b'OP-EDApril 2021: Canadas largest and newest Indigenous socialwe serve, for their benefit. We welcome active support by impact fund is managed by NACCA and delivered in thenon-Indigenous partner organizations in doing so. In fact, form of loans to Indigenous entrepreneurs by qualifyingwe have excellent relationships with our partners, who IFIs. Valued at $150 million, the IGF has an innovativeunderstand the imperative for an Indigenous lead. Yet, there evergreen structure. In time, it will be able to accept invest- are also those that bypass itand may even enlist us into ments from a variety of accredited investorsprivate andtokenistic relationships.public foundations, Indigenous trusts, corporate CanadaIn closing, I am going to urge Indigenous service institu-and other institutional investors. From fund manager totions to protect our lead on initiatives aimed at our devel-lender to end user, the IGF engages First Nations, Mtisopment. Our organizations are in this work for the right and Inuit Peoples at all levels. reasons and for the long haul. We understand our clients Access to capital via an Indigenous-managed fund is onlyand communities and are accountable to them, and we one element of the National Indigenous Economic Strategydesign our initiatives in conversation with them.(NIES). In June 2022, the NIES was unveiled, with overNothing about us without us. Morally and practically, after 20 Indigenous organizations. Another first of its kind, thedecades of enduring development by others, our peoples 10-year strategy builds on the Calls to Action of the Truthwill realize their economic potential through approaches and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and uses UNDRIParising from their own communities and institutions. Our as its framework. It aims to guide government, Indigenousclients do not require lectures and lessons from above, but entities and communities, the private sector and non-In- accompaniment from within.digenous organizations in incorporating economic recon-ciliation into their own work. The NIES offers four pathwaysAs we walk with our peoples on their chosen pathways to and over 100 Calls to Economic Prosperity to help achieveprosperity, lets keep our traditional values of service in our socioeconomic parity for First Nations, Mtis and Inuithearts. As institutions serving Canadas First Peoples, let us Peoples in Canada, setting out a clear path in a proceed with confidence that our ways and teachings can shared direction. guide our economic development.Several of the NIESs Calls to Economic Prosperity involveMeegwetch, setting and meeting Indigenous procurement targets. ToShannin Metatawabin date, governments at all levels have missed this crucialCEO, NACCAopportunity to promote the development of Indigenous business. The for Indigenous, by Indigenous imperative is entailed in Calls #94 and #95, which recommend devolving government procurement to dedicated Indigenous insti-tutions. Initially funded by governments, such institutions would maintain a database of verified Indigenous busi-nesses and hold governments accountable for meeting their procurement commitments.As our peoples know all too well, Indigenous housing is far below parity with that of non-Indigenous people in Canada. The NIESs Call to Economic Prosperity #69 seeks to ensure that Indigenous Peoples have access to sustain-able housing and home ownership. On this front, NACCA is working with interested IFIs on a new project aiming to help meet pent-up demand of First Nations, Mtis and Inuit Peoples to own their own homes.Over the past two years, we have partnered with the Qubec-based Aboriginal Savings Corporation of Canada (ABSCAN) to develop a concept it has piloted in its region: a national Indigenous market housing fund accessed by interested IFIs, which would offer affordable mortgages to private Indigenous clients.The initiative is called Ynonhchia, a Huron-Wendat word conveying hearth and home. Compared to the busi-ness-as-usual approach of social housing in communi-ties, it entails a transformed understanding of the role of high-quality housing in communities. Ynonhchia empha-sizes a shared responsibility of individual, government and market actors to achieve better housing outcomes for communities. NACCA is excited to pilot this concept with IFIs in other regions in the coming years.These are only a sampling of development projects that our Indigenous organizations have designed with the peoplesIssue #1, 2023INDIGENOUS PROSPERITY 15'