Gary Wilson/ Ǧṇísḷaǧyl ̣̓ís (Gah-neese-law-gill-lease)
Gary Wilson, a proud Haiɫzaqv Nation member, born and raised in Bella Bella, BC. Gary and his family are grateful for the Snuneymuxw and Snaw-naw-as First Nations for allowing them to live, work and play in their traditional territory on Vancouver Island for the last 28 years.
Gary is serving a 4th term as President and Chair for the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA). Gary was recently appointed as Vice Chair to National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. (NICHI) Board of Directors. Gary is humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve as a Director for Vancouver Island Economic Alliance (VIEA) Board.
As Chief Executive Officer and Director of Economic Development of Tiicma Enterprises, a wholly owned company of the Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k:tles7et’h’ First Nations, Gary provides strategic and operational oversight, planning, budgeting and technical guidance, advice and support to his Sr. Management team and staff. Prior to this Gary was Director Operations at Coastal First Nations – Great Bear Initiative Society from 2017 – 2021. From 2019 – 2020, Gary engaged in a 1-year secondment with the Province of BC as Director for Indigenous Engagement and Outreach. Through the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) Division, Ministry of Citizens’ Services, he provided community engagement support pertaining to the fibre optic (sub-sea) infrastructure development – Connected Coast initiative. Gary previously worked as Chief Executive Officer for the Huu-ay-aht Development Corporation, General Manager for the Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation, and a variety of roles with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce for 14 years, including Regional Manager, Aboriginal Banking, BC & Yukon.
A strong believer in lifelong learning, Gary had attended post-secondary and received a Bachelor of Commerce class of 2008 from Royal Roads University, Victoria BC and a Master of Business Administration, class of 2016 from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver BC.
Recognizing our First Nation community’s rich history across this country included Nation-to-Nation Inter-tribal trade from a national and international perspective; Gary believes that by incorporating our Indigenous values and principals along with the best of modern day development practices, First Nations are well positioned to establish successful and sustainable opportunities to support national and international economic development partnership opportunities, creating sustainable socio-economic development for Indigenous citizens and the broader business community.