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Funder Focus: Roberta Jamieson and the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation
By Elisa Birnbaum
June 4, 2007
This month in our Funder Focus we speak with Roberta Jamieson, president and chief executive officer of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, the only national charity in Canada focused on Aboriginal education and training. Dedicated to helping Aboriginal youth achieve their potential, the organization provides career planning, connects youth with industry professionals, and offers financial support for post-secondary studies. NAAF also celebrates Aboriginal success with the annual National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, demonstrating to both Canadians and Aboriginal youth that anything is possible.
CharityVillage: What’s the history behind NAAF?
Roberta Jamieson: NAAF grew out of an organization called the Canadian Native Arts Foundation, created in the mid-eighties to address the need for support and scholarship in the Aboriginal arts community. It had a lot to do with the fact that the founder, and its first CEO, John Kandall, was himself a Mohawk symphony conductor. It later become the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. So, it started off with an arts focus and has really grown to be an organization that, in many ways, provides support for Aboriginal people, especially youth, to realize their potential.
CV: What are the main concerns of the Aboriginal community today?
RJ: Today, the primary concerns are poverty and the lack of opportunity, tools and support for young Aboriginal people to realize their potential, especially in education. Most are not finishing high school and that’s become a major focus of our foundation. At a time when Canada’s largest challenge is an aging workforce, and when we’re recruiting so much internationally, it seems to me that, since the Aboriginal youth is the fastest growing demographic in Canada, we should be able to put the picture together and provide an opportunity at home for Aboriginal youth. Aboriginal youth are a key part of the solution to Canada’s labour shortage. And I think the needs of Canada and the needs of the Aboriginal community come nicely together.
CV: What is the main source of funding for the foundation?
RJ: Aside from the Government of Canada, we provide the greatest financial support for Aboriginal youth in postsecondary studies. The funds come from the provincial and federal government, and a great deal comes from the private sector and individual funding. We have scholarships offered by Suncor; we receive funds from Shell, Syncrude, Star Choice, Air Canada and others There’s a long list and a wide range of sponsors and individual donors across the country.
CV: In 2001, the foundation started the Taking Pulse initiative. Can you tell me more about it?
RJ: The initiative came out of a couple of meetings that were held with Aboriginal leadership, government officials, and corporate CEOs who all wanted to do something to connect Aboriginal people with the Canadian workforce. They came up with a number of recommendations that resulted in the creation of two programs: Industry in the Classroom and Rivers to Success. Rivers is really in its infancy and development; we’re piloting it in Nunavut. It’s about reclaiming young kids who’ve dropped out of high school, since the majority of our young people do not complete high school.
With Industry in the Classroom, we have a series of special modules that have been created for careers in the railway, justice and the health field. We also did a special module for environmental health careers and for Inuit health careers since we wanted to ensure that the Inuit saw their own people. And we shot a special video featuring Inuit actors in Iqualuit.These modules consist of a video that’s written, produced and directed by us. The first one has Graham Greene and the health ones feature Lorne Cardinal from Corner Gas. Then, for the Iqualuit one, we did a casting call locally and used a lot of young people in the area. The video is very entertaining and includes hip hop music. We conducted focus groups asking [youth] how they want to learn, what’s fun, what’s boring. We learned very quickly that music and visuals are very important. We have a curriculum especially written for Aboriginal youth that goes with it, and role models are sent into the classroom to deliver it.
CV: There seems to be a strong focus on health careers. Why is that so important?
RJ: Yes, definitely, the health field is really important. It’s a primary focus because if you look at any of the statistics in Canada, whether you are looking at the rate of diabetes or heart and stroke and at any of the health indicators, you will find that Aboriginal people are in the most critical area. And we all know that the best way of addressing these challenges is for our own people to address them. So, there is the need to graduate Aboriginal doctors and other health professionals. We are grossly underrepresented in these fields.
CV: How do you measure success in your programs?
