Aboriginal Business Champion distinction for SFU trailblazer in management education

Beedie professor Mark Selman has received the Aboriginal Business Champion of the Year award from the Industry Council for Aboriginal Business (ICAB).

Mark Selman, director of the Executive MBA in Aboriginal Business and Leadership at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business, is the 2013 recipient of the Industry Council for Aboriginal Business (ICAB) award for Aboriginal Business Champion of the Year.

The Aboriginal Business Champion award is given to a non-Aboriginal individual who exemplifies leadership and best practices in Aboriginal engagement and business relationship development. The honour is a part of the ICAB Recognition Awards, which highlight individuals and corporations who have demonstrated leadership in developing Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal business relationships.

Selman is a longstanding business education innovator at Simon Fraser who led the university’s effort to establish the EMBA in Aboriginal Business and Leadership – the first and only program of its kind in North America. The new EMBA meets a growing need for senior-level management education for Aboriginal managers and entrepreneurs, as well as individuals and organizations collaborating with Aboriginal communities. It provides executive-level education that reflects the growing role of business development for First Nations. The program has received widespread acclaim across the country from both Aboriginal and business communities — most recently receiving the “Most Innovative” distinction from BC Business Magazine.

“Mark has done an extraordinary job of championing Aboriginal business in British Columbia,” said Daniel Shapiro, Dean of the Beedie School of Business at SFU. “Having known him for many years, I can say without a doubt that he is highly deserving of this important honour.”

With an extensive management education background, Selman has helped build customized degree programs with business, both with First Nations and the natural resource sector. He has also worked with First Nations communities on social and economic development.

ICAB is a non-profit, member-focused organization guided by a volunteer Board of Directors. ICAB fosters successful working relationships between industry and Aboriginal business through effective programming and by promoting mutual respect and understanding. ICAB launched the BC Aboriginal Business Association in February 2012 to support British Columbia’s Aboriginal business owners and entrepreneurs by initiating knowledge sharing and business skills development.

The ICAB Board of Director’s Executive selects the recipients by evaluating the benefit of the business relationship to the Aboriginal community and the corporation; the qualities of leadership and potential for best practices in business development; and the development of the relationship that formed the foundation of the business undertaking.

For more information, visit www.icab.ca.