At Gwaii, we are committed to being engaged and involved with our local community.
This year, we have chosen to focus our efforts on an environmental initiative- volunteering our physical efforts to local organizations, donating money to support environmental causes, and speaking at events where our knowledge and expertise can help to spread awareness.
Gwaii is also committed to engaging with local First Nations communities, not only through engineering work but also supporting and educating young members on career and education possibilities and training Indigenous staff on our projects.
Read more about our recent community engagement below!
In September 2022, we hosted a COMMUNITY BEACH CLEANUP in Victoria, BC in partnership with the North American Youth Parliament for Water.
We collected several buckets of trash from the shoreline at Clover Point with the help of many volunteers. Thank to you Melina for spearheading this initiative!
Late last year the Gwaii Team was given a tour of the TSAWOUT BIGHOUSE by Tsawout Councillor John Etzel, and Special Projects Manager Wayne Helgason.
This was a very special opportunity to learn about the history of the site, as well as the many events & ceremonies that will be held in this incredible new building.
Thank you to John & Wayne for so graciously hosting us and we look forward to the official opening!
We were very proud to be a sponsor of Seaweed Days 2022, taking place in Victoria, BC.
This amazing festival is hosted by Cascadia Seaweed, with the goal of expanding consumer acceptance of seaweed and its many potential uses — human food, pet food, livestock feed, bio-packaging, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, biofuels, and more!
We are (were) so happy to join a great group of local sponsors and collaborators to help bring this festival to life.
In June of 2021 we created the ḴEL,ḴELOŦEN ȻE S,ISTEW̱ Education Fund Award with our partners AME Group, Diamond Schmitt, Number TEN Architectural group, RJC Engineers, AES Engineering, and the Victoria Native Friendship Centre.
There are very few Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis professionals working in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Many engineering and architecture firms work with Indigenous communities, but few have Indigenous people working within their organizations. We recognize this and want to help Indigenous people pursue careers in our industry.
The Fund supports Indigenous persons residing in BC and pursuing post-secondary studies. The fund provides both financial support with an annual $5,000 award and career mentorship for all applicants.
To honour the local Nations, the team worked with the SENĆOŦEN Language-Revitalization Group to name the fund. What emerged through conversation was this phrase: ḴEL,ḴELOŦEN ȻE S,ISTEW̱. The English translation is “a dream for what becomes of you”.
For upcoming grants & funding opportunities for First Nations communities in BC, useful resources, company updates and more.
