Our Vision

Grounded in collective action and knowledge, the Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative (RRII) supports investment decision-makers in aligning their financial assets with Indigenous and community values.

Guided by Indigenous investors and Indigenous-led organizations, RRII mobilizes both non-Indigenous and Indigenous institutional investors to use their voices and capital to promote positive economic outcomes for Indigenous peoples. These outcomes include improved Indigenous employment, support for Indigenous entrepreneurs, increased partnerships with Indigenous communities, and respect for Indigenous rights and title.

Our work ensures Indigenous rights, values and aspirations are reflected and upheld in investment policies and practices, including in relationships with advisors and asset managers.

Call to Action 92: Business and Reconciliation

Our approach is grounded in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Principles of Reconciliation and Call to Action 92, which states:

We call upon the corporate sector in Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework and to apply its principles, norms, and standards to corporate policy and core operational activities involving Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources.

Our Team

Our team brings together subject matter and lived experience experts, passionate about progressing reconciliation around the world.

Mark Sevestre

FOUNDING MEMBER AND SENIOR ADVISOR, NATOA; GENERAL MANAGER, MISSISSAUGAS OF THE CREDIT FIRST NATION COMMUNITY TRUST

HE/HIM/HIS

In 2006, Mark became one of three founding members of the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association. Serving in several roles, including Board Member, Committee Chairman and President, Mark is currently serving as Founding Member and Senior Advisor to NATOA. NATOA is a Charitable organization, dedicated to providing knowledge and capacity building on trust funds and investment for Indigenous communities. Mark is leading the Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative in partnership with Share Canada which is linking Indigenous Values to Indigenous Investing as well as helping Non-Indigenous Investors utilize their portfolios to achieve the goals of Reconciliation in Canada. Mark is an Advisory Board Member of First Peoples Worldwide at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Mark also currently serves as the General Manager of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Community Trust since 1999. Mark has served as a Branch/Financial Services Manager with the Bank of Montreal opening a branch within the Onyota’aka (Oneida) First Nation near London, Ontario. Mark is a graduate of Mount Allison University (1991) and began his working career within the Federal Government.

Mark is Mohawk and resides in the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Mark volunteers his time coaching as an Assistant Coach with the McKinnon Park Secondary School Blue Devil Football team in Caledonia, Ontario.

Shannon Rohan

Chief Strategy Officer, SHARE

Shannon has over 20 years of experience in responsible investment, cooperative development and sustainability with experience working in Canada, South Africa and Latin America. Shannon has helped build SHARE’s investor network to include foundations, Indigenous trusts, universities, pension funds and faith-based investors with over $90 billion in assets under management.

Shannon advises asset owner boards in their implementation of responsible investment policies and practices and oversees strategic projects for SHARE. She on the board of the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation and the proxy voting service provider GIR.

She has a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Simon Fraser University.

Joseph Bastien

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, INCLUSIVE ECONOMY, SHARE

HE/HIM/HIS

Joseph is Anishinaabe (Ojibway) from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, and has over 15 years of experience working with Indigenous communities and organizations across Canada and internationally, including the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC), the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB), and the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCNI). Joseph has also advised municipal, provincial, federal, and foreign governments on stakeholder relations, and economic development strategies.

Joseph has a Bachelor of Social Science in Political Science and Aboriginal Studies from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Art in Political Science from Western University (M.A., Political Science).

 

Molly Damiani

PROGRAM OFFICER, INDIGENOUS RECONCILIATION AND RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT, SHARE

SHE/HER/HERS

Molly joined the Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative as a Program Officer in July 2023.

Prior to joining RRII, Molly held several positions within social enterprises, non-profits, and political advocacy organizations. Her experience includes interning for Amnesty International Canada and managing the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP)’s Indigenous Innovation and social innovation project, Wìdjìwàgan: Tools for Social Innovation.

Molly holds a Master’s in Development Practice (MDP) – Indigenous Development from the University of Winnipeg, a Graduate Diploma in Social Organization Development from Saint-Paul University, and a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies from Carleton University.

Our Partners

The Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative is a partnership between the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association (NATOA) and the Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE).