The Indigenous community is sometimes overlooked within larger DEIB conversations. But here at Kanopi — especially given our Canadian roots — it’s imperative to us that we support Indigenous organizations. We’re proud to have done a robust body of work for the community. It’s also why we support Mukurtu, a free content management system built using Drupal that helps Indigenous communities manage, share, and exchange their heritage in culturally relevant and ethically-minded ways.
Here are a few of the Indigenous organizations we’ve worked with:
TREES Network
The Training & Resources for Early Education & Schools (TREES) Network is a space for delivering and accessing culturally appropriate training, professional development, resources, supportive circles and peer mentorship opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous learning professionals working with Indigenous children, students and families.
After discovery work identified challenges with the design and functionality of the site, we updated their website to work better on mobile, reworked the navigation for clarity, and created consistency across both content and design.
Voices of the Land — Sharing Stories from Indigenous Alberta
A digital public space for communities to create, share, discover, and celebrate Indigenous content online. Visit the Voices of the Land website.
Louis Riel Institute
The Louis Riel Institute serves as the cultural and educational authority of the Manitoba Métis Federation. These digital archives were created to help researchers, scholars, educators, and enthusiasts delve into the collective history of the Red River Métis, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of their legacy and contributions. Visit the Louis Riel Institute website here.
Archive of Native American Recorded History
An online archive for audio interviews and other recordings held in the Doris Duke Native American Oral History Collections. Visit the archive’s website.
Kivalina Archive
We created an online archive for the Kivalina people of Alaska to help them preserve their cultural and natural history. The archive stores and provides access to records documenting their history of forced resettlement.
Karuk Tribe — Sípnuuk Digital Library, Archives and Museum
An online resource created to manage, share and enhance understanding of Karuk history, language, traditions, natural resource management and living culture. Visit the Sípnuuk Digital Library.
Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
Official website of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.
Working to create Indigenous opportunities
However, working with Indigenous communities as our clients is only one part of the equation. Creating more opportunities within Kanopi is also a core part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion. This includes actively recruiting within Indigenous communities.
We’ve established DEIB programs that guide us in posting on targeted job boards aligned with Indigenous communities in the US and Canada, such as:
- Aboriginal Job Board (paid posting)
- First Nations Job Board (paid posting)
- Diversify Tech (paid posting, but not specific to the Indigenous community)
These efforts have so far been a success, as Indigenous people currently constitute 7% of our full-time, salaried workforce. Members of our HR team have also attended webinars on subjects such as Indigenous Resource Groups, and are doing further research on potential training focused on Indigenous recruitment.
On a broader level, we’ve implemented several key initiatives aimed at further reducing bias in our hiring process, such as:
- Completing unconscious bias training (HR department) and have plans to introduce mandatory unconscious bias training to all folks involved in the hiring process.
- Auditing all job postings through a lens of inclusivity.
- Anonymizing all applicants in an effort to remove any possible bias upon initial review.
Thought leadership
Whenever possible, we also like to share our experience, our expertise and our work with Indigenous communities in our blogs. In addition to marketing our capabilities, these posts can help us connect with others seeking to grow and promote business opportunities for Indigenous people. Here are a few examples:
- Supporting Indigenous Communities with Mukurtu CMS
- Mukurtu: A Safe Keeping Place for Sacred Materials
- Reflecting reality: finding diverse and inclusive stock images for your designs
Strengthening our strength
DEIB has become a priority throughout the business world in recent years, and is currently garnering a great deal of press and sparking an ever-growing number of conversations. While it’s been a priority for us since our inception, so has the understanding that we can always do better. We view diversity as both our strength and our competitive advantage — thus it’s not so much a goal but an ongoing, evolving process. By ensuring that our efforts include Indigenous communities, we help expand our talent pool and our business opportunities even farther.
