CICP brings Indigenous communities and Corporate Canada together through reciprocal allyship, exchanging knowledge, transferring skills, and supporting community-defined goals.
Live partnerships: 4 Communities, 4 corporate hubs, 2 active engagements across Canada.Communities own the agenda. The trust and mandate of community leadership is what gives our work legitimacy and lasting impact.
Corporate professionals placed alongside Indigenous community teams to advance community-defined priorities. 6 to 16 week projects, co-designed and co-delivered. Inspired by the Jawun program in Australia.
Read more →A nine-month hybrid accellerator program for Indigenous changemakers and business leaders. Mentorship, executive education, and capital access. Pilot cohort launching in 2026/27.
Read more →Sharing stories of reconciliation with Canadians. Insights, frameworks, and impact stories from CICP's partnership model and lived experience with communities to build bridges and a positive dialogue.
Read more →What we exist to do
CICP is a Canadian nonprofit advancing Indigenous-led prosperity through reciprocal allyship. We bring Indigenous communities and Corporate Canada together to exchange knowledge, transfer skills, and support community-defined goals, creating value on both sides of the partnership.
Communities own the agenda. The trust and mandate of community leadership is what gives our work legitimacy and lasting impact.
Why CICP
Colonial policy severed Indigenous communities from the economic infrastructure of Canada: capital markets, professional networks, institutional relationships. The consequences still compound. On-reserve employment sits nearly 20 points below the national average, and up to 80% of revenue earned on reserves leaves them.
Corporate Canada is ready to engage. Reconciliation commitments have scaled sharply, but most of that effort flows to certification, conferences, and internal training rather than direct partnerships with communities. For Corporates, getting started with Indigenous partnerships and community engagement is a daunting and often high-risk proposition. The system is short on pathways, not goodwill.
CICP is that pathway. Through our programs, we put capacity directly into Indigenous hands, on priorities communities set for themselves. Communities are not defined by gaps; they hold governance traditions, land-based opportunity, deep knowledge, and entrepreneurial energy. Our work creates the conditions to harness it on their own terms.
From statement to engagement
CICP operationalizes TRC Call to Action #92, the call on Corporate Canada to commit to meaningful consultation, provide education on Indigenous rights and history, and ensure senior management accountability for reconciliation.
Most organizations that have signed declarations lack a practical pathway to follow through. CICP provides that pathway, converting commitments into structured engagement grounded in community relationships and trust.
Indigenous-led by design
Co-founded by Chief Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band and Jay Wright, longtime partners in Canada's first Indigenous winery, Nk'Mip Cellars. Championed by Dakota Law, Director of Finance at Hiawatha First Nation.
Guided by a Board with a minimum 50% Indigenous representation (enshrined in our bylaws) and a majority-Indigenous Advisory Circle of members across Indigenous economic development, banking, law, education, and corporate leadership.
Inspired by Australia's Jawun program, whose CEO sits on our advisory circle, CICP's secondment model is grounded in partnership and reciprocal allyship to drive sustained impact. Three principles guide the work: community-driven priorities, corporate skill partnerships, and sustained impact built on trust.
It starts with community leadership. Communities surface a priority such as community planning, governance strengthening, or economic development. CICP listens, never leads.
A nine-month hybrid program for Indigenous changemakers and business leaders already running economic development corporations, launching ventures, or leading community organizations. Designed to complement existing roles, not pull people out of community.
Five integrated pillars: Mentorship, Skill-Building, Networking, Talent Access, Capital.
Sharing stories of reconciliation with Canadians. Insights, frameworks, and impact stories from CICP's partnership model and lived experience with communities to build bridges and a positive dialogue.
What partners receive when they walk this work alongside us.
Curated work placements and immersive experiences in Indigenous communities over terms of 6 to 16 weeks.
Credentialed course developed for the CICP by Queen's Smith School of Business, and pre-secondment training programs.
Immersive community visits to engage with Indigenous leaders and experience community realities firsthand.
Host Indigenous leaders in Corporate environment to share corporate experience and realities firsthand.
Sponsorship of Indigenous professionals and businesses through Leadership Academy and Accelerator journeys.
Case study publications on company impact on Indigenous communities, plus impact reports and social media spotlights.
"I was taken aback by the level of absolute care and passion that the CICP group brought to the table. You bring the right tools in a way that's not dominating but uplifting. We were a team because there was a shared value system."
Candace WasacaseCEO, Kahkewistahâw Economic Management Corporation
Four community partnerships across three provinces and over 2,000 hours of capacity support, delivered alongside community leadership.
Our first full year of programming — two new community engagements, four partnerships to date, and the foundation for what comes next.
Each engagement is shaped by the community's priorities. The work, the partners, and the timeline change. The principle, community-led, co-delivered, does not.
Two new community projects are underway in 2026 — details to come.
Working alongside community administrators, CICP delivered a strategic plan with 58 prioritized initiatives across three implementation waves, plus the tracking tools to keep it moving once the team had returned home. Supported by BCG and KPMG over nine months.
"Something beautiful happens every time: corporate professionals are always surprised by how much they learn. They leave with a deeper understanding of the communities they work alongside and a wealth of knowledge that stays with them long after the project ends."
Dakota LawDirector of Finance, Hiawatha First Nation · CICP Board Member
CICP is supported by a circle of corporate, academic, and pro-bono partners, all aligned around community-defined priorities and TRC Call to Action #92.
Whether you are a corporate leader, a philanthropic supporter, or a community partner, there's a path in. Tell us a bit about what you're hoping to do.