RJ: First, we do evaluations. We have been incorporating an evaluation component in all of our programming. And we track our scholarship recipients so that we know their breakdown by areas of interest, sex, economic circumstances, etc. We know the geographical location and the postsecondary schools they’re attending. We continue tracking to make sure we are reaching everyone in the country and that we’re targeting the funds where they are most needed. We ensure we are tailoring our tools to the initiative. And we’re also very fortunate because our director of postsecondary education has a masters degree in evaluation so she is able to design tools and make sure we’re shaping the tools to the program.
CV: The foundation places a lot of emphasis on role models. Can you explain their importance in helping Aboriginal youth achieve their goals?
RJ: The legacy of colonialism for our people is that many of us don’t believe we have the choices others have. So the more we see role models achieving, finishing that degree, giving back to their community, becoming a doctor or a judge, the more our young people will be motivated and believe that they, too, can make these choices and achieve.
Once a year we have the Aboriginal Achievement Awards show - we just broadcast the last one on March 31st. Ninety minutes not only allows us to honour our recipients, but, since we move it around the country, it enables us to give Canadians a peek at Aboriginal people in different regions. The idea of the awards show is to showcase not only the contributions people have made to the country and to our communities, but also to showcase our performers and try to educate Canadians about the regions. And, of course, it demonstrates the power of role models because it’s incredibly important for our young people to see our own people achieving. Our young people need to believe that we have a choice, that we can be anything we want to be.
Role models were very important for me growing up. I had a number of them, as well as a very supportive family. And I learned firsthand the importance of our young people feeling they have support, that there’s a network out there that cares about them, that it’s accessible to them, and that it comes to them on their own terms.
So, whether it’s the Aboriginal Achievement Awards or our career fairs which, we mount twice a year in different parts of the country, this focus is critical. Last year, we had the career fair in Yellowknife - first time ever in the north - and in Halifax. We bring in role models that young people can readily identify with from their region, as well as national names. And they talk to young people, giving them motivational messages. We also have a town hall where the young people can ask questions, and workshops where they can explore different careers, as well as a trade show. It’s a very intensive career fair.
CV: Your partners play a vital role in the awards shows and other events. Explain their importance to your organization and how your ensure a good working relationship.
RJ: Broadcast partners, like CanWest Global and APTN, are very supportive and ensure the success of the awards show. Our corporate partners share our end goal and the importance of it. And that’s why they’re our partners. The foundation itself determines its direction. Of course, we talk to stakeholders and we talk to sponsors, but we determine our own direction, our vision and mission, and then we solicit funds.
So far we’ve not had divergent views. And in determining which sponsors to go after, we identify those who are like-minded and recognize the need, and are highly motivated in this area.
CV: In the 2005-2006 fiscal year, $2.8 million was awarded to 934 recipients across Canada. Do you have specific funding priorities set out for the coming year? Any future goals?
RJ: It’s continuing to grow. By year end we will have concluded four additional scholarship agreements. Last year, we had a special focus on health human resources and we will do so again this year. And we received a special allocation from the government to support more Aboriginal people in careers in the health field.
This year we will have the career fair in Montreal in the fall and Whitehorse next spring. I’m trying to reach the north - it’s a commitment I’ve made - because a lot of the career fairs in the past tended to be largely in the south. And I think we really need to ensure that they’re accessible to our young people wherever they are.
Roberta Jamieson‘s multifaceted and exceptional career includes being the first Canadian Aboriginal woman to graduate from law school, and the first woman appointed as ombudsman for the province of Ontario. Raised and still living on the Six Nations of the Grand River, she also held the title of the first woman to become its Chief. Concerned with the lack of awareness among Canadians about the Aboriginal contributions to this country, Jamieson engages in a lot of public speaking, educating others about the many achievements of her community. For more information about NAAF, visit: www.naaf.ca.
Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance print and broadcast journalist living in Toronto.
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