bold idea
Foster economic sovereignty and liberation for Indigenous entrepreneurs across Turtle Island by creating a place-based center of excellence in Indigenous entrepreneurship and innovation.
organization overview
The Fireweed Institute is a Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Entrepreneurship & Innovation. The Fireweed Institute will clear a path for economic self-reliance, social impact, and a thriving future for Indigenous innovation, offering both virtual and in-person programming. The Fireweed Institute is supported by six lodge poles — a purpose-built, land-based center, wisdom and research, storytelling, advising and consulting, a community wealth fund, and programming and learning.
The Fireweed Institute will provide Indigenous-led decolonial programming through the Indigenous Venture Accelerator and Indigenous Impact Investor Training, both of which are the first and only programs of their kind. Through these programs, The Fireweed Institute will build power to grow innovative impact-driven Indigenous businesses and the deployment of capital.
Personal Bio
Jacqueline Jennings is of mixed hertiage, including Cree, Anishinaabe, Red River Métis, and European settler-descent. She is the founder of The Fireweed Institute, a center of excellence in Indigenous entrepreneurship and innovation. Prior to founding the Fireweed Institute, she spent her career supporting the growth and empowerment of impact-focused entrepreneurs, affecting positive systems change through innovation and business. Her work as a leadership coach, an impact investor, a venture partner with Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, and a group facilitator led her home to serve her Indigenous communities.
Jacqueline has served as a visiting professor at the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University and a lecturer on inclusive investment ecosystem at Ivey School of Business. She is Investor in Residence with the Rematriating Economies Apprenticeship and a member of the 2024 Boston Impact Initiative Emerging Fund Manager cohort. She is also a certified facilitator for Tramua of Money — a compassionate approach that heals financial trauma to increase security and well-being. Jacqueline hosts cultural skill share camps and is active in soil regeneration near her home in unceded Squamish Nation territory.
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