Short Program

Pre-Summit Forum for Business School Deans & Senior Academic Leaders: Indigenous Engagement Strategies & New Collaborative Models for Research and Pedagogy

Hosted by Dean Yolande Chan (Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University), with facilitators Dean Lisa Watson (Schwartz School of Business, St. Francis Xavier University) and Dean Keith Willoughby (Edwards School of Business, University of Saskatchewan).

This peer-driven workshop brings together deans and senior academic leaders to explore strategic approaches to advancing Indigenous engagement within business schools and post-secondary institutions, building on the IGNITE Academic Leadership Forum held online February 25, 2026.

Grounded in findings from Luminary’s Indigenous Engagement Survey, the session examines where institutions are making progress, and where opportunities exist, across curriculum, research, student engagement, and partnerships with Indigenous communities, entrepreneurs, and Economic Development Corporations (EDCs).

Registration & Welcome Reception

To launch the 2nd Annual Indigenous Innovation Summit, the opening reception brings together Indigenous leaders, academia, and government delegates from across Canada and around the world.

Welcoming, Opening Prayer, Overview of Agenda & Icebreaker Activity

Kelly Lendsay, Chief Transformation Officer · Terri Lynn Morrison, Executive Director

Business School Indigenous Engagement Report – Key Findings, Opportunities & Gaps

Dr. Tasha Brooks, Senior Research Lead · Business School Dean(s)

Key insights from Luminary’s 2025 and 2026 Business Schools Indigenous Engagement Report, highlighting current practices, emerging strengths, and critical gaps across Canadian business schools. Deans share how institutions can use the survey and benchmarking data to advance engagement strategies and better support Indigenous students, knowledge, and research partnerships.

Igniting Indigenous Innovation – What Are the Sparks?

Indigenous leaders and innovators explore the key forces driving Indigenous innovation today, including Indigenous knowledge, partnerships, access to capital, and youth leadership, and look ahead to emerging opportunities and the actions needed to sustain a thriving innovation ecosystem.

Concurrent Breakout Sessions — Academic & Institutional Innovation Showcases

• a. Research Collaborations: Practices, Principles & Partnerships How meaningful research collaborations between Indigenous entrepreneurs, EDCs, communities, and business schools can be built and sustained, highlighting community-driven, Indigenous-led approaches that prioritize shared value, trust, and long-term impact.
• b. Curriculum & Pedagogy: Promising Practices & Approaches How business schools are advancing Indigenized curriculum through collaboration with Indigenous EDCs, communities, and knowledge holders, working with Luminary’s new Knowledge Keepers Lodge to co-develop case studies and training rooted in real-world Indigenous economies.
• c. Partnerships & Relationships: Indigenous Business, EDCs & Communities Building strong, respectful partnerships that move beyond transactional engagement toward long-term, trust-based collaboration supporting shared economic and innovation goals.
• d. Mini-TED Talks (Call for Speakers) Luminary invites expressions of interest from speakers, panellists, facilitators, researchers, Indigenous leaders, practitioners, EDCs, students, and collaborators to participate in the Summit.

Introducing the Knowledge Keepers Lodge for Case Study & Curriculum Research and Development

The Indigenous Business Case Lodge is founded on the conviction that the gap is not the absence of Indigenous content in existing case repositories, but the absence of an epistemologically adequate methodology for producing and teaching it.

More than a repository, the Lodge is a new school of thought in management education, drawing on five Indigenous knowledge systems and worldviews spanning four countries, structured around twelve interdependent principles — the “braided knowledge strands” — in a living, Indigenous-led methodology.

Two-Eyed Seeing & Innovation — Fireside Chat with Elder Dr. Albert Marshall

How Two-Eyed Seeing, bringing together Indigenous and Western ways of knowing, can shape new approaches to innovation, research, and economic development. The conversation explores how Indigenous knowledge grounded in relationships, land, and long-term thinking can complement Western frameworks focused on scale and commercialization.

Indigenous Well-being: Global Perspectives on Innovation, Research & Well-being Concepts

Indigenous peoples globally seek self-determination and prosperity rooted in their own cultural values, with wellbeing understood holistically across land, water, language, family, elders, and future generations. The session explores frameworks such as Navajo Hózhó, Māori whakapapa, Two-Eyed Seeing, the Medicine Wheel, and Inuit IQ principles, and how a new Indigenous-defined wellbeing index could guide policy, investment, and nation-building.

Designing & Building Indigenous Innovation Solutions (Table Discussions)

Exploring new collaborative models and approaches to co-design practical solutions that address real academic and Indigenous economic priorities.

Concurrent Breakout Sessions

• a. Indigenous AI Innovation – How Indigenous Communities Are Leading the Way How Indigenous communities are shaping the future of AI through leadership grounded in Indigenous knowledge and values, emphasizing data sovereignty, ethical use, community benefit, and applications across economic development, environmental stewardship, and language revitalization.
• b. Indigenous Partnerships & Innovation – Highlighting Research and Innovation How Indigenous communities, EDCs, and partners are advancing agriculture and agri-food innovation through collaborative research, land-based approaches, regenerative agriculture, food security, and emerging technologies.
• c. Multi-Disciplinary Research Collaborations – Building an Indigenous Seaweed Industry Through the Pacific Seaweed initiative and Luminary’s national network, partners unlock new opportunities in sustainable aquaculture, product development, and Indigenous-led economic growth across business, science, and Indigenous knowledge.
• d. Other Areas for Community Innovation

Panel Discussion — Indigenous Scholars & Indigenous Business Students: A Way Forward

Indigenous Business School Reps · Evanne Bell, National Advisory Council

Indigenous scholars and business students explore the future of business education through Indigenous-led research, Indigenized curriculum, and community-driven partnerships, sharing perspectives on advancing Indigenous knowledge within academic spaces and building meaningful connections with communities and EDCs.

Indigenous Innovation: Advancing Canadian & Global Approaches to Wicked Problems

This keynote explores how Indigenous innovation, knowledge systems, and community-driven approaches offer insights for addressing pressing challenges such as climate change, food security, health outcomes, and reconciliation, and how Indigenous and Western ways of knowing can work together toward shared prosperity and well-being.

Your Takeaways & Next Steps · Closing Ceremony & Prayer