North Forge is pleased to announce the recipients of the Indigenous Entrepreneur Scholarship, generously funded by Indigenous Business Development Services and Community Futures Manitoba. Congratulations to Chantel Wilson and Adrian Alphonso on being awarded with a full access pass to the state-of-the-art North Forge FabLab™ located in the heart of Winnipeg’s Exchange District. 

North Forge’s FabLab™ is one of North America’s largest fabrication and rapid prototyping facility. The training-focused facility grants access to advanced equipment for Manitoban entrepreneurs like Wilson and Alphonso. The scholarship was created to provide access to the FabLab™ at no cost, as well as the opportunity to learn from our in-house mentors for one year. This scholarship fund gives Indigenous entrepreneurs an opportunity to innovate in an open and safe space. 
 
Wilson says the scholarship was a long time coming. “I’ve known about this makerspace for a while now, but this year It came down to either moving to Calgary or staying in Manitoba and getting this scholarship was like it was meant to be,” said Wilson, while talking about how everything aligned with this opportunity.  
 
Wilson is the founder of Our Native Exquisite and has been making her handmade moccasins and mukluks for over 10 years. She wants to take full advantage of the laser cutting machine to speed up cutting out her patterns and use the commercial sewing machine to shorten the main assembling of the moccasins. Wilson says she wants to focus her handcrafted work on the fine detailed pieces of her projects. 

Alphonso is a bicycle knowledge holder and wants to take advantage of the FabLab™ to design a bike frame for the people by the people. He aims to build a bike for all people and especially First Nations people on reserves where there are very few safe biking paths. “I do not need to reinvent the wheel or reinvent the bicycle, I am here to solve problems that are currently in the bicycle industry and to remove barriers,” he said when describing his project plans.  

By honouring and supporting these scholarship recipients, we invest in a future where every Indigenous person can thrive. As we celebrate their achievements, let us commit ourselves to creating a world where aspiring minds can soar to new heights and make a lasting impact on the world.