February 3, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Traditional unceded Algonquin Territory - Indigenous Services Canada
Today, the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services, and Dawn Madahbee Leach, Chair of the National Indigenous Economic Development Board, extend their congratulations to Victoria LaBillois, who has been appointed as the National Indigenous Economic Development Board's new Vice-Chairperson.
Victoria LaBillois, a Mi'gmaq entrepreneur from Listuguj, Quebec, has been a member of the board since June 18, 2018, and serves as mentor for Coady International Institute's Indigenous Women in Community Leadership and New Brunswick's JEDI Aboriginal Business Accelerator Program. She is bilingual in French and English and teaches financial literacy to Indigenous youth.
Minister Hajdu and Ms. Madahbee Leach would also like to welcome Dana Soonias and Robert Dickson as two new members of the National Indigenous Economic Development Board.
Dana Soonias is the Director of Economic Development and Employment Training Services at the Saskatoon Tribal Council. He is a former Chairperson of the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada and the Aboriginal Entrepreneur Committee of National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, as well as a previous member of the First Nations Financial Management Board. Mr. Soonias has over 25 years of executive leadership experience overseeing organizational restructuring, developing strategic and investment diversity in economic portfolios, leveraging partnerships to build capacity, and creating stability and long‐term growth in the profit and not-for-profit sectors.
Robert Dickson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Attawapiskat Enterprises Inc. group of companies and one of the founders of the Aboriginal and Visible Minority Supplier Council. Mr. Dickson-who has held executive leadership roles in the profit, not-for-profit and public sectors-is known as a strong leader with excellent negotiation, interpersonal, presentation and public-relations skills. He is committed to renewal and ongoing change, and he is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University.
