The Banff Centre

This program has been created specifically for women leaders. It examines the issues, challenges, and inequities that you as a woman face as you strive to fulfill the responsibilities of your job, meet the needs of your family members, and answer the demands of the community. It offers the opportunity to acquire a variety of made-to-measure tools. Newly-gained skills will serve as the foundation of a personalized action plan that you can take back to implement in your community or organization.

Aboriginal nations and organizations are at various stages in exercising local sovereignty. The Supreme Court of Canada, in the Van der Peet case, stated that the sovereignty of Aboriginal societies must be reconciled with Crown Sovereignty. You will come away from the program with an understanding of what a reconciled model of governance would look like after exploring and discussing traditional forms of Aboriginal governance, while gaining a fuller understanding of the colonial forms of governance.

Institution building is a necessary step for Aboriginal nations and political organizations to achieve successful nationhood. Research has shown that asserting Aboriginal jurisdiction or local sovereignty without establishing effective, culturally legitimate institutions results in unhealthy communities that remain in poverty. Those who set up effective, culturally appropriate institutions are economically successful and able to revitalize their culture and language as a result of the financial resources generated.

This program will provide the critical skills leaders and managers need to succeed and prosper. You will have an opportunity to assess your strengths and find out where improvement is needed. More importantly, you will be given the tools and practice to improve your performance. The emphasis throughout this program will be on using hands-on techniques to help you master competencies to create strategic focus within your organizations and achieve both personal and organizational goals.

Building effective economic policy will help achieve more successful, sustainable and self-determined economic activity. In this program, fundamental issues of governance such as the creation of culturally appropriate governmental institutions and the role of Aboriginal leaders in effectively planning, creating and promoting economic policy for self-determined Aboriginal development will be examined.