IONS is situated in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaw people. Unceded means that the Mi’kmaq have never relinquished, sold, traded, or transferred ownership of their land to European settler colonies, yet land was taken over without their consent through various processes of settler colonialism. This territory is covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship, which the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik people first signed with the British Crown in 1726. These Treaties did not involve the surrendering of rights to the lands and resources they had traditionally used and occupied. We are all Treaty People.

We further acknowledge that Nova Scotia is the birthplace of Black culture and heritage in Canada. People of African descent have shared these lands for over 400 years, and over 50 strong and resourceful African Nova Scotian communities exist here today.

We are committed to the struggle against systems of oppression that have resulted in profound inequities and the denial of self-determination rights. We are working actively to deepen our learning at an individual level, provide learning opportunities about anti-racism and decolonization, and to develop partnerships with organizations serving and led by underrepresented groups.

  • Lesley Robb, Swell Impact

    Sustainability strategy and action planning, business modelling, sustainability frameworks (FBC, B Corp, SDGs, etc.) and workshops. We specialize in tourism, but are not limited to it. We proudly work with SMEs, NGOs and non-profits.

  • Tania Cheng

    Organizational design and team culture, service design, process mapping

  • The Funding Coach

    I am a funding coach here to help non profits, charities, community groups, and faith communities put plans together to become financially sustainable so they can serve their communities better.

  • Lisa Jacobs, MSW, CE

    I am a certified accessibility assessor (i.e. I can conduct assessments of buildings and other physical spaces); I do strategic planning using a highly participatory process. I am a certified professional evaluator who can help organizations develop evaluation plans. I provide general facilitation services as well, supporting an organization to work together to achieve a…