Project: White Paper–Tackling climate change & Indigenous reconciliation

The Client: Deloitte Canada

The Brief:

Write a white paper on the inextricable link between advancing Indigenous reconciliation and tackling climate change. Avoid going in with the answer and instead explore the orthodoxies we can flip to bring something unique to this POV. Bring in a broad array of perspectives, internal and external, on why reconciliation is vital for fulfilling Canada’s climate pledges.

The Process/Strategy:

The team followed my standard white paper process (see here) as a template, though the large-scale needs of the project meant it took longer than usual to complete, including the:

* sensitivity and complexity of the subject matter
* difficulty of achieving alignment on our central argument and which challenges the text should address
* large team of subject experts I needed to interview (including numerous Indigenous leaders)
* considerable secondary research required to produce scientific evidence and support for our arguments

The Output:

The Report garnered positive press coverage, viewable here, or as a pdf, here.

Following the report’s publication, my two internal marketing colleagues and I received this message from a senior client team member:

“I deeply appreciate your commitment and determination to deliver this report. I knew this was a subject matter we needed to get very right. It had to strike the right chord. 

The way this team courageously came together to learn, grow, persevere, and guide this endeavour over many months has been a journey that you should all be very, very proud of. I’m certainly proud to have my name attached to it.

This report is a beautiful balance of fact and heart.”

You can view the report here on Deloitte’s website and download a pdf copy here.