From left to right: Sydney Wanchulak, Jimmy Johnson (MMFN Fisher), Joanne Dawson, and Nicholas Hermann,
Meet the MBA Capstone Team Supporting Mowachaht/Muchalaht’s Fisheries & Food Security
As you may have seen in our newsletters (if you’re not receiving them, sign up for them here: http://eepurl.com/hOXmR9), we have an amazing team of MBA Capstone students from the University of Victoria working with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation to support a critical fisheries and food security project.
The team is conducting a cold chain analysis for Mowachaht/Muchalaht’s fisheries operations, which involves assessing current seafood handling and storage processes, identifying infrastructure gaps (particularly around ice and cold storage), and developing recommendations and solutions to improve fish quality, operational efficiency, and long-term sustainability. This work not only helps strengthen Mowachaht/Muchalaht’s fisheries operations but also supports future infrastructure grant applications and informs the broader Mowachaht/Muchalaht Food Security Project (project details to be announced on June 6th!).
We’re proud to share that the students have now completed their assessments and gap analyses and are currently in the phase of proposing infrastructure and logistical solutions to consider—solutions that will directly support both Mowachaht/Muchalaht’s food security efforts and our ability to secure future funding for cold storage infrastructure.
We’d now like to take a moment to introduce the incredible team behind this work:
🐟 Joanne Dawson is a settler from Aotearoa, New Zealand. She comes from a family with a background in horticulture, which has instilled in her a deep appreciation for the natural world. Growing up in New Zealand and now living in British Columbia, surrounded by beautiful nature, she has developed a profound respect for the land and all it provides.
As an educator, she has had the opportunity to work in public education systems in New Zealand, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada. Throughout her career, she has been passionate about social justice and reconciliation, striving to create equitable learning environments that empower marginalized communities. Joanne is currently pursuing an MBA in Sustainable Innovation through the University of Victoria to further advance these goals in the business world.
Joanne believes that by working collaboratively with local Indigenous nations, we can create sustainable solutions that honour their rich cultural heritage and traditional ecological knowledge. She is committed to approaching this project with humility, empathy, and a genuine desire to facilitate positive change.
🐟 Nicholas Hermann is a third-generation Canadian of colonial descent and currently lives with his family on a small hobby farm in Qualicum Beach, on the traditional territories of the Qualicum First Nation. After spending a decade in banking and finance, he chose to walk away from what he saw as an increasingly exploitative industry to explore careers that focus on creating value rather than extracting it.
He and his family are now working to build a life in a place and manner where his children can learn the value of what the land can produce, rather than just its cost. He believes strongly in the power of a shared meal, the importance of food to our identities, the rights of all people to food sovereignty and security, and the deep responsibility we all share to steward these values for the generations to come.
He is currently pursuing an MBA in Sustainable Innovation through the University of Victoria, with the goal of transforming his business and financial background into a force for positive change.
🐟 Sydney Wanchulak is Cree Métis and Ukrainian from Treaty 6 Territory in Edmonton, Alberta, and a proud member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. She is currently pursuing an MBA in Sustainable Innovation through the University of Victoria.
Sydney has worked in the construction industry for over a decade, holding positions ranging from on-site roles to Sustainability Manager. She has led corporate sustainability strategies, operations, and reporting; conducted materiality assessments; and performed greenhouse gas accounting—all with a strong focus on building relationships across organizations and industries.
The values that guide her work are connection, knowledge-sharing, and joy. Her curiosity lies at the intersection of sustainability, Indigenous knowledge and ways of being, and economic systems. Sydney sees her work as generational and is driven by the hope of leaving the world better than she found it.
We’re so grateful for their thoughtful and dedicated work with Mowachaht/Muchalaht. Stay tuned for more updates soon as the team shares their proposed solutions and gathers feedback from the community.
If you have any questions or want to learn more about the project, feel free to connect with us at Ha’oom!
Klecko Klecko
Ha’oom Fisheries Society & Sydney, Nick and Joanne