BUSINESSVANCOUVER
January 19–25, 2016
B1
Aboriginal Business Match
Powell River partnership paying business dividends
Schools pave path to business success
B3
EDUCATION | More
Sea walk dispute builds bridge between Powell River city hall and Tla’amin First Nation
Profile: Ian Campbell Negotiator helps shape Squamish Nation’s economic destiny
Seeking kiteboarding nirvana at Nitinat Lake
First Nations students navigate post-secondary business training as aboriginal high school graduation rate notches all-time high
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Ditidaht promoting tourism opportunities for hidden recreation gem
First Nations shipping company achieves liftoff
B7
1 Nation Distribution helping cuts cost for aboriginal companies shipping products to isolated rural communities
Keys to building successful on-reserve businesses in B.C.
B8 Squamish Nation member Sheryl Fisher-Rivers is one of the first graduates of SFU’s executive MBA program in aboriginal business and leadership | Rob Kruyt
First Nations adviser Chris Scott on doing business on reservations By Glen Korstrom
B.C. events ABM Vancouver Island 2016 February 1 to 3 at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, Snuneymuxw Territory, Nanaimo ABM West 2016 May 9 to 11 at the Penticton Trade & Convention Centre, Syilx/Okanagan Territory, Penticton For more information go to aboriginalbusinessmatch.com
gkorstrom@biv.com
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quamish Nation member Sheryl Fisher-Rivers originally planned to do her MBA at Harvard University. She studied hard and applied several times but did not have high enough marks on her graduate management admissions test in her first two attempts. Her third try was lucky, she told Business in Vancouver. It was 2012 and she was then applying for admission to the Ivy League institution
despite lacking a key accreditation: a bachelor’s degree. “I had certificates as well as the Ch’nook aboriginal education program at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business,” she said. “That brought me up to a level where I could get in.” Business schools usually list bachelor’s degrees as a requirement for those wanting to enrol in master of business administration (MBA) programs, but can be flexible if a candidate has a strong employment record or equivalent education.
In Fisher-Rivers’ case, she also had plenty of experience at the Squamish Nation, where she had various roles, including working in external communications, and helping connect various levels of government and companies that wanted to engage in business with the Squamish Nation in the lead-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics. She attended a session that described various grants, scholarships and other opportunities for funding that she might get were she to pursue a Harvard education. continued on page B2