Indigenous Business: Creating Equity with Dakota Brant – May 20, 2021

Dakota Brant is on a mission to build meaningful arts-based opportunities and employment in her community, and e-commerce platforms like PayPal are helping her do just that.

Dakota is a Mohawk Nation woman from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. She is the co-founder and CEO of Sapling & Flint, an on-reserve jewellery manufacturer specializing in gold and silver. Dakota has travelled North America & Europe over the past 15 years as a professional speaker and consultant on Indigenous issues in Canada and the United States. She holds a master's degree in Community Planning from the University of British Columbia. Currently, she lives in the village of Ohswé:ken with her family and is a volunteer firefighter. 

“I don’t want Indigenous artists from this community thinking they need to move away in order to pursue their own cultural art forms. The opportunity just isn’t there if they want to live at home.”

On this week’s StartupWomen Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Dakota discusses building effective relationships with consumers, vital e-commerce tools, and how entrepreneurship can be a driver of economic sustainability for first nations communities.