On April 11, Animikii Thunderbird Jen went to the University of British Columbia’s Ch’nook Aboriginal Management Program at the Sauder School of Business on the traditional territories of Coast Salish (Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples also known as the city of Vancouver.

The Aboriginal Management Program at UBC integrates business and practical experience with leadership development. Jen was brought in to provide insight on how to use social media as one of the many tools in an entrepreneurs arsenal.

We caught up with Jen on their return to see how the workshop went, what her takeaways were, and what she found to be the most impactful part of the event.

Why did you decide to go to UBC?

Jen: This particular group of individuals were very, very inspiring. They are all Indigenous entrepreneurs and all have either existing businesses or business plans that span from health and beauty to the food industry. I was invited to talk about how they can use social media to promote their businesses.

What did you talk about?

Jen: I gave a workshop on how to use social media to promote their business but also strategies on how to run a values-based campaign. I loved how interactive the workshop was, and how all the entrepreneurs were able to take what I was talking about and apply it to their own business.

What part of the day did you find the most impactful?

Jen: There was one particular student who had a ton of really insightful questions and we ended up getting a really interesting dialogue going about the value of running ads and campaigns on social media within our values framework. It was really interesting to really delve into their questions and cross-examine why this kind of post or ad aligns with the 7 Sacred Teachings but another would not.

Why do you think it’s important for Animikii to reach out in this kind of capacity?

Jen: I think that, while we are coming into these spaces to share knowledge, it’s really beneficial for everyone to challenge and examine what these abstract ideas might look like in real life. For example, if you’re a business just starting out, is it against the values framework to use a third-party application to build your customer base? I found the discussion around values and their real-life application to be very valuable and inspiring.

Which of the 7 Grandfather teachings was most expressed at the workshop?

Jen: It’s hard to choose just one, but to me, Truth was the most prominent value expressed at UBC. The discussions surrounding the practical application of values in social media is rife with contradictions, so it was nice to have a dialogue where people did not hold back their questions, skepticisms, and recommendations.