Indigenous Energy Catalysts are Changing the Landscape of Canadian Energy

The 20/20 Catalyst Program is a new mentorship program that is helping develop leaders within Indigenous communities to foster the growth of clean energy projects.  The approach recognizes the importance that someone involved in the community can play in building and maintain such a project.

"You can hire all the consultants and technical experts that you like but I think true capacity comes from inside and is an internal process that require a leader, a catalyst that is heavily involved in the community, understands how the community operates and is able to implement on the ground.  I think communities will receive more prospective benefits of human resources capacity, project and business management experience, and long-term own source income from these ventures when there is a leader like this." 

Eryn Stewart, Program Manager of 20/20 Catalyst Program.

Clean energy in the north is something that many communities are newly exploring.  With the high dependency that many of these communities have on diesel-fuel, it is crucial that they are actively engaged in this process of developing and implementing these new types of energy.  This, however, can be overwhelming for many communities, as well as the leaders who want to be engaged in such projects. The 20/20 Catalyst Program is in its first year of working towards mitigating this problem by helping foster and engaging leaders who are interested in pursuing clean energy projects.  The program is, as Eryn Stewart the Program Manager for the 20/20 Catalysts Program said in a recent interview with HNN, “based on Indigenous knowledge and experiences.” It helps focus on the importance of clean energy within Indigenous communities across the country, including the north.

The program is a three-month interactive mentorship built on collaboration and information sharing including three week-long intensive programs which bring together Indigenous community leaders from across Canada (representing 9 provinces and territories).  There is also an online platform that gives the Catalysts access to experts and mentors 24/7 to answer any specific questions they might have. Furthermore, they are provided with a leadership coaching staff and mentors throughout the entire program.  Ms. Stewart mentioned that the challenge that face many Catalysts is, “to be the main contact on the energy files which can be a daunting task”, so the program attempts to not only teach about clean energy, but helps activate and engage the leader within the catalysts.

Catalysts and Mentors

The program brings together 18 Catalysts, as well as approximately 45 mentors from around the country. These mentors are Indigenous leaders who have previously partaken in clean energy projects, as well as clean energy experts who have supported them.  They are there to guide and teach the Catalysts, in person for approximately 2-3 days or online for the duration of the program.  And the mentors learn just as much from the program as the Catalysts do, Ms. Stewart mentioned with chagrin that, “I had mentors that were coming up to me after the second day saying ‘You know what I think I took as much out of this as they did’.”

But the program is much more than just teaching these 18 Catalysts, in the end the program is designed to be beneficial to the entire communities for many years to come. “Community engagement has to embed into the project from every stage, from every stage so we are talking from the initial thoughts of the projects to the pre-feasibility up until construction and then operations” says Ms. Stewart.

Successful projects in the north are dependent on the leaders that are willing to bring these projects into the communities, as well as the experts that know about clean energy.  This program is focused on ensuring that these leaders, above all, feel that they are included in a larger community across Canada who is working towards the same goals. Ms. Stewart says, “the idea of people being able to collaborate about an issue that they are passionate about and not feeling alone in such a big project” and is one of the main end goals of the entire program.

What About the North?

Although the locations for the week-long intensive program this year were focused in southern Canada, Ms. Stewart said, “We chose the locations on the site itself and their proximity to Indigenous owned projects and our mentors.” There is a recognition by the program that northern Canada does have an important role to play in the future of clean energy in the country. “Our next objective would be to have one [session] in the north once more projects with Indigenous participation are underway. Many of which will be led by our Catalyst alum,” says Ms. Stewart.

Th is years cohort boasts 8 northern Catalysts, including Eileen Marlowe a Communications Advisor for the Government of the Northwest Territories and Grant Sullivan who has been the Executive Director of the Gwich’in Council International for the last three years, and several northern mentors including Eric Atagotaaluk who works for Pituvik Landholding Corporation.

But the program is not geared towards specific regions.  Ms. Stewart commented that, “we are training them to be able to understand [clean energy] holistically”.  The focus is not on regions, meaning that Northern Indigenous peoples are learning about the benefits of clean energy on a larger scale, not the regional benefits and tools one would need in the north. The focus is the five broad pillars which is the focus of the program: Community Engagement & Communication, Economic Development & Business Planning, Employment Creation Skills Enhancement, Project Financing & Equity Capital, and ‘Smart’ Reinvestment & Community Legacy.  These pillars are meant to give an overarching view of clean energy and how these projects can be a success in any and every Indigenous community across Canada.

The program, in the end, is designed to engage with Indigenous people across Canada and create a community of clean energy catalysts.  According to Jim Ransom, from the 20/20 homepage, of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, “the 20/20 Catalyst Program is more than just a program, it’s a movement.”