Faces of Empowered Nations

Every month we will introduce one of the participants in our Empowered Nations program in our story series “Faces of Empowered Nations.” Empowered Nations is a community Startup incubator program with a purpose of supporting the growth of a regenerative economy, internal capacity and social impact within indigenous communities by way of training and mentoring the Startup and innovation journey. We start with ambition and ideas, and end with huge personal growth and sustainable small businesses.

FACES FROM TS’ZIL STARTUP INCUBATOR & EMPOWERED NATIONS PROGRAM: September 2019

For Tanina Williams, being an entrepreneur is “about having a dream that will help other people and getting to live your dream and contribute to society and it’s well-being.”

Tanina Williams is an incredibly dynamic woman from the Lil’wat Nation. When Tanina speaks people cannot help but listen.  Her ability to weave a story is one of her greatest strengths.  Tania enrolled in the Ts’zil Startup Incubator program with a vision to build a business by which she can share her passion for the Lil’wat Language and Culture with non-indigenous people.  “My hope is to share the learnings of my culture and language with educators, and learners of different age groups.”  In light of the Truth and Reconciliation and 94 calls to actions, Tania believes that the time is right to build her business. She believes she will be “fighting for a standard for those who are experts on indigenous languages and spiritual culture. Our services should be mainstream and paid for, just the same as other services.”

Through the Ts’zil Startup Incubator that is powered by Empowered Nations, Tania is excited to be comfortable running a business.  “I have a lot of ideas but being able to feel comfortable with the lingo and terminology and have some skills on running a business is important, as is knowing that my idea can move forward.”  Tania enjoys the simplicity of the program.  The e-learning has been a highlight with its simple format of the lean canvas.” She says that other business courses have been too complicated. Tanina also appreciates the length of the course. “Taking the class over a long period of time helps you sit with the information. I think I’ll have a solid business plan and a few paying customers at the end.  This program excites me because this is my fourth business course and this is the first time I feel most secure.  The last one got me to a certain point but this one is going to take me all the way.” Stay tuned for the Spring 2020 launch of Tanina’s new business!

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