Entrepreneur and advocate Trisha Pitura, co-owner and creative director of Canadian lifestyle brand MINI TIPI was honoured at Brock University’s annual Indigenous Leader Speaker Series on June 23, 2026.
She was joined in conversation with Interim Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement Shelia Cote-Meek, reflecting on leadership and navigating questions around how she built a business that honours where she comes from while also opening doors for future generations.
We hope this session inspires you to think more boldly, lead authentically and recognize how business can be a powerful vehicle for personal expression AND social impact.
The Indigenous Leader Speaker Series is a partnership between the University’s Office of the Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement and the Goodman School of Business. The series is not only an important opportunity for the School to amplify the voices of Indigenous business leaders, but also a chance for students and community members to hear first-hand from a leader committed to doing business in a socially and environmentally sustainable way.
2026 Distinguished Leader Honouree: Trisha Pitura
Trisha Pitura is an entrepreneur, creative force, and co-owner of MINI TIPI, a Canadian lifestyle brand that collaborates with Indigenous artists to create exclusive designs that ensure proper representation in the industry.
Through her work, she reconnects with her Ojibwe identity using textiles and creativity. She believes in continuous growth through challenges, viewing setbacks as lessons, and emphasizes the importance of community, self-care, and taking risks to pursue one’s dreams with confidence and authenticity.
Trisha Pitura is an entrepreneur, creative force, and co-owner of MINI TIPI, originally from Sudbury and a member of Nipissing First Nation, now based in Gatineau.
With a profound passion for textiles and an unparalleled eye for design, she orchestrates the artistic vision that defines MINI TIPI’s products.
In her role as creative director, she infuses every aspect of the business with her unique creative flair. She also leads the artist collaborations, forging meaningful partnerships that enrich the collections with cultural depth, representation and authenticity. She is the driving force behind the product development, ensuring that each development not only embodies beauty but also tells a story.
Through her work, she reconnects with her Ojibwe identity using textiles and creativity. She believes in continuous growth through challenges, viewing setbacks as lessons, and emphasizes the importance of community, self-care, and taking risks to pursue one’s dreams with confidence and authenticity.
Previous Indigenous Leader Speaker Series Honourees
Fallon Farinacci, 2025
A proud Red River Métis, Fallon is a Speaker, Survivor and Advocate for MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls). Fallon has cultivated an incredible community and uses her online platform to share her story, give back to the Indigenous community and raise awareness for causes and organizations close to her heart. Fallon testified in the National Inquiry for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, sharing her story of loss and trauma. Later, Fallon joined The National Family Advisory Circle, where she worked closely with other MMIWG2S+ family members and the Commissioners for the National Inquiry. Fallon continues to share her family’s story & bring awareness to the ongoing Genocide Indigenous women, girls, 2S+ folx face in hopes of bringing change & awareness across Turtle Island.
Jon Davey (BA ’05), 2024
Davey is Haudenosaunee and a proud member of the Lower Cayuga of Six Nations of the Grand River. He is Chief of Staff to the President and CEO of Scotiabank, as well as the first Brock University graduate to receive the Indigenous Leader designation. In his role, he assists with specialized Indigenous client solutions as the former Head of Indigenous Financial Services at Scotiabank (2018 to 2023).
Karen MacKenzie, 2023
A proven leader, a skilled consultant and an empowering coach, Karen MacKenzie is a proud Cree-Métis woman and the Co-Founder and President of MacKintosh Canada, an Indigenous owned, international consulting company. Also the Co-Founder of PeopleBest Canada, an artificial intelligence company that looks at what makes success happen inside people, teams and organizations, shared how she brings her traditional knowledge of indigenous ways into the contemporary workplace as this wisdom and way of being reflect “wise practices of high performance organizations.”
Mallory Yawnghwe, 2022
The Founder and CEO of Indigenous Box, Mallory Yawnghwe, joined us to discuss her journey and her company’s values, which are based on the teachings of shared abundance through reciprocity and connectedness. Indigenous Box is a subscription box and corporate gift service that promotes Indigenous entrepreneurship by creating opportunities for emerging, under-represented and established Indigenous businesses to reach new customers.
Jenn Harper, 2021
Niagara entrepreneur Jenn Harper, the Founder of Cheekbone Beauty – a sustainable and socially-conscious cosmetics company, was honoured at the inaugural Indigenous Leader Speaker Series. Cheekbone Beauty is committed to helping close the educational funding gap that exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, donating 10 per cent of its profits to the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. Harper also strives to educate as many Canadians as possible about the Residential School System and the effects it had on her family and friends through decades of generational trauma.
