IBL EMBA alumnus leads technology advancements for First Nations and Canada

When Natiea Vinson was named CEO of the First Nations Technology Council in 2023, it was the culmination of years of experience in tech, non-profit, education and art. Her career has always been about best serving First Nations communities and the Indigenous Business Leadership Executive MBA helped Vinson formalize her ability to help nations succeed at the local and national level.

Born in Smithers, B.C. and raised in Vernon and Vancouver, Vinson is a member of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc through her mother’s lineage. Her First Nations identity has been a central part of her life since childhood, shaped by her mother’s experience as a Sixties Scoop survivor and by the reconnection with her First Nations family when she was five. While she did not grow up in community, that sense of belonging profoundly influenced her academic focus, career, and leadership.

“I always felt very at home and comfortable with my First Nations family,” says Vinson. “They are the side of me that I like to model myself after because they are warm, kind, and deeply knowledgeable—people who carry wisdom from all walks of life.”   

A leader in technology

Through FNTC’s province-wide mandate, Vinson leads efforts to support all 204 First Nations in B.C. by advancing digital literacy, technology skills, and strategies that help communities navigate and benefit from the digital economy.

At the national level, Vinson is a member of the Government of Canada’s Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence and was a member of Canada’s 2025 AI Strategy Task Force. Her work directly influences national policy for Canada’s global leadership in AI.

The IBL EMBA filled a gap

After graduating from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Vinson worked with the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business and went on to build a career across Indigenous business, technology, and entrepreneurship. She is also the founder of Makook, an Indigenous content discovery technology startup.

Vinson says her fine arts and tech background prepared her for her roles, but she was missing some fundamental business skills.

After talking with a friend who is an alumnus of the first cohort of the IBL EMBA program, Vinson met with the director of the program and applied soon after.

“It was not even something on my radar,” she says. “As I found myself in more business circles, I realized that an MBA would give me the most flexibility for my career trajectory.”

Leadership shaped by connection and reconciliation

“It has always been about serving the community,” says Vinson. “I like the ability to make decisions, think at a high level, and build something useful for people.”

Vinson’s leadership is grounded in a commitment to Indigenous self-determination, institutional transformation, and supporting First Nations to use technology as a tool for strengthening their communities.

She says the IBL EMBA program gave her confidence in her own leadership by observing how others in the program—professors and peers, including chiefs and CEOs—approached their own leadership style.

A nation-building approach

Vinson reflects on the program’s focus on Indigenous sovereignty, which helped her apply a critical and intellectual lens to the complexity of working with Indigenous communities.

“That approach to my work and how Indigenous people should think of themselves and operate has been life-changing, because it made me approach my work so much differently,” she says.

She notes courses in business law, entrepreneurship, and accounting as exceptionally valuable, especially those with Indigenous storytelling. “I was blown away with the calibre of professors at SFU,” she says.

Advice for future students

Vinson encourages students to do the program when they can wholeheartedly commit to it. “It is about time management,” she says. “The biggest impact will be if you can apply what you are learning in the program to your day-to-day role at work.”