Each year on May 10th, we recognize Bear Witness Day. The goal of Bear Witness Day is aimed at raising awareness of Jordan’s Principle, which was named after Jordan River Anderson, a First Nations child from Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba. Jordan was born with complex medical needs and passed away in the hospital at age five. Jordan did not receive the care that would have been paid for immediately had Jordan not been First Nations.
Jordan’s Principle is meant to ensure that First Nation children receive the health care they need without delays and that is reflective of their distinct cultural needs. Bear Witness Day recognizes the fundamental rights of all Indigenous children to have equitable access to government services.
Equitable Access to Education
In January 2022, The Roundtable embarked on a multi-year partnership with Indspire through their Building Brighter Futures initiative by launching The #Impact215 bursary program to provide financial assistance to Indigenous youth in Canada. The partnership represented a commitment to fund 5 students over 5 years to the amount of $25,000.
In January 2023, we expanded our vision and set a goal to support 215 students by launching our #Impact215 campaign in honour of the 215 children found in unmarked graves at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
A big THANK YOU to all of you who have referred clients, donated, shared our story and advocated for our #Impact215 initiative. Just a few months ago, we had sponsored two students, and today we’ve helped seven Indigenous young people who are pursuing their dreams.
Here’s how you can get involved so we can continue to make an impact:
- Refer a colleague to a Roundtable program. We have committed to taking a percentage of all referral sales that we receive and putting those monies towards funding more #Impact215 bursaries. Contact us here.
- Make a donation directly to Impact215. Any amount will make a big difference and help us fund more students. Donate here.
- Commit to truth and reconciliation. Take the corporate pledge for Truth and Reconciliation or enrol in the program How to Be an Ally developed by the Indigenous Training Corporation Inc.
We are so proud to help these deserving students. Here’s what one of our first recipients had to say:
“After I graduate with a business degree, I plan on going straight into law school. After law, I’m coming back to work for my reserve and other reserves by helping with the never-ending fight on land issues, water, housing, education, etc., against the government, industry, and provinces that First Nations deal with on a daily basis.”
Indspire Recipient, Samson Cree Nation
Announcing The #Impact215 Consortium
To bring this vision to life of supporting 215 young people to achieve their educational goals, we formed the #Impact215 Consortium in collaboration with the Indigenous Training Corporation Inc, 3Coze and Parachute Executive Coaching. As a group, we are committed to building stronger leaders who positively impact their teams, organizations and communities. We believe great leadership makes the difference and are proud to support future leaders who are driven to make a bigger impact through the Indspire Bursary program.
Be An Ally or Advocate
If you are in the leadership development space and would like to join our team as either an Ally or an Advocate, download our How to Get Involved Guide to learn more.
Our collective commitment to Indspire will help transform indigenous education and support First Nation, Inuit and Métis youth across Canada as they pursue post-secondary education. Our clients often tell us that our programs have been transformational to their leadership journeys. This is our opportunity, as a community, to transform the lives of Indigenous youth, together.
