Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 5, 1 May 2015 — World Indigenous Business Forum to be held in Waikīkī [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

World Indigenous Business Forum to be held in Waikīkī

By Lisa Asato At the World Indigenous Business Forum in Guatemala last year, Nalani Takushi of O'ahu invited the delegates to attend the forum's 2015 gathering in Honolulu. "I just did a eall out to please join us in Hawai'i," Takushi said, adding that she was inspired after attending the conference for whieh the Guatemalan president provided opening remarks. Seeing conversations about business and indigenous peoples happening in the same room was awesome, said Takushi. And, she said, that has potential for Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs when the conference comes to Honolulu for the first time in its six-year history. The forum will be held at Waikīkī Beach Marriott Resort and Spa Oct. 27-29, offering Native Hawaiians a ehanee to share best practices with other indigenous entrepreneurs from around the world. "I think how we do business in Hawai'i is very different in the way business is eonducted around the world. ... I ean see and feel a difference. I think the indigenous (entrepreneur) really cares about people," said Takushi, a capacity-building manager for Hi'ilei Aloha LLC, a subsidiary of OHA. Takushi will be an emeee at the Honolulu gathering.

The three-day gathering is expected to attract more than 700 delegates, many of whom will bring their families, extend their stays and pump an estimated $2 million into the economy, said Rosa Walker, president and CEO of the Manitoba, Canada-based Indigenous Leadership Development Institute Ine., whieh founded the forum. The conference aims to have something for businesses of all sizes, Walker said. "We start off with the loeal level and build up to the global," she said after a press eonference announcing the gathering. "We want to have every sector represented, we want to have small to large corporations represented and we have to (address) the issues and the

challenges that indigenous people have to overcome to develop their own small businesses or large businesses. . . . We have our guiding principles that we try to ensure that we make this interesting to all our indigenous delegates." Loeal native businesses are given opportunities to sell their products and services at a trade show, free of charge. The planning committee will determine how many slots are available for that and will aim for a good cross-section of products, services and crafts "showcasing indigenous Hawaiian-owned businesses," she said. The forum attracts high-profile attendees, including ambassadors and trade ministers, Walker said, because "I think it's in their interest to get along and work with indigenous peoples and help them develop their businesses." She said a few Hawaiians attended the Guatemala forum last year. "We really wanted to engage indigenous Hawaiians," she said. "We feel Hawai'i is the gateway to trade for not only indigenous peoples but for indigenous peoples to enter into markets in Australia and New Zealand and the Philippines and Oeeania." It's also an opportunity to expose Latin Americans to the Islands and vice versa. "We have the same

issues, same economies pretty mueh and a lot have the same type of environments. There are things we could leam from eaeh other." OHA is helping to plan the conference, whieh is co-chaired by Pono Shim, president and CEO of Enterprise Honolulu, and Alex Wilson, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan and an environmental and indigenous rights activist. Wilson, a member of the Cree nation in Manitoba, Canada, said she's been volunteering with the Indigenous Leadership Development Institute since its inception about 14 years ago. She's spoken on corporate social responsibilities at eaeh World Business Forum, in New York City; Sydney, Australia; Windhoek, Africa; and Guatemala City. For Wilson, who won't be speaking in Honolulu, a highlight of the conferences is the connections that are made and relationships that are built. "Sometimes we look to other communities for answers, but we have all the knowledge within," she said. Indigenous peoples have had sustainable economies for tens of thousands of years without ruining the environment. "It's a challenge, there is tension but this gathering is a way to bring people together to have that dialog, because we have to move through it together. "For me, I think that's the important thing, bringing people together that may not (usually) be sitting in the same space to hear how we ean work together." ■

Leaders from the Maniloha, Canada-based lndigenous Leadership Development lnstitute ine. announced that the World lndigenous Business Forum would be held in Honolulu in October. From left are Vice President Barb Hambleton, President and CE0 Rosa Walker and project coordinator Lourdes Villa. - Photo: LisaAsato