Melissa MacDonald and Alanea Holmstrom are two dynamic young women who are quickly becoming catalysts for change in their communities.

MacDonald, of Membertou First Nation in Nova Scotia, is currently Lands Director and Tax Administrator for the Band. She began her Tulo Centre of Indigenous Economics education in 2022 and completed her certificate this year.

Holmstrom is currently Tax Administrator at Osoyoos Indian Band in southern B.C. She started with Tulo in 2018 in the Tax Certificate program, took Applied Land Management in 2019 and the First Nations Applied Economics program in 2024.

Both women took part in a once-in-a-lifetime exchange program with fellow Tulo Centre students and Maori communities in New Zealand. (Read news release.)

They both credit the trip and other program elements as a launching pad for their own career growth, and for supporting economic development and infrastructure growth in their home communities.

FNII podcast host Richard Perry caught up with them earlier this summer.

Links:

Membertou First Nation
Melissa MacDonald email: melissamacdonald@membertou.ca

Osoyoos Indian Band
Alanea Holmstrom email: aholmstrom@oib.ca

Tulo Centre of Indigenous Economics

First Nations Infrastructure Institute

This episode produced by Perry Podcast Productions.

FNII Technical Lead Jason Calla leads a panel discussion at the recent Leading the
Way 6 conference held in November 2023 in unceded Algonquin territory in Gatineau, QC.

Jason speaks with Chief Kimberley Bressette (Kettle and Stony Point, ON), Paula Pictou, Lands Manager at Paqtnkek Mi'kmaw Nation, NS, as well as Darcy Gray of Mi'gma'gi Management and Consulting and James MacKinnon of the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority.

They discuss practical aspects of infrastructure planning in communities, the need for open communication, collaboration and meeting the tests for a business case for projects to go forward.

Please contact FNII to arrange for a community visit. And be sure to check out the website at https://fnii.ca for many free resources.

LINKS:
Kettle and Stony Point website
Paqtnkek Mi'kmaw Nation website
Atlantic First Nations Water Authority website
Mi'gma'gi Management and Consulting website
First Nations Infrastructure Institute website

Jason Calla and his technical team at FNII are expecting to be very busy in the days and months ahead.

Beginning with two 'proof of concept' projects, FNII has recently become a newly-legislation addition to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, which will open opportunities to support new projects. On top of that, the process is underway to appoint a new Advisory Board and engage potential consulting partners.

Host Richard Perry caught up with Jason between sessions at the Leading the Way 6 conference in the unceded Algonquin territory of Gatineau, QC.

FNII is an optional service, "an extra tool in the toolbox" Jason likes to say. He also has an important message for Indigenous youth who are considering exploring trades and professions within the infrastructure space.

Links:
Jason Calla by email: jcalla@fnii.ca
FNII website: https://fnii.ca
FNII on LinkedIn
FNII on Facebook