The I-ACE program is designed to meet students where they are at – the curriculum is adapted to meet the needs of each new community and the hands-on, people-first teaching style allows facilitators to engage with a diversity of students, ranging in age from 20-60, and coming from a variety of circumstances. Kara Froese, a Syilx artist and mother of two, experienced this firsthand when she took an online version of the I-ACE program in the fall of 2021. Drawing motivation from the challenges of living with fibromyalgia, Kara turned her hobby into a thriving home business, launching Lotusberry Co., a counter-colonial art and apparel brand. The accessibility of the I-ACE online classes along with the laptop provided by the program were key to her success – with physical limitations and two kids to care for, attending classes in person was not an option. Kara said the following about her experience in the I-ACE program:

“It’s the best course I’ve ever taken. It wasn’t just a program; it was more than that. It helped me realize that vulnerability is growth and it’ll connect you to more than just your work. My recommendation for future program participants is to jump in with both feet, keep an open mind, and run with the ideas that the course gives you…If I hadn’t done the I-ACE program, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to resart Lotusberry the way I have. So…don’t think about it, go for it.”

The main takeaway from a career full of honest mistakes and missteps is that good entrepreneurship education requires equal parts big picture thinking (right approach, right time, right tools), hands in the dirt (lead by doing), and community building (stronger together).
1) Right approach, right time, right tools. There is no mould for an entrepreneurship educator. The key is to be able to enter different contexts and meet people where they are at – both in their learning journey and geographically. It’s about nurturing a person’s discovery of their own unique abilities and passions, supporting their development, and then finding the perfect match out in the world to harness their individual power.
2) Lead by doing. This second learning is about making a bold commitment. As a teacher, I’ve learned that my students learn more from my lived experience as an entrepreneur than they do from my theory. Education isn’t effective unless your teacher is willing to put skin in the game. Plus, it’s more fun that way.
3) Stronger Together. A community-minded approach is a common thread in the collectivism of Indigenous cultures and is one of the greatest learnings of my career. For me, it is most important to remember that the communities I have the privilege of being a part of are more than the sum of their parts. My role is not to control or impose my own agenda; my role is to be open, to listen and to contribute where I can.

The past ten years have been characterized by significant entrepreneurial capacity building at the individual level. The next 5 years will be focused on building capacity at the community level – empowering Indigenous communities and Nations with the tools to deliver entrepreneurship and business education themselves. Internal capacity is key to ensuring lasting impact. In other words, I look forward to working myself out of my role.

I hope to deliver on this planned obsolescence in five overlapping phases. First, to continue building individual entrepreneurial capacity through delivery of the “Indigenous Youth 3C Challenge to 3,000 Indigenous youth cross Canada. Second, to continue to deliver I-ACE programs across Canada, with a goal of completing 125 cohorts serving 2,000 participants. Next, to roll-out a program called I-LEAP – Indigenous-Led Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program – for I-ACE graduates to help take their businesses to the next level. Fourth, to lead the delivery of 25 cohorts of the I-Manager program, an initiative to teach leadership and management skills to Indigenous professionals working across various industries. Finally, to lead the launch of a program called “Idea OWL”, which will support Indigenous communities to build their internal capacity to deliver entrepreneurship and business training, essentially making the I-ACE program obsolete. An important indicator that shows that we are already on our way to doing this is the fact that when we started I-ACE 10 years ago, 5% of program facilitators and mentors were Indigenous. Now that number is over 45%.