b'CCAB RETROSPECTIVEEdward Bronfman (left) and Murray Koffler (right): two Canadian business giants that felt corporate Canada needed to do more to integrate Indigenous peoples into the economy. Between them is Suzanne Rochon-Burnett, 2006 CCAB Lifetime Achievement Award winner andmostimportantlythesignifi- receiving seed money from the initialsuccessful ones was The Internship cantgaps,recallsDelorme,thegroup of investors and contributors,as we called it.CEOoftheImaginationGroupthose early years were a challenging of Companies.time.IrememberPaulSummersCCNBs Internship Program started [CCAB co-chair] and I sitting in ouras a joint project between CCNB and FIRST INITIATIVES, CHALLENGESoffices trying to figure out what billsthe federal government to enable In the 1980s and early 1990s, CCNB/ we were going to pay that month andyoung Indigenous professionals to CCAB was divided into different chap- what we werent for another month. Itgain valuable business skills while ters, one for each province, and allwas shaky ground, Jamieson recalls.working with an established business. were expected to raise funds and facil- It was tough going but we began toThe aim was to provide them with the itate programs on their own. Despitedevelop programs. One of the moregroundwork for a future career and ease of entry into the working world. Some went on to become leaders in their fields. Thats what we intended todolinkyoungIndigenous people with the corporate world, Delorme says. Delorme, who is Mtis, recalls how at a CCNB gala in the 1990s in Alberta, the executive director of the chapter got on stage and asked who in the crowd had been through a CCNB internship. The question was met with a sea of raised hands. CCNB/CCAB was playing a significant role in building awareness with corporate Canada, getting them involved, stresses Delorme.It was felt that to expand this awareness, CCNB needed a name changea name that would better reflect the changing social environment and language in Canada. In 1992, it officially became 22A CCAB PUBLICATIONSpring 2024'