About Us

The I-ACE Program began as a vision of Frank Parnell's, CEO of Tribal Resources Investment Corporation (TRICORP) (left). Frank invited Dr. Brent Mainprize from the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria (right) to co-design the ACE Program.  In 2013, TRICORP invited the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria to be the key education delivery partner for the ACE Programs. Also in 2013, the first Northwest ACE (NW-ACE) cohort was launched and completed in Prince Rupert. 2014 was marked by the second program of ACE to begin in Haida Gwaii.   Two years later, the ACE Program continued to create new programs while simultaneously receiving international recognition. The partnership between TRICORP, the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria, Indigenous communities, and governments remains strong as the program continues to grow. This growth was most prevalent in 2018 when the ACE Program received $1 million in funding from BMO. 2019 continued along the path of growth as three new locations began their first cohorts of ACE programs.    This trend continued into 2020 as the ACE Program entered the new decade by re-branding as Indigenous Advancement of Cultural Entrepreneurship. While maintaining the same award-winning program, Indigenous ACE evolved with a new logo, name, and online learning platform.

I-Manager was designed and developed in 2021, in partnership with the National Consortium for Indigenous Economic Development (NCIED) and Gustavson School of Business(GSB) at the University of Victoria. The IMRE Program supports participants to build on their management, administrative, leadership knowledge, skills and capabilities to increase their organizations’ impact in their community. This particular program is tailored to the renewable energy industry in BC and AB.