100% Indigenous-owned and ‑operated
Indigenous Community Development & Prosperity Strategically
Community & Economic Strategic Plans
Collaborative strategic planning between the Band and the Economic Development Corp. is the key to long-term prosperity and well-being.
Indigenous/Industry Partnerships
Indigenous Nations are at the core of Industry’s ability to move forward on projects within Indigenous territories. We help create economic partnerships.
Indigenous/Government Relations
We help Indigenous communities navigate and secure Federal and Provincial Government relationships and the full benefits due them.
Our services
What we do for you
Community Engagement
We ensure the voice of the community is heard and supported during the community and economic strategic planning process to ensure buy-in when the work begins.
Industry Engagement
Our team of Industry engagement professionals will help navigate Industry relations and ensure strong economic deliverables for your community.
Government Engagement
We help find and secure the many Federal and Provincial Governments programs to assist Indigenous communities in community and economic development.
Community Development
We help organize effective and efficient Indigenous community development to ensure all the needs of the community are addressed and taken care of.
Economic Development
Our Team is well-experienced in Indigenous economic development, and we work to maximize your community’s economic opportunities, now and in the future.
Training & Employment
Our training programs prepare your community members for meaningful work and a prosperous lifestyle. We work with Industry to secure training and jobs.
100% Indigenous-owned
Who we are
About Us
ICDPRO is 100% Indigenous-owned and -operated. Our collective team has a combined experience of over 100 years in Indigenous community and economic development. We have also worked with non-Indigenous organizations and governments. Our experience in both sectors enables us to offer Indigenous communities the best of both worlds.
Meet our founder
Angela Adsit
MBA · PMP · Lean Six Sigma Black Belt · Tahltan Nation
Angela is a proud member of the Tahltan Nation and the founder and CEO of ICDPRO. She is an executive advisor to First Nation Economic Development Corporations and has served as CEO of multiple Indigenous economic development organizations, with deep experience in governance, strategy and business development.
She has served as an elected board member of the Tahltan Central Government, which oversees economic development across Tahltan territory in northern BC. Growing up ‘in both worlds’, she builds communities holistically and strategically, with the local Indigenous ways of ‘being and doing’ at the centre.
Angela is an adjunct professor who has taught governance, economics and project management at several Canadian post-secondary institutions, and she is pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration focused on Indigenous economic development.
The ECONOMY™ Framework · Free
Build your community’s economic plan, one step at a time.
ECONOMY™ is a free, fully guided, seven-step process that helps your whole community create a wholistic community and economic development plan that is not only words, but translates to action. It starts where you are: with your people, your land and your strengths.
Want a guide alongside you? Book a free call about facilitating ECONOMY™ with your community.
- EExisting
- CComing
- OOther
- NNo-go zones
- OOrganize
- MMitigate risks
- YYearly plans
For Industry & Government
Working with Indigenous Nations? Start the relationship right.
Projects move forward when Nations are true partners from the start. We help industry and government build relationships that communities want to continue.
For Industry
- Early, respectful engagement with Nations and their leadership
- Partnership, benefit and equity agreement support
- Indigenous procurement, supporting businesses and JV partners
- Training and employment pathways for community members
For Government
- Meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities
- Programs designed with communities, not just for them
- Economic reconciliation strategy and policy advice
- Facilitation of the ECONOMY™ planning process
Sectors
Industry Experience & Expertise
Oil & Gas
We may be moving toward a more “green” future, but oil and gas is still very much a going concern and will be for several decades. Our experience and expertise in the oil and gas industry has served our clients very well.
Utilities
Indigenous equity partnerships with utility companies are growing. Our Team know the in and outs of the utility industry and help Indigenous communities participate in ownership of the utilities that service their communities and territories.
Mining
Several of our Team have extensive experience working with mining companies in British Columbia.
Supporting Businesses: JV’s & Agreements
There are unlimited numbers of supporting businesses for oil and gas, utility, and mining companies. We help identify those opportunities and prepare your community to create businesses or JVs with existing businesses to fulfill capacity.
Funding
How communities fund this work
Cost should not stop a community from planning its future. Most of our work with Nations can be paid for, in whole or in part, through funding we help you find and apply for.
Federal programs
Indigenous Services Canada economic development programs, such as the Lands and Economic Development Services Program and the Community Opportunity Readiness Program.
Provincial programs
Provincial and regional funds for Indigenous economic development, capacity building, planning and training.
Industry capacity funding
Capacity and engagement funding from project proponents, often written into partnership and benefit agreements.
Indigenous institutions
Indigenous financial institutions, foundations and partnership funds that invest in community and economic development.
Insights
Ideas for Indigenous economic leadership
Industry
The Consultation Era Is Ending. Most Companies Haven’t Noticed.
In British Columbia, Indigenous consent is a legal requirement, not a courtesy. Here is what that means for projects.
Read article
Partnerships
From Jobs to Ownership: Why Employment Commitments Without Equity Are Half a Deal
Jobs and training hours look good in press releases. On their own, they are not enough.
Read article
Planning
Economic Development Without People Is Just Infrastructure
The case for wholistic planning, and why so many plans end up filed away instead of acted on.
Read article
White paper
Reframing Success Beyond Revenue
Why growth does not automatically become development, and a governance framework for EDCs to bridge the gap.
Read white paper
Speaking
Book Angela to speak
Keynotes, panels and workshops for EDC boards, Chief & Council, industry, government and conferences. Grounded in lived experience and executive leadership, and built to move audiences from ideas to action.
- Flagship keynoteFrom Revenue to RegenerationBridging the growth–development gap in Indigenous Economic Development Corporations.
- Keynote or workshopThe Consultation Era Is EndingWhat consent-based decision-making in BC means for industry, government and Nations.
- WorkshopProject Management Through an Indigenous LensThe 10 PMBOK knowledge areas, seen through Indigenous ways of being and doing.
Connect
We’d Love to Hear From You!
Send us a message and we will respond within one business day.
Economic growth without investment in human development is unsustainable – and unethical.
— Amartya Sen