{"id":110502,"date":"2026-06-18T16:13:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=110502"},"modified":"2026-06-19T11:25:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T15:25:31","slug":"community-event-to-honour-indigenous-business-leader-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2026\/06\/community-event-to-honour-indigenous-business-leader-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Community event to honour Indigenous business leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

Entrepreneur and advocate Trisha Pitura, co-owner and creative director of Canadian lifestyle brand Mini Tipi, will be honoured at Brock University\u2019s annual Indigenous Leader Speaker Series<\/a>\u00a0next week. The free online event will take place Tuesday, June 23 from noon to 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

As Mini Tipi\u2019s creative director, she\u2019s passionate about building meaningful connections, driving positive change and celebrating Indigenous artistry. Through her work, Pitura reconnects with her Ojibwe identity using textiles and creativity.<\/p>\n

“Indigenous leadership is about creating space for our stories, our values and our communities to be seen and celebrated,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The event is a collaboration between Brock\u2019s Indigenous Engagement Office and the Goodman School of Business, and Pitura will be joined in conversation by Interim Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement Shelia Cote-Meek.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrisha\u2019s leadership speaks to the possibilities of Indigenous entrepreneurship when culture, creativity and business excellence come together,\u201d says Cote-Meek, who selected Pitura as this year\u2019s honouree. \u201cHer work is an important example for students, faculty, staff and community members of how Indigenous values can shape innovative and ethical approaches to business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pitura says she\u2019s looking forward to the conversation with Cote-Meek, during which she will reflect on leadership and share how she\u2019s building a business that honours where she comes from while also opening doors for future generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough Mini Tipi, [co-founder] Melanie [Bernard] and I are building a business that reflects reconciliation in action, grounded in respect, relationships and shared responsibility,\u201d Pitura says. \u201cOur approach is rooted in authenticity, strong values and a commitment to proper representation of Indigenous stories, voices and artistry. We believe business can be a powerful space to create understanding, celebrate culture and show what meaningful collaboration can look like when it is led with care and purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Goodman Dean Barry Wright, the speaker series is not only an important way to amplify the voices of Indigenous leaders but also offers students and the community an opportunity to hear directly from an entrepreneur who has built a brand that excels in design and innovation while bridging culture and purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cHearing from Trisha will inspire our students to think more boldly, lead authentically and recognize how business can be both a powerful vehicle for personal expression and social impact,\u201d Wright says.<\/p>\n

This is the sixth annual Indigenous Leaders Speakers Series. Previous honourees include celebrated changemaker Fallon Farinnacci; Jon Davey (BA \u201905), Vice-President, CEO Support at Scotiabank; Karen MacKenzie, co-founder and President of MacKintosh Canada; Mallory Yawnghwe, founder and CEO of Indigenous Box; and Jenn Harper, founder of Cheekbone Beauty Inc.<\/p>\n

To receive a link to the free community webinar, register online through the speaker series website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Entrepreneur and advocate Trisha Pitura, co-owner and creative director of Canadian lifestyle brand Mini Tipi, will be honoured at Brock University\u2019s annual Indigenous Leader Speaker Series\u00a0next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":110504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,9794,7484,3319,6833,1],"tags":[4402,2852,594,9642,10448,15185,15184],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110502"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110508,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110502\/revisions\/110508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}