Meet Indigenous Changemakers from Around the World
Virtual Exchange
Expand Your Network
Relationships are our tradition.
Indigenous Peoples have been trading internationally for millennia.
INDIGI-X believes that connection is the foundation for facilitating international trade.
Our Virtual Exchanges are a way for Indigenous Professionals to meet and work together without having to step on a plane.
Each cohort consists of incredibly motivated, ambitious, and innovative Indigenous Professionals and change-makers, who work together during a six-week period to develop Thought Leadership and public policy recommendations.
Together we embrace our traditional ceremonies, find commonalities, explore social and economic challenges, and identify opportunities to engage in international trade.
Most importantly, strong, long-lasting relationships are developed, relationships that transcend borders and internet connections.
Who can apply?
We invite all Indigenous Professionals and change-makers to apply to our program.
Our inaugural exchange consisted of professionals from Canada and New Zealand, and in February 2021 included Fiji. In September 2022, we invited Indigenous Professionals from Australia to join our exchange. Even if you are not from any of these countries, we encourage you to apply! We review all applications submitted.
To join our Virtual Exchange, all delegates must commit to attending all of the six planned meetings and actively contribute to generating the final report.
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VE 5 Topics
The topics for our fifth virtual exchange have been pre-determined. Delegates are invited to apply to one (or more) of the below topics in the application process.
Click below to learn more about each workstream:
Onboarding
As part of the onboarding process, we publish a Welcome Handbook, which will help you to get to know the others in your cohort before our first meeting.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to submit a high-resolution photo and short bio (< 200 words) to be included in the handbook.
Take a look at the bios of our previous delegates here.
Weekly Meetings
Your cohort of global Indigenous changemakers will meet each week via Zoom. We will start the exchange with ceremony offered by our Elders.
The format ofyour group's gatherings each week is slightly different, but you will all agree an agenda beforehand so you will know what to expect.
This is where the real magic of INDIGI-X happens.
Through this informal platform for connection, similarities are discovered, as are differences, and learnings are quickly found that can be of great benefit to Indigenous individual and community well-being, development, and commerce
Final Presentations
After five weeks of weekly meetings, your report writer will finalise the draft of Thought Leadership and share it with your group to review.
Instead of a joint final presentation, as we have had in previous years, your group's final report and presentation will be released individually over a three to four-month period.
In the weeks leading up to your group's final presentations, we will work with you to identify the key stakeholders we should invite to the meeting. Community members will also be invited to attend all of the final presentations.
Past attendees have included Minister Nanaia Mahuta (former New Zealand Minister of Māori Development), Minster Carolyn Bennett (Canada’s former Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations), as well as a number of other government, industry, and community members.
The final presentations are both a celebration of what the cohort was able to accomplish in the preceding five (short!) weeks as well as a demonstration of the power of Indigenous collaboration.
Still curious? We have recordings of past presentations on our YouTube channel.
Honorariums
We know Indigenous Professionals are all too often expected to do additional work and provide insights for free. However, our time and insights are valuable.
INDIGI-X endeavors to ensure delegates are recognized for the time and effort they dedicate to the program.
Upon completion of the program and submission of the final report, an honorarium will be provided to each delegate who completes the virtual exchange. More details on this will be provided in the kick-off meeting.
Delegate Feedback
Many groups choose to arrange their own meetings in addition to the weekly group-wide ones. We encourage this - there is a lot of work to do and great friendships develop as a result.
Feedback from our first cohort was that they felt energized, uplifted, and an increased sense of pride in themselves and their communities. A deep sense of trust developed very quickly among members of the group and a number of long-term friendships and business relationships exist because of the program.
Hear some of the feedback we received from our alumni here.
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