Inspire NWT supports participants to set their own career or entrepreneurship goals guided by their interests, culture and community, while connecting with like-minded individuals from across the NWT. 

A program designed by and for young people in the NWT.

Led by NWT instructors, and featuring community leaders and entrepreneurs, the program aims to connect entrepreneurship, education and culture through experiential workshops and real world activities.

  • Weekly live sessions with instructors and coordinators who come from the NWT or have significant experience living in the Territories

  • Group health and wellness sessions with local experts and community leaders who bring in cultural knowledge

  • 24/7 mental health and wellness phone-in supports and on-going one-on-one check-ins with program coordinators to help keep participants on track

  • Weekly guest speaker sessions with local business owners who share their stories and knowledge of change, leadership and entrepreneurship

Inspire Program Features

  • Skills to start a business, community project or explore your career goals

  • Learn marketing, operations, finance, branding and communication skills

  • Support from instructors, leaders & local business owners

  • Weekly allowance and start up grants

  • Access to a laptop and internet

  • Earn up to three micro-credentials from the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies

Application Process

A simple two-step process is all it takes to apply for our upcoming Fall 2023 Cohort.

Apply before Thursday, August 17.

Fill in this application form. We anticipate it takes 10-15 minutes. The form asks about you and your motivations to join the program.

Upon completing the application form, you will be contacted by an Inspire NWT team member or Small Economy Works staff for a chat about the program and your goals. This is usually done over the phone and lasts 30 minutes.

If we think your goals and our program align well, we’ll send you a contract of participation, along with our participant package, details about how to join the cohort, and what to expect over the next few weeks.

“Each one of our communities has such a wealth of promise, and a wealth of knowledge, and opportunity, and possibility for our young people that we need to begin to support them in developing.“

— Lois Philipp, Senior Advisor of Inspire NWT

Since Fall 2021, Inspire NWT has reached more than 100 participants from 21 communities across the Northwest Territories.

85% of our participants have self-identified as Indigenous.

The Inspire NWT program creates a space for young people to feel empowered and develop and bring their innovative ideas to life.
In a culturally responsible and locally adapted training program, participants explore their entrepreneurial, career and education goals. Click below to learn more about the curriculum, program structure and features.

Inspire NWT Curriculum

The Inspire NWT Program focuses on providing participants with the opportunity to develop skills that are key for the future. Innovation, creative thinking and a growth mindset are at the foundation of this program, which explores the concepts of entrepreneurial leadership and community development, and provides participants with the foundational skills needed to achieve their personal and professional goals.

The Inspire program has three distinct levels which helps participants grow and apply their knowledge and ideas as they move through the program – Inspire, Innovate and Initiate. Learn more about them here.

  • Build confidence, self-awareness, and resilience to meet challenges in life and in community.

  • Cultivate connections to culture and heritage. Develop leadership skills that facilitate being a positive influence in community.

  • Engage with community members to investigate challenges, identify existing resources, and recognize opportunities for change.

  • Use empathy to understand and identify problems, develop creative solutions, validate ideas, design and test solutions, and make fact-based decisions.

  • Using storytelling techniques, develop brand identities to create messages that resonate with others.

  • Identify, evaluate, and connect with the key activities, partners and resources needed to sustain projects and businesses.

  • Identify channels and use techniques to create strong connections with people, from customers to future employers.

  • Develop financial literacy to accurately plan, track, report and sustain personal and project finances.

  • Develop professional skills - such as digital literacy, goal setting, and interpersonal communication - that can support the achievement of personal, employment or entrepreneurial goals.

Hear From Our Participants!

  • Jordan Villeneuve

    Fort Simpson

    "I have learned quite a bit while being in Inspire, learning more about owning and starting a business. I’m starting to gain my confidence back to take initiative in leadership and communications and learning more on how to speak more professionally.”

  • Jaylene Delorme

    Yellowknife

    “I’m definitely feeling super grateful for the growth and learning I have had the opportunity to experience these last 12 weeks. Really hashing out my photography business has me excited for the future and moving forward.”

  • Lory-Ann Bertrand

    Nahanni Butte

    “Go for it, go and apply for Inspire, they will help you find what you want to do in your life even if you have no idea what kind of career path or business plan that you have in mind, just go for it because they have all the tools and content that they give you in the program that will help you and guide you with where you want to go.”

  • Shawna McLeod

    Fort Providence
    It empowered me to be surrounded by like-minded people, to think like a business person, and gave me access to support and materials needed to operate a business. The Inspire staff were easy to work with, very supportive and have been there for each participant in different ways. Overall, it was truly a life changing experience”

Meet Our Inspire Experts!

Our Inspire NWT Experts are local experts who share their stories of entrepreneurship, acting as inspiration for participants, and helping link our curriculum to the real world.

Inspire NWT Team

Watch our film!

Participants, community leaders and the Inspire team share their aspirations from the program, their experience the impact it has caused in their lives.

FAQs

  • While the program primarily recruits Indigenous youth from Northwest Territories, if you are committed to working on your business, professional or education goals, and are aged 18-30 years, we welcome you to apply for the program.

  • It’s a simple two-step application process. If you are interested to apply for the program, first, fill out this application form to express your interest. A member of the Inspire NWT team will be in touch with you shortly after for a short interview and to chat with you about the program, and your goals.

  • Participants are expected to be passionate about creating impact, learning about their community, and combining personal and cultural values with their business, education or career goals.

    The program runs for 12-weeks, three days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). Participants will be expected to participate in the classes and commit to the program for 12 to 15 hours per week.

  • Through the 12 weeks of the program, participants will explore their communities, entrepreneurship, design solutions, identify opportunities and plan actions while learning about branding and marketing, operations, finances, and how to operate a business.

  • Definitely, yes. The program is designed as a space to not only explore entrepreneurship, but also professional and educational goals. From Fall 2023, we’ll be offering two pathways to choose from - entrepreneurship and career.

    Many of our successful participants have joined the program with just a conviction for change, and explored their goals and themselves through the 12 weeks of the program.

Our Partners

The Inspire NWT program has been made possible through collaboration between diverse individuals – youth, Elders, artists, educators, entrepreneurs, community leaders – and organizations focused on innovation on locally driven responses to community challenges.

Contact us.

We’re always looking to meet and work with knowledgeable people from across the NWT to deliver the program or join us as guest speakers, instructors, business mentors and career coaches. Their insight and expertise ensure that we deliver the highest quality content-always from a Northwest Territories perspective.

If you’d like to get involved, learn more about us, connect with a staff, use the contact form to drop us a message, and we’ll be in touch.