Paulette Flamond
Paulette Flamond is a strong and proud Metis woman who grew up in Battleford, Saskatchewan, before finding her way to Charlie Lake in B.C.’s Peace Region, 24 years ago. The area, just outside of Fort St John, is her personal haven where she spends her limited spare time organic gardening and weaving her traditional cultural beliefs into a healthy and productive lifestyle.
Paulette is a local business owner who has created a specialty store, Scoop Clothing, which caters to women in the region. Her post-secondary education includes a Diploma in Native Communications from Grant MacEwan College, and an Aboriginal Management Certification from the UBC Sauder School of Business. She was also awarded an Honorary Associate Arts Degree from Northern Lights College in 2013 and hold two Coaching Certificates.
As an engaged and knowledgeable member of her community, Paulette has long been an advocate for entrepreneurial and capacity development for non-status, Metis, Inuit and Aboriginal people. She has been the Executive Director of the Northeast Aboriginal Business Centre for the past 16 years and has always worked with her clients to build skills and find solutions through challenging economic times. She has served as the Northern BC Rep on the Canada Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO) for six years, and as a Board Member on the Aboriginal Business Service Network for eight years. Paulette has also served the provincial government on the Northern Development Initiative Trust and the Native Economic Development Advisory Board.
In 2011 Paulette was honored to be appointed by B.C.’s Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation to the Minister’s Advisory Council on Aboriginal Women, a role she served until January 2019.
Paulette has been honored with many awards for her advocacy work, including the Northern British Columbia Business and Technology Mentor Award, Aurora Award of Distinction for Aboriginal Woman of the Year from Community Futures, and the Economic Developer of the Year Award from CANDO.