About WIBF
Who are we?
Indigenous Leadership Development Institute Inc. (ILDII), an Indigenous run not-for-profit organization located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (incorporated in 2000), initiated the World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF), in partnership with leaders of host countries representing Indigenous communities. The most recent edition was held in Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia, October 26 – 28th, 2022. The WIBF draws attention to Indigenous Economic Development and is a non-for-Profit initiative. Presently, a local committee is working in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea together with ILDI in the organization of the WIBF 2023.
The WIBF is a forum where indigenous people from all over the world like the New Zealand Maoris, American Indians and Australian Aborigines converge for face-to-face conversations, envisioning, shared learning, mutual opportunity, investment possibilities and a social and economic purpose. It is a forum that specifically promotes indigenous businesses from all around the world. WIBF provides a platform for exchange of ideas, creation of partnerships and bringing investment to communities, entrepreneurs, and organisations.
Where We've been?
In 2010, ILDII partnered with the World Business Forum in New York City, NY, USA and launched the first ever World Indigenous Business Forum. The following years it was held:
- New York City, NY, USA, 2011
- Sydney, Australia, 2012
- Namibia, Africa, 2013
- Guatemala City, Guatemala, 2014
- Honolulu, Hawaii, 2015
- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 2016
- Santiago de Chile, 2017
- Rotorua, New Zealand, 2018
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 2019
- Virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 & 2021
- Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia, 2022
- Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 2023
In Guatemala, attending leaders signed the Guatemala Protocol, which initiated the World Indigenous Business Network (WIBN).
The “WIBF day” was created by the Governor of Hawaii to acknowledge the Forum.
The WIBF in Saskatoon attracted over one thousand enterprise minded people from 11 different countries and a new definition for “Indigenous Development” was proposed, discussed, voted, and agreed to. As a result, it changed the Wikipedia definition.