Ulnooweg Foundation is one of Canada’s first Indigenous community foundations. Its stated mission is taking a leadership role in closing the gap between the philanthropic sector and Indigenous communities with the goal of creating new funds, pursuing investment opportunities, and increasing public understanding of the role of philanthropy for Indigenous communities.
In 2020, building on the financial contributions from government, the private sector, and Indigenous communities, the Mastercard Foundation entered into a five-year commitment to Ulnooweg Indigenous Communities Foundation.
This partnership includes:
• The overall goal of reaching 2,500 Indigenous youth through direct education and employment programming and amplifying this impact for other Indigenous youth by fostering a long-term strengthened ecosystem of support and enhanced opportunities.
• Leveraging and expanding Ulnooweg Foundation’s successful partnerships across the Atlantic to support meaningful, sustainable change for Indigenous youth in the region.
• Supporting youth leadership through training, learning, networking, and mentorship opportunities.
• Enhancing access to culture, language, identity, and wellness programs and offerings, including integration of these components into other educational and supportive programming.
• Promoting educational pathways that are accessible, culturally appropriate, and aligned to the realities and aspirations of Indigenous youth and the needs of their communities. This includes an improved system of support for students transitioning to post-secondary education and co-developing with communities and post-secondary institutions programming that supports training needs specific to the community or areas of future job growth.
• Building opportunities and networks for youth to secure meaningful and dignified work in employment and entrepreneurship. Initiatives will be enhanced that support the transition to work for Indigenous graduates, entrepreneurship supports and training, and strengthening linkages between Indigenous communities, educational institutions serving Indigenous youth, and larger regional economic opportunities.
