Challenging assumptions.
building relationships.

ABM is a community of decision-makers who foster collaborations for a livable planet. Together, we cultivate opportunities for learning, business, dialogue, partnership, personal growth, and friendship.

Start with a conversation

United by Purpose and Vision

Purpose
We uphold the community we have created as a stronghold for honest and uncensored dialogue about the complex dynamics of business, money, and their effects on human relationships, culture, and the planet. Through this dialogue, we evolve how we do business in service of a livable planet.
Vision
Prosperous people on a livable planet.
Built on shared responsibility

The quality of any community is determined by what its members hold in common. At ABM, that common ground is a shared commitment to developing the critical perspectives necessary to understand our responsibilities to one another, to Indigenous sovereignty, to the communities and territories in which we live and work, and to what we can and cannot do in the name of business.
Explore What Shapes Us
Shaped by Participation

ABM is active throughout the year through activities and experiences that strengthen relationships and deepen engagement.
Online Connectors
Weekly curated one-on-one conversations that cultivate opportunities for learning, business, dialogue, partnership, personal growth, and friendship.
ABM Spheres
Trusted circles where Members exchange insights, strengthen relationships, and create opportunities around shared areas of interest.
Uncensored Dialogue Forums
Hard Conversations. Rethinking Business. Honest dialogue that challenges assumptions, deepens understanding, and expands our collective capacity to respond thoughtfully to complexity.
Annual Community Gathering
Our flagship in-person event where the relationships, dialogue, and collaborations developed throughout the year come together in one place.
Learn How ABM Works

Participation of Indigenous Governments and Development Corporations

Indigenous governments and development corporations are part of ABM either through direct participation or trusted relationships with ABM Members, ensuring their stewardship, governance, and economic priorities are understood and incorporated into the way we interact.

While the priorities of Indigenous governments and development corporations are important, their representatives are not business development targets. Meeting them cannot be a key motivator to join ABM. Reciprocity and opportunity emerge from the strength of the entire community rather than from pursuing any specific type of relationship. Every participant contributes to that living network, and every relationship strengthens it.

Representatives of Indigenous governments, development corporations, tribal councils, and Indigenous non-profit organizations participate in ABM at no cost.

ABM brings non-Indigenous people together to develop critical perspectives

ABM is not about an "us and them" narrative. We recognize that colonialism has inflicted its greatest harm on Indigenous people, but it has also denied non-Indigenous people the opportunity to benefit from the sophisticated Indigenous knowledge that has evolved on these territories over thousands of years. We all live the consequences of colonialism.

Indigenous people make up five per cent of Canada’s population, while governments claim authority over 90 per cent of the land, leaving those with the deepest relationships to the land with little authority over what happens to it. Indigenous people are undertaking the difficult work of reconnecting with knowledge systems to restore relationships with their territories and each other. Many of these knowledge systems have been rendered largely inaccessible or lost, making this work a responsibility that often comes at great personal cost. We cannot expect Indigenous people to also educate the other 95 per cent. For that reason, ABM is a community of critically informed non-Indigenous people who accept the responsibility to ensure that their own decisions, businesses, institutions, relationships, and influence do not cause further harm to all people, land, and communities.

Our community is built for decision-makers who understand that if revenue is the reason to focus on Indigenous governments and development corporations as the representatives of Indigenous communities, the proposition has already failed. Building relationships in this way is little more than assimilation and coercion disguised as economic development.

Our purpose is to strengthen the conditions in which Indigenous knowledge systems can flourish because we believe they are essential to achieving our vision of prosperous people on a livable planet. Many of the Indigenous people who carry the deepest cultural knowledge are also those whose responsibilities require them to remain closely connected to their territories and communities. Their work is not always visible within the institutions where businesses typically look for leadership, yet it is indispensable to the continuity of Indigenous ways of being.

Every person whose roots do not extend into these territories for thousands of years has a responsibility to examine assumptions, understand history, challenge one another, and make decisions grounded in a genuine understanding of historical and contemporary realities.

Being critically informed is not optional. It is the responsibility of every person who lives on these lands.

ABM exists for those who recognize that the consequences of leaving colonialism behind cannot be understood or navigated alone. We are committed to thoughtful dialogue and intentional action, expressed not only in what we discuss, but also in how we conduct business, generate prosperity, and make decisions that consider the interests of Indigenous people who are not at the table.

Community Recognition

Some organizations choose to play a deeper role in strengthening the ABM Community. We recognize these contributions by identifying them as ABM Community Builders or ABM Community Leaders. These recognitions are not purchased. They reflect a sustained commitment to the community, its purpose, and the relationships that make ABM possible.

ABM Community Leaders: ABM Community Leaders are Community Builders who leverage their capacity to strengthen the participation of Indigenous governments and development corporations within ABM, helping create conditions for meaningful collaboration and long-term impact.

ABM Community Builders: ABM Community Builders are highly engaged Members who invest their time, knowledge, and relationships in the continued growth of the ABM Community.