Numerology: Aboriginal wealth and prosperity

1,450,000

That’s the square footage of commercial real estate managed by the Okanagan’s Westbank First Nation (WFN), the largest such on-reserve development in the country. AFOA Canada (formerly the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada) will feature WFN as a case study of leadership success at its inaugural conference in Vancouver from October 2 to 5. Some 1,300 business owners, chiefs, elders and financial managers from indigenous communities around the world will discuss long-term planning, economic prosperity and international cooperation. Terry Goodtrack, CEO of AFOA Canada, says WFN and other participants bring lessons about establishing financial and social sustainability after achieving self-governance. “Why these highly skilled financial managers exist [in these communities] is because now there is a role,” Goodtrack explains. “You’re no longer managing poverty; you’re managing wealth and prosperity.”