About the program

Our Indigenous Women in Community Leadership program wins top prize in the ASHOKA Changemakers "Inspiring Approaches to First Nation, Métis and Inuit Learning" competition. More

You must be a Canadian Aboriginal woman - First Nations, Métis or Inuit - to qualify for the Indigenous Women in Community Leadership program.

The Indigenous Women in Community Leadership program helps you, as a First Nations, Métis or Inuit woman, to create change in  your community.

The program has three components over the course of four months:

 1) A three-week intensive course in May at the Coady International Institute, which includes training in leadership, asset-based community development, governance & advocacy,  and project management.  During the three-week course, participants also get to meet with their mentor for about one week. We work with participants to find suitable mentors.

 2) A three-month work placement (June to August) which is identified and negotiated by the participant with the approval of the IWCL program manager.  The community placement will help them practice the tools and skills learned in the three-week course. Participants are guided and supported by their mentor during the community placement.

 3) One week at the Coady in August to reflect on the placement and overall program, to present their community placement results, and to graduate.  Mentors also return for the presentations and graduation ceremony.

This program is made possible by the generous support of the Imperial Oil Foundation and ExxonMobil Foundation. Each successful candidate receives a full scholarship which includes tuition, travel, accommodations, meals and a three-month community placement stipend.

Meet our 2012 participants.
Meet our 2011 participants.

About Imperial Oil
Imperial Oil and the Imperial Oil Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Imperial Oil in Canada, have been contributing to Canadian communities for 130 years. Our goal is to be an active member of the community and to build a life-long learning system in Canada that ranks among the best in the world. In 2010, Imperial Oil contributed almost $15 million to various programs across Canada. The company emphasizes investment in education of math and sciences, environment, and civic and community programs where we have employees or business operations. Additional information on Imperial's corporate citizenship initiatives is available at http://www.imperialoil.ca.

About ExxonMobil Foundation
ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of Exxon Mobil Corporation in the United States. Globally, the Foundation and ExxonMobil provides funding to improve basic education, promote women as catalysts for development, and combat malaria in developing countries. In 2010, together with its employees and retirees, Exxon Mobil Corporation, its divisions and affiliates, and ExxonMobil Foundation provided $237 million in contributions worldwide, of which $110 million was dedicated to education. Additional information on ExxonMobil’s community partnerships and contributions programs is available at http://www.exxonmobil.com/community.