A new scholarship honouring the Every Child Matters movement will help support Indigenous students pursuing a master’s degree in business, management and governance.
Dhillon School of Business Dean Dr. Kerry Godfrey says the Aikimmisa Pookaiksi Graduate Scholarship in Management is intended to help the university walk the path of reconciliation through education.
He adds the idea of a scholarship first came about with the creation of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
“I wanted to find a way to support the idea of education actually being the ‘new buffalo’ and to honour the principles embodied in the Every Child Matters movement,” says Godfrey. He says the idea of a graduate scholarship came about after he learned about the lack of funding available to support Indigenous students pursuing graduate education.
Aikimmisa Pookaiksi (raise up the children), is a Blackfoot term given to the scholarship by Blackfoot Elder Francis First Charger. In creating the scholarship, Godfrey has challenged other university business deans across Canada to create something similar at their schools.
A fundraising campaign is currently underway to help build the endowment, which will sustain the scholarship.