Amy : Working with Indigenous Communities Towards Meaningful Participation

Amy leads work focused on Indigenous socio-economic participation, with an emphasis on establishing the conditions for meaningful involvement in the high-speed rail network project. With experience in community planning, community economic development and policy development, she brings a practical and grounded approach to ensuring Alto’s engagement translates into tangible and lasting opportunities for Indigenous communities along the corridor.

What inspired you to join Alto?

What drew me to Alto was actually hearing a presentation on the project. I remember thinking, this is really interesting. I thought: I want to be part of this. What stood out was how open leadership was to Indigenous participation, and how early that thinking was happening.

I’m from Six Nations of the Grand River, where I started my career as a community planner working on infrastructure, housing, and long-term development. I’ve also worked across provincial and federal policy in areas like energy, housing, and economic development.  Before Alto, I ran my own consulting business focused on Indigenous strategy, program development, policy, governance, and leadership.

I’ve been fortunate to contribute to initiatives with tangible community benefits. Throughout my career, I’ve often had to balance my responsibility as a Haudenosaunee woman to protect the earth for future generations with the need for present-day development. I believed that perspective could help a project of this size and scope. I am always asking how we can move things forward in a way that respects the land and future generations.

Alto felt like one of those projects, with the potential for real, visible change. I wanted to be part of that. 

How would you describe your role in a few sentences?

My role is really about creating the conditions for communities to maximize their participation in the project, especially economic participation.

I don’t go into communities and design programs for them. Instead, I ask: what do we need to have in place so that communities can fully participate in a way that lines up with their goals, and what is the best way to establish those systems? My focus is on creating opportunities that make sense for a given community so that they can take them up in a meaningful and effective way. 

What best enables meaningful Indigenous participation in the project?

A lot of that foundation is built through relationships. Our Engagement Leads make sure communication is clear, that commitments are followed through, and that communities have the information they need.

The trust they build is what allows for honest conversations. And some of those conversations are hard. Without them, though, you don’t get to the best solutions. Once that foundation is there, ideas start to flow more openly, and you can work together in a more meaningful way. Strong relationships always lead to better outcomes. If the relationships are there, you can find a path forward together.

Engaging early gives communities the ability to influence the project. Too often, engagement happens after key decisions are already made, which makes it difficult to incorporate feedback in a meaningful way.

Right now, we’re at a stage where decisions are still being shaped. That creates real space for communities to be involved, to influence systems, processes, and outcomes. That reinforces the sense of ownership and connection. And ultimately, it makes the project better. 

What does it take to move from engagement to meaningful participation?

For me, the connection comes down to how you turn what you hear into action. Earlier in my career, I worked on developing the Six Nations Development Corporation. That started with engagement, asking the community how economic development could reflect local priorities. We built an entire organization around what we heard – one that is very successful today and has reinvested significantly in the community.

At Alto, engagement is where we begin. It makes for a stronger project when we have a lot of different voices at the table. The real work is creating systems and processes based on what communities are saying and building that directly into how the project operates, whether that’s procurement, training, or other systems. 

What’s an example of participation in practice?

If a community can look at what we’ve built and see themselves reflected in it, then we’ve done it right.

A tangible example is Indigenous procurement. We’re working with communities that already have their own business directories and business verification processes.

If a community has already identified and verified its businesses, we can recognize and use that. That way, when procurement opportunities come up, communities can see their own systems reflected in the process.

That’s also about respecting self-governance. Communities have built these systems themselves, and our role is to support and uphold that, not replace it. 

What do long-term benefits look like beyond jobs and procurement?

Jobs and procurement are important, but they’re just one part of it. I work a lot on what we call socio-economic benefits and longer-term participation.

That can include opportunities that carry on into operations. Think things like training programs, ongoing services, or Indigenous businesses contributing to the broader passenger experience. You can imagine things like products, services, or offerings in stations that come from and reflect Indigenous narratives and communities.

There’s also long-term financial participation. These are opportunities for communities to have an ongoing stake in the project over its lifecycle, creating lasting value that continues well beyond the construction phase.

Because we’re still in the project’s early days, we have a great opportunity to align project needs with community interests in a very direct way. 

What does an “above and beyond” approach to Indigenous engagement look like?

To me, the baseline is the duty to consult. That’s required. Everything beyond that is where the opportunity is. It’s where you can be more creative and look at what communities are asking for and find ways to bring those ideas into the project.

I studied architecture, so I think in terms of systems, and am always looking at how different pieces fit together. In this role, that means identifying opportunities—sometimes things you might not initially expect—and figuring out how they can become part of the project.

To me, Alto is more than building a train. It’s about everything that can come from that, like new opportunities, new partnerships, and new ways for communities to be involved.

Thank you for your time, Amy.