What's in a name? Well, Let's ask Indspire.

What’s that, you ask? That’s the new name of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. The new identity, Indspire says, signals a new day for Indigenous education in Canada. Indspire’s new tagline, says it all: “Indigenous education, Canada’s future.” Indspire is a combination of key concepts of Indigenous and inspiration to highlight the organization’s mandate. “As the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, we were well-known for our work in recognizing Indigenous role models and achievement,” said Roberta Jamieson, Indspire President and CEO and executive producer of the Indspire Awards. (The National Aboriginal Achievement Awards will now be known as the Indspire Awards.) “Yet achievement is difficult without a quality education. This compelled us to play a more active role in improving and even transforming Indigenous education from the very onset of learning.” Indspire will continue its distribution of bursaries and scholarships. Since 1985, the organization has awarded more than $42.7 million to more than 11,500 First Nations, Inuit and MÈtis students nationwide. When fully implemented, an Indspire Institute will be one of the key elements of the organization’s redefined focus. The institute is a virtual, online hub dedicated to sharing and creating programs, learning and best practices in Indigenous education from K-12, with a primary goal of improving high school completion rates. It will house many of Indspire’s existing programs, become a source of distinct and respectful practices and related resources for Indigenous education, and will develop and implement “on the-ground” programming in communities nationwide, a press release promises.

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