EXCPE 1528 - Reciprocity: Structure, Story & Market Strategy

In this course, learners develop skills in business modelling from identifying target customers to choosing legal structures that fit their specific context. The curriculum covers Indigenous storytelling practices as a tool for ethical brand development and market strategy.

By the end of the course, participants complete a Story and Strategy Package, which includes a one-page business model map and a summary of available grants and funding supports. This provides a clear path for how the venture will live in harmony with its community and market.

This course is part of the Roots and Relations certificate, a space for Indigenous learners (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) who are ready to walk the path of entrepreneurship. We welcome those at every stage of their journey:

• 🗸Youth and Early-Career Learners: For our young leaders, this is a safe and supportive place to explore entrepreneurship. It is a space to test your ideas, find your voice, and see how your unique gifts can create a future for yourself and your community.
• 🗸Aspiring Entrepreneurs: For those carrying the seed of a new idea, we help you nurture it into a viable venture. By weaving the "Four R's" (Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, and Responsibility) into your business design, you will create a plan that is both practical and rooted in community-focused values.
• 🗸Early-Stage Business Owners: For those whose businesses have already begun to sprout, we provide the tools to help your roots grow deep. We focus on the essentials (governance, financial literacy, and compliance) needed to formalize your operations and secure support from Indigenous financial institutions.

By the end the course, students will be able to:

• 🗸 Determine the most appropriate legal structure for a venture (e.g., sole proprietorship, corporation, or social enterprise).
• 🗸 Create a brand story that uses Indigenous storytelling traditions to connect with a target market.
• 🗸 Develop a basic market strategy and a scan of potential funding sources.
• 🗸 Identify intellectual property considerations relevant to Indigenous knowledge and business.

Our Journey Together (Schedule & Flow)

• 🗸A Sustainable Pace: The full circle of the certificate includes approximately 60 hours of learning across four courses. To ensure balance with your personal and community life, each course is designed to take roughly 15-20 hours of your time.
• 🗸Walking Through the Modules: We move through the modules together at a steady pace, intended to be completed in about a week to a week and a half (roughly 5 hours per module).
• 🗸Your Completion Timeline: This path is flexible to honour your individual needs. Most learners will complete the full certificate within 3 to 6 months of part-time study.

How We Connect (Learning Format)

• 🗸Grounded in Community: Our "bichronous" model means you have the freedom of self-paced activities combined with the warmth of scheduled Advisor meetings.
• 🗸Accessibility Across the Land: This certificate is delivered entirely online. We recognize the importance of staying connected in remote or rural areas; therefore, all materials are low-bandwidth optimized and easy to use on a mobile phone, tablet, or laptop.

A Different Way of Knowing (Academic Model)

• 🗸A Safe Entry Point: There are no rigid academic prerequisites to join us. We offer a space that meets you exactly where you are in your educational journey.
• 🗸Honouring Your Gifts (Assessment): We move away from traditional exams. Instead, our competency-based model focuses on practical deliverables. You will grow your "bundle" (portfolio) with a living business plan, financial records, and a pitch deck: tangible tools for your future.
• 🗸Complete/Not Complete Learning: Courses are assessed based on your mastery of the material rather than a letter grade, ensuring you feel confident in every skill before moving forward.

Recognition & The Gift of Learning (Costs)

• 🗸Honouring Your Success: Upon completing the four-course journey, you will receive a University of Alberta digital certificate. You will also be awarded individual digital badges for each course to honour your progress along the way.
• 🗸Removing Barriers: In the spirit of reciprocity and to support this inaugural launch, the certificate is offered at no cost to learners. This is our commitment to ensuring financial barriers do not stand in the way of Indigenous economic self-determination.

A digital badge will be issued upon course completion. After the grade is posted, Learners will receive an email from MyCreds with instructions on how to access their badge.

It is recommended that learners complete Relevance: Roots, Identity, Community and Venture Design prior to enrolling in this course.