Dawn Madahbee Leach

General Manager, Waubetek Business Development Corporation

Dawn Madahbee Leach is a proud member of the Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, where she has served as a member of her community’s elected council.

Since 1988, she has been general manager of the Waubetek Business Development Corporation, an Indigenous financial institution that provides financing and economic services to Indigenous entrepreneurs and First Nation communities throughout northeast Ontario.

Under her leadership, Waubetek has proudly invested more than C$140 million in nearly 4,000 Aboriginal businesses who experience a business success rate of 94 per cent.

Ms. Madahbee Leach also studied at York University and Laurentian University, where she earned a degree in political science with a minor in law.

Dawn shares her knowledge and expertise on various boards and committees, including the National Indigenous Economic Development Board where she currently serves as chair.

She also serves on the boards of the Peace Hills Trust Company, NioBay Minerals Inc., and the Indigenous Centre of Excellence for Mineral Development. She participates on the Indigenous Working Groups on Indigenous Procurement, the Indigenous Innovative Housing Initiative, and with Global Affairs Canada, providing input for Canada’s free trade agreements.

She championed an initiative on Indigenous economic inclusion led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and worked alongside national Indigenous organizations to develop the 2022 National Indigenous Economic Strategy for Canada, the first strategy of its kind penned exclusively by Indigenous People.

Dawn’s work has been acknowledged by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, which honoured her with the 2023 Business Lifetime Achievement Award. She also received the 2020 INDSPIRE Award in the Business and Commerce Category and was celebrated as one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network in 2018.

She received the Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General in 2018. She has been a speaker at international forums in Australia, Chile, New Zealand, Sweden, Paris, Germany, the U.S., and at the UN on Indigenous economic development.