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JEDDI Seminar: Addressing Indigenous Identity Fraud
September 12, 2025 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
FreeJEDDI Seminar: Addressing Indigenous Identity Fraud
Join the Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics and Ch’nook for a JEDDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Decolonization, & Inclusion) Seminar on Addressing Indigenous Fraud by Jennifer Sedgewick (York University).
When: Fri., Sept. 12, 2025 at 1:00-2:00pm Pacific
Where: Zoom
To register: https://bit.ly/DIBSseminar
When Diversification Policies Reify the Status Quo: Indigenous Identity Fraud as Institutional Maintenance
Amid pressures for institutions to address inequities toward Indigenous Peoples in Canada, organizations have increasingly implemented diversification initiatives designated for Indigenous applicants. Examples of these efforts include the creation of opportunities (e.g., cluster hiring, quotas for government contracts with Indigenous businesses), resources (e.g., scholarships, funding for entrepreneurs), and accolades (e.g., prestigious awards and honours) intended to support Indigenous workers, students, and entrepreneurs. However, organizations’ reliance on self-identification for applicants accessing these initiatives has resulted in their exploitation through Indigenous identity fraud—the act of individuals with no ancestral or contemporary connection to their proclaimed Indigenous community who appropriate Indigeneity for personal, professional, or economic gain. In this presentation, I illustrate how “Indigeneity fraud” effectively enacts “institutional maintenance” within organizations, society, and business scholarship; that is, it reinforces the settler colonial status quo embedded in these domains. Informed by the recent development of Indigenous affirmation policies in higher education, I also outline managerial recommendations for how organizations can move beyond self-identification to uphold the integrity and overarching objectives of Indigenous-specific initiatives. By illuminating the insidious harms of Indigeneity fraud, this may galvanize organizations and business academia to confront this social problem that they are implicated in incentivizing.
About the JEDDI Seminar Series
The Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics JEDDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Decolonization, & Inclusion) Seminar Series features academic and business thought leaders sharing their experiences and strategies for creating more just, equitable, diverse, decolonized, and inclusive workplaces. Learn more or view past seminars.
