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Influential Leaders

Kathleen BlueSky

CEO, Treaty One Development Corporation
Recognition Year(s): 2025
Area of Impact: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
School: I.H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba
Location: Canada

Summary

Kathleen BlueSky is an entrepreneur and intrapreneur whose innovative thinking and work is transforming the social and economic landscape of Manitoba. Her entrepreneurial journey began when she founded Seven Feathers Consulting in 2008. In 2015, she co-founded Wiiji’idiwag Ikwewag (Women Helping Each Other), which provides support for and promotes traditional Indigenous childbirth and parenting teachings. Currently, BlueSky serves as the CEO of the Treaty One Development Corporation (T1DC), where her strategic acumen continues to shape the trajectory of Indigenous economic development and prosperity.

Entrepreneurial Impact

A First Nations woman, BlueSky uses her skills, experience, and expertise to empower self-determination at every level. She says, “Business is the best place to do that, to reinforce a solid foundation of independence, self-worth, and spirit. Entrepreneurship is about believing in yourself, believing in your value, 100 percent.”

With an MBA from the I.H. Asper School of Business and over two decades of dedicated service, BlueSky has emerged as a champion for the growth of Indigenous economies by nurturing entrepreneurs and cultivating organizational excellence in the community. She is driven by a desire to uplift Indigenous people and create more sustainable, just systems in her community. She has worked with First Nations her entire career through her service in leadership positions at the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.

Today, BlueSky is CEO of her own practice, Seven Feathers Consulting; co-founder of Wiiji’idiwag Ikwewag, a First Nations birthing support service; and CEO of T1DC, the organization leading the development of Naawi-Oodena, the largest urban reserve in Canada. Her role as co-founder and board chair of Wiiji’idiwag Ikwewag began during her MBA studies.

Manitoba, the community BlueSky serves, has the highest rates of children removed from the home and placed in out-of-home care through Child and Family Services. Of the province’s estimated 10,000 children in out-of-home placements per year, 90 percent are Indigenous. Viewing this as a continuation of colonialism separating Indigenous families, BlueSky and co-founder of Wiiji’idiwag Ikwewag Jolene Mercer strove to intervene.

Garnering support from the Winnipeg Boldness Project and later securing Manitoba’s first social impact bond, BlueSky and Mercer raised an initial 2.7 million CAD (approximately 1.9 million USD) from private investors. Wiiji’idiwag Ikwewag has had success in its birthing and family support model. Preventing over 75 percent of removals in its first year, the organization has kept more Indigenous children and parents together through access to culturally sensitive and relevant care.

As CEO of T1DC, BlueSky engages her entrepreneurial mindset to lead the strategic vision and direction of the organization, which is well-positioned for growth. Manitoba has the highest percentage of Indigenous peoples in Canada—more than 18 percent of its population.

T1DC aims to advance the economic and social interests of the seven First Nations that signed Treaty No. 1 with the British crown in 1871. Under BlueSky’s leadership, the organization is redeveloping a former army barracks into Canada’s largest urban reserve, a project that will shape Winnipeg’s future urban growth, generate significant economic investment, and connect communities.

Additional Information