Women’s Indigenous Network for Development Society (WINDS) is a Nova Scotia non-profit organization created to advance the economic, social, and leadership opportunities of Indigenous women.
Our work focuses on employment, entrepreneurship, education, digital skills, leadership development, mentorship, wrap-around supports, and systemic change.
We believe Indigenous women should have access to the tools, resources, networks, and opportunities they need to build safe, stable, self-determined, and economically secure lives.
We envision a future where Indigenous women have equitable access to employment, entrepreneurship, education, leadership, technology, and the supports they need to thrive.
We want to see Indigenous women fully represented in workplaces, businesses, leadership roles, decision-making spaces, skilled trades, STEM, technology, and emerging sectors.
WINDS exists to advance the economic independence, leadership, safety, stability, and well-being of Indigenous women through:
employment and career development
entrepreneurship and business supports
leadership development
training and digital inclusion
mentorship and networking
trauma-informed wrap-around supports
partnerships and systemic change
Our goal is to help remove barriers while creating opportunities for women to move forward on their own terms.
WINDS is guided by a women-centred, culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and strength-based approach.
We recognize that Indigenous women may face barriers connected to poverty, housing instability, transportation, childcare, technology access, discrimination, trauma, and limited access to professional networks or opportunities.
We also recognize that these barriers do not exist in isolation.
WINDS works both to support women directly and to work with employers, institutions, governments, educators, and other partners to improve the systems that shape women’s opportunities.
Economic security can be an important form of prevention.
When women have stable income, employable skills, education, supportive networks, housing stability, and greater financial independence, they are better positioned to make choices about their lives and respond to difficult circumstances.
Through its work, WINDS aims to help reduce vulnerability to:
poverty
homelessness and housing insecurity
unemployment and underemployment
financial dependence
exploitation
human trafficking
social isolation
other forms of economic and social vulnerability
WINDS exists to advance the economic independence, leadership, safety, stability, and well-being of Indigenous women through:
employment and career development
entrepreneurship and business supports
leadership development
training and digital inclusion
mentorship and networking
trauma-informed wrap-around supports
partnerships and systemic change
Our goal is to help remove barriers while creating opportunities for women to move forward on their own terms.
Although WINDS is a newly established organization, its leadership brings extensive experience supporting Indigenous women in employment, entrepreneurship, training, leadership development, barrier reduction, and wrap-around services.
The team’s collective experience includes employment program management, entrepreneurship support, partnership development, training delivery, proposal development, program administration, community engagement, and connecting Indigenous women with education, employers, funding, and community resources.
WINDS’ founding Board also brings a strong mix of lived and professional experience. Its members include a youth representative, an Elder, entrepreneurs, and an experienced Indigenous employment officer. Together, they bring intergenerational knowledge, business experience, employment-service expertise, community perspectives, and an understanding of the barriers and opportunities facing Indigenous women at different stages of life.
This collective experience helps ensure that WINDS’ work is practical, culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and grounded in the realities of the women and communities it serves.