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Member Highlight

Mr. Terry Brown

CEO, Okimaw Community & HR Solutions

Terry Brown – B. Comm (Hons), a proud member of Peguis First Nation, is the Cofounder & CEO of Okimaw Community and HR Solutions, a member of the EDIP Sovereign Wealth Solutions Group of Companies. His focus is on providing Indigenous communities with the tools to foster economic reconciliation and grow their sovereign wealth. With extensive experience working with First Nation, Métis, Inuit, and Native American communities, Terry is a respected Indigenous businessperson. His expertise […]

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Member Highlight

Mr. Terry Brown

CEO, Okimaw Community & HR Solutions

Terry Brown – B. Comm (Hons), a proud member of Peguis First Nation, is the Cofounder & CEO of Okimaw Community and HR Solutions, a member of the EDIP Sovereign Wealth Solutions Group of Companies. His focus is on providing Indigenous communities with the tools to foster economic reconciliation and grow their sovereign wealth.

With extensive experience working with First Nation, Métis, Inuit, and Native American communities, Terry is a respected Indigenous businessperson. His expertise lies in capacity building and facilitating connections between mainstream and Indigenous businesses. Terry’s dynamic understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing companies operating in traditional Indigenous territories and Indigenous communities entering mainstream markets drives his passion for business development.

Terry is a confident, award-winning business leader who takes pride in being a strategic problem-solver, An award-winning business leader, Terry excels in strategic problem-solving, envisioning innovative solutions, and executing with efficiency across all areas of an organization. He has had experience with Federal, Provincial, Municipal, and American Indian and First Nations governments, Fortune 100 and 500 corporations, including consumer goods, manufacturing, banking, transportation, hospitality, marketing, wholesale, energy, procurement, and healthcare. Terry has successfully closed hundreds of business deals on behalf of both Indigenous and Fortune 100 companies, contributing to over half a billion dollars in sales throughout his career.

Terry is a dedicated volunteer and serves as the co-chair of the Economic Reconciliation Committee at the Business Council of Manitoba, actively contributing to the advancement of economic reconciliation initiatives. He also holds a position as a board member at Building Urban Industries for Local Development (BUILD) and serves on the Peguis Governance Committee.  Over the course of his career, Terry has served on numerous boards and committees including as a Commissioner with the Province of Manitoba Commission on Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education in 2019.

Outside of his professional achievements, Terry finds fulfillment in his role as a partner of 19 years and a proud father to a wonderful 10-year-old daughter. His traditional name, “Who-Zu Ski Geezhig Ininini,” meaning “Blue Sky Man,” reflects his unwavering optimism even in the darkest times. Bestowed with the name of “Red Star Turtle Man” by elders, Terry carries the responsibility of sharing this knowledge throughout North America, a duty he embraces wholeheartedly.

Okimaw Community & HR Solutions

Okimaw Community and HR Solutions is a service-based business that works exclusively with First Nations and related Indigenous entities to assess, train and support their teams as part of a broader effort to build capacity in indigenous communities.  

Okimaw specializes in community well-being through helping clients be more effective with their planning, governance and management, especially their management of people and how they collectively make organizations more effective.

Okimaw strives to combine traditional nation values with a modern approach to community planning and HR challenges. Using experience combined with best practices for learning, and customized solutions, the company appreciates and understands the various challenges that are faced running the affairs of the nation. They have experienced these challenges firsthand.

FROM THE CHAIR

Welcome to the Business Council of Manitoba.

I am honoured to take on the role of Chair of the Board at the Business Council of Manitoba. Following the many past successful chairs, I look forward to bringing the same passion and dedication to advocating for Manitoba’s best interests.

The Council comprises Manitoba’s leading CEOs with shared vision and belief in our province. Since our founding in 1998, the Council has remained committed to collaborating with key stakeholders in Manitoba to lead, promote, and drive innovation and success. This joint effort between political, business, and community leaders has been instrumental in crafting policies that align with our mission of a stronger Manitoba.

We remain dedicated to non-partisan policy advocacy to all three levels of government regarding issues and advancements that affect our community’s success and well-being.

As incoming Chair of the Board, I am proud to lead the Council through this next chapter and look forward to being apart of making Manitoba a preferred place to live, work, and invest.

As a Council we recognize that our office is located on Treaty One lands, the original territories of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Lakota, Dene peoples, and the homeland of the Metis Nation and wish to recognize and honour all Treaties.  The Business Council is proud of the many relationships it has formed, and we dedicate ourselves to moving forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.

Please follow us on LinkedIn for announcements and updates.


Mike Pyle

Chair

FROM THE PRESIDENT

I am very honored to have been entrusted to be only the third President and CEO in the history of the Business Council of Manitoba.

The Council, established in 1998, is proud of its record of accomplishments, offering a constructive, non-partisan voice on major challenges and opportunities for Manitoba and Canada. I look forward to working with our members and our key stakeholders in building on our past successes and continuing to contribute towards realizing the full potential of our great province.

Our membership, through private sector investments and working in partnership with various levels of government, is focused on sustainable long-term growth, jobs and prosperity for all Manitobans present and future.

We welcome inquiries from readers who are interested in the work we do and the opinions we hold. We recognize the value in building support for positive change to make our province more competitive as we look forward to future opportunities and challenges.

Our goal is simple, to provide fact based and innovative input into major policy issues focused on making Manitoba a place where all can live, work and invest in vibrant and healthy communities.

Please follow us on twitter and LinkedIn


Bram Strain

President & CEO