The American Indian Business Leaders (AIBL) is a student-based organization designed to support and promote the American Indian business student and entrepreneur. Future trends dictate a rise in the need for educated American Indian people to assist with tribal economic development planning and strategic implementation. AIBL's primary focus is to use its student foundation to stimulate tribal economic growth and stability through an emphasis in maintaining culturally appropriate American Indian business development.

Support and promote the American Indian business students and entrepreneurs to facilitate tribal economic development efforts.

Provide a forum for discussion and support for American Indian business students and entrepreneurs through student and professional chapter development.

Stimulate American Indian student interest in business and tribal economic development at the high school, community college and university levels.

Create and maintain a strong networking system among the tribal collges and the university systems to facilitate the American Indian student's academic success.

Maintain a strong networking system between American Indian business professionals/entrepreneurs and American Indian business/entrepreneurial students.

Develop a strong avenue of communication between AIBL chapter members and tribal governments to facilitate tribal economic development efforts.

Establish summer internship placement opportunities with tribal, state, federal, private and corporate entities to facilitate the professional development of American Indian business students and entrepreneurs.

Institute a national forum where American Indian business/entrepreneurial students can exchange business ideas and activities which will support and promote tribal economic development efforts.

AIBL'S FOCUS AIBL is designed to facilitate the professional development of the American Indian business student and entrepreneur while simultaneously promoting tribal economic growth and stability by:

Providing American Indian business/entrepreneurial students with scholarship resources and internship placement opportunities to foster their academic success.

Coordinating a national AIBL conference to create a forum through which American Indian business/entrepreneurial students can learn about and exchange business activity ideas with business professionals.

Organizing an annual AIBL Career Fair, to be held in conjunction with the national conference, to foster the American Indian business/entrepreneurial students' professional success.

Sponsoring an annual Tribal Business Plan Competition, to be held in conjunction with the national conference, to promote culturally appropriate American Indian business development.

AIBL'S TARGET GROUPS

AIBL comprises primarily business students seeking practical experience to compliment their academic studies. To accomplish this objective, AIBL is interested in securing internship placement opportunities for its members with:

Tribal governments

Tribal colleges

American Indian-owned businesses

Corporate/private business

Federal and state governments

Other nonprofit organizations

AIBL'S STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT

Our survival as American Indian people is determined in part by our tribal economic environments. We believe the stronger our tribal infrastructures, the stronger all American Indian people will be, socially, politically and most of all culturally. We are committed to supporting and promoting American Indian business students and entrepreneurs, who will ultimately help eliminate our oppressed tribal economic environments by designing effective, culturally appropriate American Indian businesses.

N ational Board of Directors

Dave Archambault, President, Standing Rock College (Sioux)

Joseph McDonald, President, Salish Kootenai College (Salish)

Luanne Belcourt, President, Stone Child College (Chippewa/Cree)

Robert Lorence, President, Northwest Indian College

Larry Gianchetta, Dean, School of Business Administration, The University of Montana

James P. DeNomie, Career Services, AISES (Bad River Chippewa)

Wayne Chattin, President/CEO, The Chattin Co. (Blackfeet)

Layna McConkey, Administrative officer, AIHEC

CREDITS AIBL's national program is organized under the auspices of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC)and is headquartered at the program's founding institution, The University of Montana's , School of Business Administration.

For more information, contact Michelle Henderson, director at the AIBL Program office in the School of Business, The University of Montana. Call(406)243-4879, fax (406)243-2086 or e-mail

michelle@selway.umt.edu

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT AIBL

Introduction to AIBL
Organizing a student or professional AIBL chapter
National AIBL Conference  (Tentative Agenda)
Scholarship Information
Annual AIBL Career Fair
Annual Tribal Business Plan Competition

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