Indigenous Leadership Development Institute Inc. (ILDII), an Indigenous run not-for-profit organization located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (incorporated in 2000), initiated the World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF), in partnership with leaders of host countries representing Indigenous communities. The most recent edition was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The WIBF draws attention to Indigenous Economic Development and is a non-for-Profit initiative. Presently a local committee is working in Melbourne, Australia together with ILDI in the organization of the WIBF 2025.
Where We’ve Been
In 2010, ILDII partnered with the World Business Forum in New York City, NY, USA and launched the first ever World Indigenous Business Forum. The following years it was held:
- 2011 New York City, USA
- 2012 Sydney, Australia
- 2013 Windhoek, Namibia
- 2014 Guatemala
- 2015 Oahu, Hawaii
- 2016 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- 2017 Santiago, Chile
- 2018 Rotorua, New Zealand
- 2019 Vancouver, Canada
- 2020 Virtual Forum
- 2021 Virtual Forum
- 2022 Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia
- 2023 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
- 2024 Albuquerque, New Mexico
In Guatemala, attending leaders signed the Guatemala Protocol, which initiated the World Indigenous Business Network (WIBN).
The “WIBF day” was created by the Governor of Hawaii to acknowledge the Forum.
The WIBF in Saskatoon attracted over one thousand enterprise minded people from 11 different countries and a new definition for “Indigenous Development” was proposed, discussed, voted, and agreed to. As a result, it changed the Wikipedia definition.
Speakers
An impressive series of speakers have graced the stages of WIBF with very important information and knowledge about Indigenous economic development, to name a few:
- James Cameron, Canadian Film Producer and Director
- Phil Fontaine Fmr. National Chief, Canada
- Don Schroeder President and CEO, Tim Hortons, Canada
- Alejandro Toledo Fmr President of Peru
- César Gaviria Fmr President of Colombia
- Rigoberta Menchu Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Guatemala,
- Val Kilmer, Actor and Philanthropist, USA
- David Chartrand President of Manitoba Metis Federation
- Buffy Sainte-Marie Singer/Songwriter
- Otto Molina Perez, Fmr President of Guatemala
- Sheena Graham, SPO, Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia
- Ernesto Sirolli, CEO, Sirolli Institute, USA/Italy
- Navi Radjou, Scholar, USA/France/India
- Hon. Minister Mahuta, Minister of International Affairs, New Zealand,
- Jacqui Caine, New Zealand Ambassador to Chile
- Patricia Peña, Canadian Ambassador to Chile
- Stedman Graham, CEO, S. Graham and Associates
- Adam Beach, Canadian Actor, Canada
- Magie Cook, CEO and Founder of Maggie’s Salsa, LLC, Mexico
- Francia Marquez, Vice President of Colombia
- Dr. Sanjeev Arora, Founder of Project ECHO and Director of the ECHO Institute
- Dawn Houle, President and Founder of SunSinger Consulting, LLC and Author of, Business Success Secrets: Entrepreneurial Thinking that Works
The event has grown with importance creating ongoing partnerships and economic development amongst Indigenous leaders from around the world.