Our Vision

“the global leader in achieving development impact with Indigenous Peoples”

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Our Mission

“A global company supporting Indigenous development in ways that honour Indigenous leadership, innovation and respect Indigenous cultures”

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Indigenous Professionals Supporting Indigenous People to Prosper.

Indigenous peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment. They have retained social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies of the country in which they live.

 

Whether they be a lawyer, doctor, governance specialist, entrepreneur, scientist, engineer, gender equality advisor, anti-violence against women expert, health care worker, teacher or agribusiness specialist, they deliver equally well as non-indigenous professionals, however, they also bring an understanding of their culture as an aspect of delivery. For too long donors have failed to realise the strengths in engaging experienced Indigenous professionals.

 

i2i Global follows a strength-based approach to the development of Indigenous communities by utilising the strengths in their cultures, traditional practices, extended family, heritage, scientific knowledge, worldview and longer-term approaches. The fact is there is a growing stream of qualified and experienced Indigenous professionals, or subject matter experts, who can bring both Indigenous and non-Indigenous experiences into the development context.

Why i2i, or ‘indigenous to indigenous’?

For many decades donor countries (e.g. USA, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom), multinational corporations and development agencies such as the Inter-American Development Bank (BID), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank have been sending competent

non-indigenous professionals to aid Indigenous communities in developing countries. In recent

years the emergence of Indigenous professionals have presented an opportunity to the development

sector – there is now a pool of qualified, experienced and willing Indigenous professionals, contractors and companies ready to support development agendas with other Indigenous peoples globally.

Indigenous peoples are skilled in being effective within culturally and ethnically diverse environments. Many are proficient in achieving outcomes within culturally diverse workplaces and companies. These Indigenous professionals are a valuable pool of consultants and professionals to be considered for overseas aid and development contracts.

 

Most Indigenous professionals have already established their professional experiences within similar community contexts as those found with other Indigenous peoples in other countries. They are now ready to assist fellow Indigenous peoples with their own development agendas.

i2i Global Supports Indigenous Communities Participation in their Economies

 

As a result of a long history of colonisation, many Indigenous peoples were isolated and disempowered, on their own lands, resulting in them being non-participants in the regional or national economy. i2i Global is committed to supporting Indigenous peoples in the development of their communities and acknowledges they were the first scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators on Earth.

 

The United Nations reports that there are about 370 million Indigenous people in the world. By comparison, the population of the United States is around 330 million.

 

While Indigenous peoples account for only 5 per cent of the global population, they comprise a majority of the populations of developing countries.

 

Several affluent western countries have indigenous populations as minority ethnic groups as a result of colonisation, for example, Australia (3.3%), USA (2%), Canada (4.9%) and New Zealand (15%).

 

Indigenous peoples make up 8 per cent of the population in Latin America. Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and Bolivia have the largest Indigenous populations, with more than 80 per cent of the regional total, or 34 million peoples.

 

In contrast, and despite a level of colonisation, some countries have populations where large proportions are of Indigenous descent. Consider Indonesia, where 87% of the population have indigenous heritage and around 30% identify as Indigenous, or Pacific Island Countries who boast Indigenous populations of between 92%-99%.

 

i2i Global considers three key factors impacting on the engagement of Indigenous professionals: economic participation, education attainment and active social engagement.

Company Profile

i2i Development Global Pty Ltd (“i2i Global”) is a private company incorporated in Australia (ACN 630 070 503) with operations in Indo-Pacific, Latin America and Australia.

 

The company was founded in 2015 and re-structured in 2018 to achieve 100% Indigenous ownership, decision making and leadership. There are two Indigenous shareholders in Australia and a third in Chile.

 

i2i Global delivers consultancy and contractual services supporting and implementing Official Development Assistance that has a focus on improving development outcomes with Indigenous peoples and/or are being delivered by professionals of Indigenous descent in-country.