UBC launches Indigenous Strategic Initiatives Fund to further Strategic Plan

Next year, the Indigenous Strategic Initiatives Fund will begin allocating money to projects that further the implementation of the Indigenous Strategic Plan.

Up to $4 million will be allocated across UBC’s two campuses in 2022. UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP) officially launched last fall — this fund is intended to advance the ISP’s 43 actions.

The fund contains three streams: first, an innovative projects stream which funds between $30,000 and $100,000 for one- and two-year projects. This is aimed toward existing or new projects that advance a faculty or unit’s “Indigenous strategy, achievement and enhancement goals.”

The second stream, titled “Transformative Projects,” allocates between $50,000 and $250,000 for projects lasting up to three years. “Transformative” is deemed to have a “wide-scale impact at the faculty, portfolio or institutional level.”

The third stream, student-led projects, funds $50,000 for 12 to 18 month projects. Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot, senior advisor to the president on Indigenous affairs, highlighted the student-led project part of the fund, saying she hopes it brings about “quite a bit of innovative thinking on different initiatives and processes.”

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