In an enlightening interview with Indigenous-SME Business Magazine, Jordan Wapass, founder of Cree8ive Advisory, unveils the driving forces behind his company’s establishment and its mission. Motivated by the desire to contribute to the $32 billion Indigenous businesses add to Canada’s GDP annually, Jordan sees his work as an act of resistance against historical economic exclusion and a step towards decolonization. Through Cree8ive Advisory, he leverages Indigenous epistemology to forge strategies that not only support Indigenous organizations but also promote respect, interconnectedness, and collaboration with non-Indigenous entities. His approach underscores the importance of holistic, human-centered methodologies in strategy and capacity building, embodying a commitment to innovation and community-focused entrepreneurship.
Jordan Wapass applies his management expertise to promoting growth and sustainability in Indigenous organizations.
Mr. Wapass has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Executive MBA from Simon Fraser University. He has been recognized as one of the institution’s 50 most inspiring graduate students in the past 50 years. In 2022, he obtained his Certified Aboriginal Financial Manager (CAFM) designation through AFOA Canada.
With experience spanning executive leadership roles in First Nations governments and contributions as a Federal Government expert review panelist, Mr. Wapass has a long history of providing strategic recommendations and advice to advance opportunities and capacity for Indigenous communities.
As the founder of Cree8ive Advisory, Jordan specializes in strategy, communication, capacity building, and human-centered design.
With a wealth of experience leading strategic initiatives and fostering innovation, Jordan has played a pivotal role in helping Indigenous communities navigate the complex landscape of economic development, community building, and sustainable growth. He has recently provided insight as Innovator in Residence at the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT), where his focus was on shaping mentorship and growth opportunities to bring innovative ideas to fruition.
Jordan is Cree and a proud member of Thunderchild First Nation in Treaty 6 territory.
What inspired you to start Cree8ive Advisory, and how have your experiences shaped its mission?
I think that’s the million dollar question. Well, billion actually. Research from the National Indigenous Economic Development Board indicates that Indigenous businesses contribute approximately $32 billion annually to Canada’s GDP. Cree8ive Advisory is one of the businesses that is contributing to the economy. And we’re proud of that.
For generations, Indigenous people and businesses were intentionally excluded from participation in the economy, by design, through government policy and systemic racism. This has contributed to the lower socioeconomic and health outcomes Indigenous people disproportionately face today in this country due to the ongoing and destructive effects of colonialism.
Starting and running Cree8ive, in my opinion then, is an act of resistance and contributes to decolonization when you recognize how this wasn’t an option that many Indigenous people had the opportunity to pursue.
Further and perhaps most importantly, I’ve worked in First Nations as a senior leader, including my own nation, and with organizations across Canada and realized that I had a higher calling to help strengthen the Indigenous movement in this country in one of the best ways I knew I could – through strategy that is paired with my knowledge and direct experience working in First Nations at the grassroots level.
This has certainly helped shape the mission for Cree8ive. We’ve worked hard to incorporate Indigenous epistemology (ways of knowing) in the work that we do. This shines through in our methodology and approach to solution generation. And we must be doing something right. To date, we’ve been fortunate, and privileged, to have worked with many of the country’s National Indigenous Organizations (NIO) to support the design of their strategies that will guide their mandates over the next half 3-5 years and beyond.
How does Cree8ive Advisory uniquely approach strategy and capacity building for Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations?
At Cree8ive Advisory, rather than using the word ‘unique’ in terms of our approach, it is more accurate to say that we use methods that have been around for a very long time but have been overlooked. In keeping with our belief in the inherent value of Indigenous ways of knowing, we take a holistic approach to our relationships with our clients. This begins with placing people at the forefront in collaborating with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations. Regardless of what side of the treaty agreements you come from, we believe in starting from a foundation of respect and that the world we live in is interconnected and is embedded in relationality with the land, the water, air, and people. This is in stark contrast to the historical experience Indigenous groups have had with the federal government, and the Indian Act where it’s been a top-down paternal approach through policy and services for Indigenous people. It clearly hasn’t worked and will not as Indigenous nations pursue their own self-determination.
In modern terminology, we employ human-centred methodologies to better position our learning for a more deeply human understanding of our clients. We feel that this approach translates to any organization looking to design strategy that invites your team members, the most important asset of your organization, to know they have agency in the vision and future of the business. There’s a lot of value in empowering others and demonstrating a tangible commitment to collaboration in the journey.
What does this mean? We spend more time on the user’s problem than most consultancies. That means engaging with the end user/citizen/patient/customer/client/guest etc. and really empathizing with them.
Can you share an example of a project that exemplifies Cree8ive’s impact on Indigenous and non-Indigenous collaboration?
We’ve worked with NIOs for the last 5 years in various capacities to support in strategic planning, have contributed to research for think tanks and journals, helped bring life to conceptual ideas to name a few and that has been extremely rewarding.
One of the most important projects Cree8ive has had was working with the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT) as the institute’s Innovator-in-Residence. This opportunity provided me with the ability to share my story as an entrepreneur, to promote and inspire innovation within SIIT and to work closely with students who are looking to add to the $32 billion Indigenous business annual contribution to the country’s GDP.
A key part of an entrepreneur’s life is networking and developing relationships. As part of my mandate, I worked with the institution to introduce students to the local business community, an incubator and NIOs.
My hope is that these relationships will continue to blossom and grow into more tangible business opportunities as the students build their businesses and expand their entrepreneurial journeys.
How has your commitment to innovation and ‘outside the box’ thinking driven Cree8ive’s success?
I don’t think it’s really a choice. I don’t think you can survive as a consultancy with a traditional approach.
Our goal is to pull organizations with us and help them drive new ideas and change their DNA to be more innovative and agile. Clients come to us because they’ve realized they hit the ceiling on a problem and need some outside thinking, if we came in with the same approach as they were doing, we’d be in trouble. We exist because we are able to apply a potentially bolder approach, and it’s maybe easier for an outside consultancy to come in with new ideas vs someone who might be too afraid to suggest it.
What key piece of advice would you give to aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs and leaders?
Not too sound altruistic, but do it for the right reasons. Don’t worry, the money will always be there. We have to keep our hearts focused on doing what’s right.
There are finally a lot of forces working in our favour right now, the wind is at our back and we have to keep the ship pointed in the right direction. We can all financially gain, but let’s not put that in place of what’s important.
I often have to remind myself of this as I navigate growth and potential projects. But I was taught that we are all in this together, so I treat all my projects as helping my community.
