Inspire NWT is an innovation and community leadership program designed by, and for, young people and educators in the NWT. Led by NWT instructors and featuring community leaders and entrepreneurs, the program seeks to connect entrepreneurship, education and culture through experiential workshops and real world activities.
Delivered since Fall 2021, the 12-week program supports skills development, community building, and offers unique experiences for our participants through online and in-person learning. The program 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.
The Northwest Territories is filled with a huge range of opportunities for young leaders to grow and create innovative ideas! We aim to create space for young people to feel empowered to cultivate and bring their innovative ideas to life. In our culturally and environmentally rich land, young people today have opportunities to work, innovate and test ideas more than ever before while applying their cultural values, traditions and history.
This program is recruiting primarily Indigenous youth in the NWT, but all are welcome to apply if they meet the following criteria:
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Aged 18-30
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Passionate about creating meaningful community impact
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Interested in combining personal and cultural values with business ideas
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Committed to working on business, professional or educational goals
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Have the time and ability to commit to the program; 8-10 hours per week
What participants expect from the program:
The Inspire NWT program has three distinct levels which help participants grow and apply their knowledge and ideas as they move through the program. We call the levels Inspire, Innovate and Initiate to reflect each level’s main focus.
Inspire
Weeks 1-6
Participants learn about the foundations of entrepreneurship and leadership from an Indigenous perspective. They focus on discovery and self-reflection, to help make their goals clear for a successful future. Throughout this level, participants learn about and engage with their community through a community impact project.
Innovate
Weeks 7-12
Participants work on a personal, community and business canvas. This helps them go through the steps of building a project or business idea that results in a concrete model to test in the real world. They meet with local entrepreneurs who have gone through similar experiences.
Initiate
For graduates
Alumni and graduates of the program bring their ideas and plans into reality with the guidance of mentors, financial resources and access to professional services. The program is self-driven through a gamified experience. This level is primarily offered for graduates of Inspire and Innovate.
Level 1
Weekly topics:
Level 2
Weekly topics:
What we offer to our participants:
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Weekly live sessions with instructors and coordinators who come from the NWT, or have significant experience living in the Territories
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Group Health and Wellness sessions with local experts and cultural leaders
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Mental health and wellness 24/7 phone-in supports
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On-going 1-1 check-ins with program coordinators
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Weekly guest speaker sessions with local/Northern entrepreneurs
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A weekly allowance and start-up grants
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Access to technology supports and internet
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A safe, collaborative and fun virtual or in-person learning environment
Meet our past participants and become Inspired!
We take pride in our participants’ unique and individual journeys through the program. We love promoting their stories and business ideas to inspire others to join the program.
Our Inspire NWT team
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Lois Philipp
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Victoria Mazzariol
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Niroja Thiru
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Anne-Marie Byzuk
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Ashley Okrainec
Meet our local experts!
Throughout the Inspire program, participants also have the opportunity to learn from local instructors and entrepreneurs, through a Northern perspective, and build a network of support from across the territory.
“I feel like more of an entrepreneur for the people, trying to give people opportunities that might not be accessible in a community like ours, providing opportunities not only for yourself but for the people around you, to flourish, to expand, to be creative and be innovative.”
—GISELLE MARION—
Director of Client Services, Tlicho Government (Behchoko, NWT)
“We’ve become really connected to the people we work with, we get invested in their success and supporting them to achieve and we’ve shared such deep moments and move some very difficult processes and to witness that beauty when they get to that place of release and the beauty of who they are,they allow themselves to shine - to hear the stories and to celebrate them, it’s really cool to be connected to our people in a really meaningful way - to see them achieve and overcome.”
—BEV & FRANK HOPE—
Shakes the Dust Hope Consulting (Yellowknife, NWT)
“There’s going to be lots of people in life telling you that you can’t do things, and lots of times you think yourself you can’t do it…but if you want to go out there and you have a dream and you have a good idea, entrepreneurship could be a really rewarding career and you can make some amazing things happen.”
—MYRNA POKIAK & EDDIE PAUL—
Nextreme Inc. (Yellowknife, NWT)
Our partners
As an organization we believe in and value the importance of collaboration by bringing together youth, elders, artists, educators and entrepreneurs to foster dialogue and innovation on locally driven responses to community challenges.
Get involved
We’re always looking to meet and work with knowledgeable people from across the NWT to deliver the program 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.