NATION FIRST
PROJECT ALLIANCE

CREATING STRONG PARTNERSHIPS AND PROJECTS

WHO WE ARE

Nation First Investment group was established in 2018 to seek investment into indigenous projects in Canada and to address the challenges indigenous groups have in attracting investment into large infrastructure projects. The covid debacle interrupted many of those projects, and in March 2024 a new exciting joint venture was formed to engage and support first nations and their companies in participating and owning large energy and infrastructure projects. This joint venture is Nation First Project Alliance.

Nation First Project Alliance works between the nation and the various parties involved in any major project, including engineers, investors, finance institutions, private sector as well as individual entrepreneurs.

In the spirit of “nation first” we believe nations are formed and gifted by the creator, and have unique perspectives and contributions to make and these should be protected and celebrated by the broader humanity. We aim to protect the interests of nations within all deals and projects, and as part of this ensure outside investors are also protected and projects are successful.

We provide specific consulting services to assist communities and band owned companies in accessing capital and developing organizations structures for sustainable economic growth.​

[/vc_column_inner]
[/vc_row_inner]

WHAT WE DO

Nation First is a trusted nation-building platform that facilitates win-win solutions to complex projects. We help nations and local communities around the world ACCESS GLOBAL INVESTMENT FUNDS and then MANAGE DISBURSEMENT of funds to ensure performance and alignment with VALUES for the benefit of INVESTORS and PROJECTS. A fundamental requirement of ours is that all projects must make the world a better place.

Our current programs are in the areas of:

• Geothermal
• Waste to Energy
• Health and Wellness
• Clean Energy
• Infrastructure
• Cultural Tourism
• Leveraging existing assets (land, wood, contracts, precious metals etc)

WHY WE DO IT

Indigenous communities around the world are constantly challenged by with bad business deals that extract natural resources in ways that are disrespectful and do not support the communities for the long term. We believe a healthy and sustainable economy is critical to the long term survival of indigenous culture, language and community.

This testimonial from an indigenous Chief in Canada, exemplifies the sort of things we are proud of;

Chief Chad Eneas, British Columbia – “Jonathan Baynes was highly conscientious in assessing our communities values and sought to find truly sustainable opportunities between the economic, social and environmental challenges, with requirements set out by the community and Aboriginal Affairs Canada.  His vision for growth and transparency was underpinned with a depth of knowledge and experience of discrimination and marginalization within the context of indigenous autonomy. He successfully managed a major corporate restructuring, which allowed the band to assume ownership and management of a $320 million dollar project. “

Developing an economy on Indigenous reserve lands can be complex. The federal designation and leasing process in Canada combined with the commercial development of the asset requires a broad range of skills. In 2018 we completed Canada’s fastest land designation process are are confident in our ability to support and lead our clients through this process.

Government funding programs are only one of a number of routes to capital for indigenous projects. Our preference is to work creatively with our clients to access capital from non-governmental sources to develop opportunities and infrastructure.

We are passionate about projects that restore and protect our planet. We are heavily involved in various clean energy and environmental projects around the world and believe that the future lies in environmentally responsible development and economies.

What we mean by “Nation” First

“Nation First” captures a few ideas that are important to us, and came out of our working with Indigenous nations seeking energy, food, water and physical security.

• Wikipedia defines a nation as, “a body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.” Within Canada there are MANY NATIONS that meet the above definition, and all of these are individually important to us.

• Current shareholder and finance models reward companies for externalizing costs – THIS IS BAD. Externalized costs are costs generated by producers but carried by society as a whole. For example, a factory may pollute water by dumping waste in the river without paying for it. Fifty kilometers downstream, the local government has to clean the water to use it as drinking water. Those costs are caused by the factory, but the factory does not pay them; the local government does. That’s what we call externalized costs. Externalizing costs means companies show higher profits, but society is paying for them. Underpaying employees, leading to poverty and associated problems, is another example.

A “nation first” approach, is respectful to all people and the planet for multiple generations. We believe our approach to investment is more sustainable and beneficial to individual nations and the world as a whole.

Team projects and highlights

• Development of an asset base of $40million from $10million in 2 years.
• Major corporate restructuring.
• Fastest land designation in Canada.
• Organizational restructuring for high performing economic development and government organization
• Leadership development and coaching
• Financial systems implementation
• Managed major corporate restructuring, which allowed the indigenous band to assume ownership and management of a $320 million dollar project
• Monetizing existing assets (land, minerals, buildings, equipment, etc.)
• Corporate restructuring, which allowed the band to assume ownership and management of a $320 million dollar project
• Joint Venture and Partnership development
• Tourism, resort development strategies
• Change management, mergers and acquisitions

Contact Us

Need to get in touch? Send us a message!