First Annual NIEEF Scholarships

By Sara Cardinal & Shelley Morin

The National Indigenous Economic Education Foundation (NIEEF) provides scholarships, training and research funding for learners and educators involved in Aboriginal community economic development. CANDO and NIEEF are proud to announce the winners of the first two annual scholarships, awarded at this year’s Annual National Conference & AGM. CANDO would also like to acknowledge Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Polytechnic’s (SAIT) contribution towards one of the scholarships.

Janetta Soup of the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta was awarded the first annual NIEEF/SAIT Scholarship. Janetta is currently working towards completing a Bachelor of Management Degree at the University of Lethbridge. In her acceptance speech, Janetta thanked CANDO and all of the people involved in making the scholarship possible. She also spoke of the opportunities she has had as a result of her education and talked briefly about her plans once she finishes school.

Robert Daniels of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was awarded the NIEEF Scholarship. He is currently working towards completion of his second year in the Management Studies Program at the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT). Robert shared some history on his work in the field of social work for a number of years before his decision to start his own business and to go back to school for a Management Diploma at SIIT. He shared his hopes of possibly starting an MBA by the fall of 2007.

We wish both of the scholarship winners all the best in their future endeavors!

After the first two annual scholarships were awarded, attention was turned to the 2007 scholarships. Ray Wanuch, CANDO Executive Director was proud to announce that Lloyd Johnson and Walter Deagle from Millbrook First Nation donated $5,000 towards next year’s scholarship fund! Walter spoke about not only the importance of awarding scholarships but as well, donating money to furthering the education of Aboriginal people because “investing in our youth today, takes care of their futures tomorrow - so we encourage everyone from coast to coast to coast to donate generously to this very worthy endeavor.”