youth and Confederation: Learning from the past, building for the future conference” in 2014, an event cohosted by CWY and the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island, as part of the PEI 2014 Charlottetown Conference sesquicentennial celebration. He was also a delegate for his nation and CWY at the World Conference of Indigenous Peoples, The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Rights, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City (Sept 2014).
Daryl has actively volunteered in his community of Morley, Alberta in a variety of roles. This includes being a group leader for the Project Nakoda Outdoor Wilderness Experience (NOWE), in developing “youth hang-outs” for a week through the Canada Bridges organization and in co-founding the Stoney Nakoda Youth Council in 2014 which has travelled to a number of significant United Nations and North American Indian Youth Caucus events. He has the tremendous honour of being awarded the Governor General’s “Sovereignty’s Medal for Volunteers” in June 2017 for his work.
Daryl is a father to his 2-year old daughter from the Stoney Nakoda Nation of Treaty 7 in southern Alberta and a member of the Dine (Navajo) Nation in New Mexico from his father’s heritage.
Faculty
Technical Requirements
What's Included
Online Lectures
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Join in online lectures
Electronic Workbook
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Electronic workbook for course materials.
Group Seminars/Workshops
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Join in group seminars/workshops.
Asynchronous Learning
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i.e. discussion boards and online resources
Fees & Financial Assistance
* Financial assistance is available for Indigenous peoples or non-Indigenous peoples working for Indigenous organizations. Each request is reviewed individually based on submission of the Financial Assistance form available in the Student Portal.
To be considered for financial assistance, please ensure that you select "Yes" to 'I would like to apply for financial assistance' during registration, and log into your Student Portal to complete your funding application form within 48 hours of submitting your initial registration. We strongly recommend timely submission of the funding form, to be considered. Note that we reserve the right to cancel registrants who select 'No' to financial assistance if payment and confirmation of attendance is not received within 7 days of registration.
Banff Centre will issue official tax receipts for eligible tuition fees and all financial assistance and awards as required by the Income Tax Act. You will receive a T2202 (Tuition and Enrolment Certificate) for eligible tuition fees paid and a T4A (Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income) for applicable financial assistance and awards.
How to Apply
Learn more about the steps to Complete Your Application.
If you have requested financial assistance,please ensure that you log in to your Student Portal within 48 hours of registration, to submit your funding request form.
If you do not require financial assistance, please ensure that you log in to your Student Portal and complete confirmation of attendance and full payment as soon as possible, but no later than 7 days from completing step 1.
Note that non-completion within the timelines stated may result in your place being offered to the waitlist.
Participants must be ages 18+ at the time of the program start date.
All programs, faculty, dates, fees, and offers of financial assistance are subject to change. Program fee is subject to applicable taxes. Banff Centre reserves the right to cancel a program up to seven days prior to program start date if there is insufficient enrolment, and in this case all fees will be refunded. Please note that Banff Centre is not liable for any personal/travel expenses incurred. Non-refundable fees and deposits will be retained upon cancellation. Any other fees are refunded at the discretion of the Banff Centre. The application deadline is 11:59 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.