TORONTO -- Getting Indigenous students into the corporate world and “bridging the gap” between academia and businesses is paramount, says Candice Loring of non-profit organization Mitacs.
Mitacs was created in 1999 and works with 70 universities and 6,000 companies, and both federal and provincial governments to build partnerships and social innovation in Canada.
Loring, who is a member of the Gitwangak Band of Gitxsan Nation, is the first Indigenous person to be hired at Mitacs.
She helped launch an initiative to link Indigenous-owned businesses and organizations with Indigenous students to help them take their first steps into the corporate world.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Loring said of the initiative on CTV’s Your Morning Wednesday. “In matching those top students in academia with real life businesses… they have an opportunity to gain experiential learning.”
Loring explained that the initiative helps remove some of the financial and social barriers facing Indigenous students, and she helps match the college research interns with businesses and organizations.
One of the initiative’s partnerships is with EcoTrust Canada, which has Indigenous interns working on hydroponic innovations to boost local food production and security, programs to help small businesses pivot amid COVID-19, self-sustaining restorative farming solutions, and art programs.
For Loring, the mission is a personal one.
“I didn’t have a typical education experience, I actually dropped out of high school in Grade 10,” she said. “To this day I am a Grade 10 drop out, so my claim to fame is that I have a university degree, but I never finished school.”
Loring said programs that gave “equitable access and opportunities for Indigenous students to thrive,” is what allowed her to achieve her post-secondary success.
“Because I was awarded those opportunities I wanted to go back and try and be a part of other Indigenous student’s educational journey and help them thrive,” she said.
For Indigenous voices to be added to the corporate world where “decisions are being made” Loring said opportunities for Indigenous peoples need to go beyond “lip service.”
“Indigenous rights are Canadian rights, and it’s about including Indigenous voices because it’s the right thing to do,” she said. “It’s not just about check-marking a box.”
