2023
Dawn Madahbee Leach
Dawn Madahbee Leach is a proud member of the Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Ontario. Since 1988, she has been General Manager of the Waubetek Business Development Corporation, an Indigenous Financial Institution that provides financing and economic services to Aboriginal entrepreneurs and First Nation communities throughout North-East Ontario and Southern Ontario. Under her leadership, Waubetek has proudly invested more than $100 million in 3,500 Aboriginal businesses who experience a business success rate of 94%.
Dawn serves on various Boards and committees including the National Indigenous Economic Development Board where she currently serves as Chair. She is also on the Boards of the Peace Hills Trust Company and NioBay Minerals Inc. She participates in the Indigenous Working Group with Global Affairs on Trade providing input into Canada’s free trade agreements and she championed an initiative on Indigenous economic inclusion led by the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
She is a recipient of the Anishnawbek Nation’s Lifetime Achievement Award; the MNP-AFOA Canada Excellence in Aboriginal Leadership Award and was celebrated as one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network. She received the Meritorious Service Cross (Civilian Division) from the Governor General of Canada. She has been a speaker at international forums in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the U.S. and the UN on Indigenous economic development.
