Dr Jesse Pirini, a good friend of ours, attended a conference last week in Ottowa, Canada, with researchers working on Indigenous management and organisational studies. He reported some valuable learnings that are relevant to us here in Aotearoa.
Here goes:
Indigenous people’s framing and perspectives are diverse and are key to the survival of Indigenous people. But these can be limited by societal structures. Even things as common as how insurance is structured puts pre-conceived notions of what is valuable onto people.
We can’t just rely on workforce development to make change i.e. hiring more Indigenous people. We also need Indigenous people in leadership positions, because they can drive and support crucial Indigenous framing and perspectives.
Although governments need to find ways to define Indigenous businesses (for programmes like social procurement), that doesn’t mean those definitions are the most relevant or important ways to define what Indigenous means.
Thank you Jesse for these insights. It gives us plenty to reflect on.