Andre O’Bonsawin is fluently bilingual in English and French. He is an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation. He is originally from Sudbury Ontario. He is the Director of Indigenous Initiatives at Algonquin College in Ottawa. Andre is an intrapreneur and an entrepreneur. He continues to operate his marketing and design firm and operates an online printing business that includes six affiliates across Canada. He is a Queen’s University alumni of Smith School of Business’ Master of Management Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2019).
Andre has over 20 years of marketing and design experience in the areas of tourism, education, economic development, mining and private sectors. He works closely with Indigenous consultants and organizations that help support Indigenous youth and communities.
He was awarded Northern Ontario’s Top 40 under Forty. Colleges and Institutions Canada has rewarded his work a couple of times with the Indigenous Education Excellence Awards for multiple strategic initiatives supporting Indigenous learners and communities.
Andre leads Indigenous Innovation and Entrepreneurship, facilitates a sense of space and place for Indigenous learners and to increase Indigenous outreach, access and engagement with Indigenous communities to enhance the Indigenous learner journey (i.e., transition, progression, graduation and advancement, and re-engagement). He enables collaborative processes and strategic initiatives in respect to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action that benefit all Indigenous peoples.