INSPIRE NUNAVUT
Inspire Nunavut trains young people across Nunavut to become social entrepreneurs, traditional entrepreneurs and problem solvers. Our mission as an organization is to empower youth to challenge the complex problems they face in their remote communities by creating culturally relevant solutions via entrepreneurship.
Inspire Nunavut will deliver their training through the practical experience of starting and running a business within the training program. Participants are taken through a 6-month intervention where they learn the ins and out of entrepreneurship and the fundamentals of running a business in their community. Our curriculum integrates Inuit culture and values and is tailored to the socio-cultural and economic dimensions of their remote community. Participants receive help from instructors, their own mentor, a local coordinator, community organizations, and a curriculum that was designed in partnership with out part participants. By the end of the program, participants either run the social enterprise or business they’ve created in the program, find employment, or go back to school.
Holistic Adult Learning Programs –Our main hypotheses has been that in order to empower people to create new economic solutions for their community, there must be a holistic infrastructure of support that fills as many gaps they face as possible. And the driving force has to be rooted in Inuit culture and community values.
Inspire Nunavut takes a holistic approach to entrepreneurship training. From the very start, the program was developed with Inuit culture and values integrated at its core, teaching participants how to honor and promote their Inuit cultural values through their ventures. This is imperative to the success of Inspire Nunavut programming. This is what resonate with entrepreneurs, with their friends and families, their communities and with potential customers.
Advance Learning Programs Linked with Employment Opportunities – Inspire Nunavut primary desired outcome is for participants to become self-employed and create employment opportunities for others. Our two other desired outcomes are for participants to pursue post-secondary education or find a job.
Learning Programs & Organizational Development Initiatives to Increase the use of Inuktitut in Workplaces – Inspire Nunavut firmly believe in the importance of increasing the use of Inuktitut in business and the workplace. As a start-up organization with limited resources, we have been unable to translate. However, with funding from Makigiaqta, we hope to secure the funds to translate our curriculum in Inuktitut, develop a series of bilingual instructional videos and hire Inuktitut-speaking talent – core team members, coordinators, mentors and instructors.
Career Coaching and Mentorship – Career coaching and mentorship is embedded in Inspire Nunavut’s programming. Every Inspire Nunavut participant is mentored by a Nunavummiut entrepreneur part of Inuit Nunavut’s Territory-wide Mentor Network. Career coaching is also provided to participants who do not wish to pursue their entrepreneurial ventures. We help them find employment or go back to school.
- Resources that will be Developed or Adapted:
- Curriculum Translations and Further Development
Translate curriculum in Inuktitut for learning materials to be available. This will allow Inspire Nunavut to hire more Inuktitut-speaking coordinators, mentors and instructors. Inspire Nunavut curriculum is a continuous work in progress and will continue to improve and add to their workshops, templates and resources.
- Entrepreneurship Mentor Network
Inspire Nunavut is building a network of entrepreneurship mentors across Nunavut. This network will have two (2) primary functions:
- Mentor, support and help shape the future entrepreneurs of Nunavut;
- Shape the core of the entrepreneurial community of Nunavut, which will aim to grow and accelerate entrepreneurial development and success in the territory.
By creating this online network, this will improve the business landscape and infrastructure of Nunavut. Members will benefit in the following ways:
- Shared knowledge and resources;
- Connecting with potential business opportunities;
- Connecting with industry experts;
- Help shape entrepreneurial policy through data collection and organized advocacy;
- Gaining the help and support from entrepreneurs across the territory.
- Paid Opportunities for EMN Mentors
All EMN members will be required to mentor at least one (1) mentee during their first year. This will be a paid position that will require a commitment of 2 hours/week for 16 weeks (32 hours).
EMN members may also get the opportunity to travel to an Inspire Nunavut community to deliver workshops with another Inspire Nunavut instructor.
Lastly, there may be opportunities to collaborate on Inspire Nunavut’s open-sourced curriculum by developing workshops and/or delivering seminars to groups in training.
- Nunavut Entrepreneurship Video Series
Inspire Nunavut wishes to continue to expand on the already 2 year video documentation. The video series will be developed over the course of 3 years. This video series will be open sourced and available for anyone to view. This series will be bilingual, adding Inuktitut and/or English subtitles. The goal of this video series will be a mixture of educational videos and case studies.
- Entrepreneurship Advisory Council
A Nunavut-based advisory council will be created for the task of co-creating and steering Inspire Nunavut activities and expansion. This will help Inspire Nunavut set strategic priorities, will help guide the delivery and process of the programming, develop new initiatives, help connect and support the youth going through the program.
Contact
Ajmal Sataar
Email: ajmal@inspirenunavut.com
Phone: 613-219-7890