The Indigenous Advancement of Cultural Entrepreneurship (I-ACE) program is Canada's only Indigenous co-designed and community delivered entrepreneurship program. The I-ACE program is a partnership between Tribal Resources Investment Corporation (TRICORP), a First Nations-owned lending institution based in Northwest British Columbia, the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business, and numerous Indigenous communities and governments. It is delivered in-community over the course of 26 weeks and provides prospective Indigenous entrepreneurs with the skills needed to successfully start and manage a business, serve the community with confidence, and foster economic development without foregoing traditional values. The vision of the I-ACE program is “to enable Indigenous people to take their rightful place in the Canadian economy as the original Canadian entrepreneurs”.
Since its launch in 2013, the I-ACE program has been delivered in the territories of 78 Indigenous communities and Nations across Canada, has graduated 55 cohorts of 789 Indigenous entrepreneurs who have now started and are running 256 businesses. The objective of the partnership underpinning the I-ACE program is to clearly understand the uniqueness of each Indigenous student’s needs and interests, providing the right information (culturally appropriate) at the right time and place (delivered in-community) using the right method (visual learning and storytelling). The success of this approach is reflected in the number of businesses launched by graduates of the program, as well as in the numerous international, national and regional awards it has received, including two major global awards and a provincial award recognizing the I-ACE program’s contribution to economic reconciliation.

Dr. Brent Mainprize
Teaching Professor and I-ACE Co-founder and Director
Peter B. Gustavson School of Business,  University of Victoria



Ms. Jacquie Ridley
CEO
Tribal Resources Investment Corporation



Mr. Frank Parnell
Late CEO of TRICORP and Co-founder of I-ACE Program
Tribal Resources Investment Corporation



Mr. Arthur Mercer
Indigenous Executive in Residence
Gustavson School of Business,  University of Victoria



Dr. Saul Klein
Dean
Gustavson School of Business,  University of Victoria



Mr. Cory Stephens
Program Manager
I-ACE



Ms. Charmaine Stack
Director, Administration
Executive Programs,  University of Victoria



Ms. Nicole Wallace
Associate Director
Executive Programs,  University of Victoria

We want to thank I-ACE Indigenous partner organization, TRICORP, and the late TRICORP CEO and I-ACE program co-founder, Frank Parnell, for trusting us with his vision for this program. I-ACE would not be around today if not for Frank’s fearlessness, intelligence, and persistence. We would also like to thank the many Indigenous communities across Canada who have welcomed the I-ACE program into their territories and trusted us to deliver something of value to their talented entrepreneurs.