In the fall of 2017, Indigenous economist Rebecca Adamson asked University of Colorado Law School Professor and Director of the American Indian Law Clinic Carla F. Fredericks to continue her trailblazing work to build capacity for Indigenous Peoples’ participation in corporate shareholder advocacy. The First Peoples Investment Engagement Program was thus formed at the University of Colorado at Boulder under the leadership of Professor Fredericks and Executive Director for the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at the Leeds School of Business Mark Meaney.
The name of the program changed from First Peoples Worldwide to the First Peoples Investment Engagement Program, representing a new iteration of the work to be driven within the University of Colorado as a premier institution for engaged research and scholarship.
Over the last 24 months, Faculty Directors Fredericks and Meaney have built out the program to respond to a new era of interest in the possibility of collaborative advocacy between Indigenous Peoples and investors – an era precipitated in part by the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy. While continuing as a program within the University, the name of the program has returned to First Peoples Worldwide, as announced at its Shareholder Advocacy Leadership Workshop on April 29 in New York.
“Returning the name to First Peoples Worldwide honors Rebecca’s legacy as a visionary economist and advocate for Indigenous Peoples,” said Fredericks. “Through our case study published last fall, Social Cost and Material Loss: The Dakota Access Pipeline, we have found deep traction with Indigenous Peoples and investors to discuss the material impacts related to social risks. The name First Peoples Worldwide provides an umbrella that allows investors and Indigenous Peoples to connect via our program and engage with each other to create solutions to complex development challenges, just as Rebecca envisioned.”
First Peoples Worldwide thus continues its mission at the University of Colorado to work from a foundation of Indigenous values to achieve a sustainable future for all.
