Indigenous Allyship Coaching for Leaders
Build real confidence and practical skills for meaningful Indigenous relations.
This cohort-based program is for leaders and decision-makers who want to move beyond basic cultural awareness and build genuine, respectful relationships with Indigenous partners and communities.
Instead of a typical lecture-style or one-off workshop, this program combines practical skills training with small-group executive coaching. With a maximum of 10 participants per cohort, you will work through real challenges, practice actionable behaviors, and learn new concepts alongside peers facing similar responsibilities.
What makes this program different
- Focus on real-world behavior: Learn the specific skills and communication habits needed to engage respectfully and avoid common missteps.
- Designed for busy leaders: The program offers short sessions (1 hour each) over a period of 12 weeks, allowing time to digest the learning, reflect on how it impacts you personally and professionally, and begin to activate change in your organization.
- A confidential space for hard questions: Work through your specific organizational roadblocks and unanswered questions in a confidential space, without judgment, with a group of your peers.
- Applied learning: The sessions alternate between core concepts and facilitated group coaching, ensuring you can actively apply what you learn to your daily work.
- Diverse perspectives: Features live insights from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous guest speakers sharing real experiences and practical guidance.
- Long-term peer network: Build relationships with a trusted group of fellow leaders.
Topics included
- What it means to be an ally and why you never call yourself one
- Privilege, oppression and anti-oppression
- Making mistakes and overcoming fear
- Cultural humility and cultural safety
- Ethical space model for deepening Indigenous relations
- Building trust with Indigenous partners
- Working with Elders and Knowledge Keepers
- Embodied self-care
- Developing a personal action plan
- Other suggested topics identified by the group
- Corporate leaders: Make engagement more effective, build genuine partnership capacity, and align operations with reconciliation commitments.
- Government leaders: Fulfill reconciliation mandates with confidence, lead teams with cultural safety and respect.
- Philanthropy leaders: Empower Indigenous-led grant making, attract Indigenous applicants, and foster authentic, community-led relationships.
Is this program right for you?
- This program is ideal if you:
- Hold decision-making authority in your organization or sector.
- Have a current mandate or active interest in engaging with Indigenous peoples.
- Want to focus on personal leadership habits, relationship-building, and operationalizing change.
Please note what this program is not:
- It is not a history course: We do not cover the foundational history or impacts of colonization. If you need an introduction or refresher on these topics, we can recommend excellent foundational courses to take first. If you’re in Victoria, check out the Community Learning Program that we helped to design.
- It is not organizational strategy consulting: We focus on individual leadership and conduct. If your organization needs strategic planning or policy redesign, ask about our Pathway to Reconciliation program.
- It is not advising: The focus is not on telling you how to handle specific situations, but rather on empowering you with the skills to navigate these situations yourself. If you desire additional advising, we can arrange for private sessions with the facilitator or with an Indigenous advisor or Elder.
Meet your facilitator
Rachel Mason
Masters in Education, Certified Executive Coach & Team Coach
Rachel’s cultural heritage is Eastern-European Jewish and English. She lives on the beautiful territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking people, the Songhees and Xwsepsum (Esquimalt) Nations, in what is today known as Victoria, B.C.
Rachel has worked extensively with Indigenous organizations and Nations for 25 years.
She has also worked in depth with many organizations to increase their Indigenous cultural competency and enact steps towards reconciliation.
Rachel develops and delivers participatory learning curricula that offers opportunities for personal growth, inquiry-based learning, and cross-cultural understanding. She is a founding member of the Called to Action Collaborative, a network of Elders and Indigenous and non-Indigenous consultants working in partnership to support learning for reconciliation. She has worked in partnership with Indigenous colleagues and community members to develop the Community Learning Program, Indigenous Safety in Healthcare Program, and Ethical Space training.
She has worked in partnership with Indigenous colleagues and community members to develop the Community Learning Program, Indigenous Safety in Healthcare Program, and Ethical Space training.
Rachel is passionate about working with leaders and influencers to create transformative learning and change on personal, organizational, and societal levels. To read Rachel’s full bio, click here.
She has always been a trusted ally and supporter of urban Indigenous groups and has worked with my home community of Alert Bay through her partnership with Nawalakw Healing Society. I have also witnessed and participated in her work with many non-Indigenous groups, including government and community-based, to support them with their reconciliation efforts in an effective and culturally sensitive way.
Rachel’s work will continue to build bridges and create understanding that will enhance relationships and lead to active change in the workplace and in communities. I can’t imagine anyone better to lead this allyship coaching program
Program Details & Registration
Winter 2027 Cohort
- Dates: January 8 – March 26th, 2027
- Schedule: Weekly on Friday mornings, 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM, Pacific Standard Time
- Format: 12 live, 1-hour online group sessions
- Time Commitment: 1 hour/week for session attendance + 30 minutes/week for self-reflection and preparation
- Cohort Size: Limited to 5-10 participants
Requirements
Because group trust and continuity are essential to this format, participants are expected to attend all 12 sessions (exceptions made for illness, family emergencies, bereavement, or sudden cultural obligations).
Investment
$2,400 + GST per participant
10% of your fee goes directly to an Indigenous-led organization working on cultural revitalization
What’s included: 12-facilitated sessions, at least 4 additional guest speakers, custom-designed materials to support you on your learning journey before and after the program, and access to an ongoing peer support cohort if desired.
To apply for the 2027 cohort:
Contact Rachel at Rachel.mason@arriveconsulting.ca or +1-778-922-0534.
You will be invited to a 15-minute informational interview to ensure this program is the right fit for you.
