Connie Davis is committed to building meaningful and collaborative relationships with First Nations to support housing objectives and strategies. Connie is Cree and Dene, and a member of the West Moberly First Nations. She is in her final year of the Executive MBA in Indigenous Business Leadership (EMBA IBL).

My experience at SFU Beedie

What I like most are the ‘a-ha’ moments with the instructors and professors or my colleagues, and the strength that comes from them when they share knowledge and bring everything together.

Taking the EMBA IBL is about my clients and using the tools that I’m learning at SFU to build a relationship with them and understanding their perspectives. I’m now able to have a deeper conversation with them. For example, I now know that I can’t just email, that I need to be face-to-face with them, and understand that they have their own Indigenous laws and to learn from them.

My Journey

I have always worked with First Nations, either within a community or for an organization associated with First Nations, such as a Treaty or Health Association. When I started my post-secondary education, I realized I want to be a part of not just one Nations’ journey, but many Nations’ journey.

During my bachelor of engineering degree, and at various points in my education, I’d taken many of the EMBA courses. But I really didn’t understand them from an Indigenous perspective. I knew we needed to close gaps within communities, from health to housing, and that we need to work more towards self-sufficiency. What I didn’t know was how to go about this work. I decided to invest in the people who invested me and to repay them with my knowledge to help close those gaps.

I also wanted to understand the government’s position and learn from the people working within those environments. Even though I work for the federal government, and have worked in the past for different First Nations, I still felt like I didn’t have a good grasp on what it meant to govern and lead from an Indigenous perspective. I felt the IBL could help me learn in those contexts.

Highlights

I’ve only been with my cohort for a year-and-a-half, and I can describe all the strengths and weaknesses of my teammates. The program is about building friendships, and helping and learning from each other. Whenever we know someone is falling, the whole group comes together to help pick them up. It’s amazing the relationships that we have built with each other.

Where I am today

I love working with my clients and signing off on that contribution agreement, knowing that I am a part of their journey. To be able to understand where they’re coming from, and knowing that I’m helping them reach their goals—that is the best part of my job.