Road to Recovery: Advancing Indigenous-led economic development

In this week’s segment of Road to Recovery with Douglas Magazine, CHEK’s Hannah Lepine chats with Christina Clarke, executive director of the Indigenous Prosperity Centre. 

Created in 2021 by South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP),  the Indigenous Prosperity Centre (IPC) is an Indigenous-led initiative to support Indigenous interests and enhance economic reconciliation on Southern Vancouver Island.

The call to action for an Indigenous-led economic development organization on southern Vancouver Island was raised by Indigenous leaders participating in the Rising Economy Taskforce’s Indigenous Economy Committee.

Indigenous leaders noted their economies were hit hard by the pandemic, especially when it came to infrastructure, training and workforce development, and access to capital for business development.

Responding to that call for action, Indigenous leaders and SIPP formed an IPC Committee to create the framework and attract seed funding.

Last fall, Christina Clarke was named the inaugural Executive Director for the IPC.

Clarke was most recently CEO of the Songhees Development Corporation. Her wealth of experience includes First Nations governance, policy and law development, community engagement, and economic development.

Clarke honours both her NunatuKavut (Inuit-European of Labrador) grandmother and her Irish-born grandfather.

In this segment, Clarke talks about the organization and the impact it hopes to have.

READ MORE: Road to Recovery: Artist collective in former power commission building

Road to Recovery is produced in partnership with Douglas Magazine.

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