What happens when cultural wisdom, entrepreneurial spirit, and a deep commitment to community impact come together?
Hilary Henegar is an Entrepreneur In Residence, leading Purppl’s Impact Strategy & Storytelling Services
At Purppl, we’ve seen the answer unfold through our long-standing partnership with IndigenEYEZ, most recently in the form of Shape Your Syilx Future: A Social Enterprise Journey.
Co-created with IndigenEYEZ and in partnership with the Okanagan Nation Alliance, this six-month program was designed to spark imagination, boost innovation, and empower the next generation of syilx leaders. Integrating syilx ways of being and knowing into entrepreneurial ventures, the program offers participants the opportunity to reimagine their futures while staying deeply connected to their heritage.
Kicking off last fall, the journey began with a weekend retreat, followed by three months of personalized coaching, and will culminate in a final celebration in the spring.
At the retreat, using the Four Food Chiefs framework for syilx-based leadership models, IndigenEYEZ created a learning environment that not only celebrated syilx youth’s indigeneity but also validated and uplifted their cultural strengths. Participants connected with mentors, peers, and cultural leaders to explore new ideas, reimagine their potential, and plant the seeds for their entrepreneurial ventures.
Through workshops, storytelling, and cultural practices, led by IndigenEYEZ facilitators, participants were guided to uncover their talents and build confidence in their unique contributions. Purppl’s coaches provided mentorship on social entrepreneurship, helping participants develop sustainable business ideas rooted in community impact and integrity.
This approach reframes social enterprise, transforming it from just a business model into a way of life – one that balances personal fulfillment with cultural and community commitments. Participants were encouraged to envision flexible, meaningful work that aligns with their gifts and syilx values.
To learn more about this transformative journey and the experience of participants, read the full story on IndigenEYEZ’s blog.
Shape Your Syilx Future is the latest chapter in our ongoing collaboration with IndigenEYEZ. First, we provided social enterprise development coaching to support IndigenEYEZ in launching kinSHIFT, which offers highly engaging, experiential, arts-based workshops that help non-Indigenous people deepen their understanding of colonization and build a foundation for engaging meaningfully with Indigenous peoples. Last year, we also partnered with IndigenEYEZ to launch Journey Together, a unique leadership-training-for-reconciliation program designed to support organizational leaders in decolonizing relational patterns and building respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples and lands.
Through all our collaborations, we’ve shared a deep commitment to creating spaces that centre and respect Indigenous ways of being and knowing, and where lasting change can be co-created through relationship-based learning.
