Two weeks ago at the Social Finance Forum in Vancouver, members of the Spring Activator Team had the opportunity to hear about the future of social finance and impact investing.

What was especially interesting was the State of Social Finance in Canada, where an esteemed panel of leaders in Vancouver to look at where we’ve come from and where we’re headed as a sector.One of the most important points of discussion was the gaps and barriers within social finances as well as the potential accelerants to propel impact focused ventures.

Marginalized groups in Canada, particularly Indigenous-led and owned organizations, face some of the biggest hurdles when it comes to overcoming financial barriers, due to long-standing underfunding from the government, generations of discrimination rooted in colonialism. Indigenous Peoples continue to face challenges when accessing important resources, developing strong infrastructure and bolstering a flourishing economy for their communities.

Systems change is a long and hard road to go down, but this is where accelerants and funding need to be funneled. So, this month for National Indigenous History Month, our team at Spring Activator wanted to amplify the work of two great examples of accelerants within the Indigenous communities: Raven Trust and Water First.

What is RAVEN Trust?

RAVEN raises legal defense funds for Indigenous Peoples in Canada to defend rights and the integrity of lands and cultures.

Raven Trust’s mission is to provide access to justice for Indigenous Nations. RAVEN supports the assertion of the inherent and constitutionally-protected rights of Indigenous Peoples towards reconciliation and environmental justice.

Working together, they have raised millions of dollars back to some of the most groundbreaking legal challenges of our time; RAVEN partners have halted mines, stopped pipelines and created better laws. Some incredible examples of legal successes the RAVEN community have supported include:

• Aiding the Beaver Lake Cree Nation with the impacts of multiple tar sands mines and other industrial development in their territory
• Protecting the survival of wild salmon within the Skeena watershed
• Raising funding to aid legal battles to cancel the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline.

What is Water First?

Water First’s initiatives focus on providing sustainable access to safe, clean water in Indigenous communities within Canada.

Drinking water challenges are complex: in some communities, local concerns may be around infrastructure, for others, source water contamination. Numerous communities have challenges recruiting and training young Indigenous adults to join the drinking water field.

Water First is guided by Indigenous youth and young adults who participate in their programs, Indigenous staff and board members, local Indigenous community partners and members of the Indigenous Advisory Council. Their collaborations are built on respect and meaningful partnerships, with Indigenous youth and community partners at the heart of their work.

With our 1% for the Planet Funds, we have donated to both fantastic organizations in support of their incredible efforts to reshape the landscape and rewrite the future for Indigenous Peoples within Canada.

If you’re interested in learning more about Indigenous communities, we recommend you check out Raven Trust’s self guided course about Indigenous Justice in Canada.