First Power's training program is the heart of what we do. The training program is built from a deep appreciation of the assets and cultural backdrop of First Nations. Most importantly, we teach in community, transforming band halls and any available space into classrooms. We train by doing, through oral presentation, through our own video series and illustrations and the vast majority through hands on demonstration in the field.

The program builds on diverse skills and co-teaching within the trainee cohort; so learners are teachers and our installer teams are transformed into trainers. Our program draws from some of the most innovative academic work done on how First Nations learn best and lands that innovation in the context of an integrated trade. Unlike conventional trades the installation of solar thermal systems requires diverse skills associated with different trades (plumbing, electrical, and some mechanical) it also requires a higher level of teamwork, an area where many First Nations members excel.

Our work is aimed at creating the ideal context for community-wide transformation and economic development that lifts the whole. The program is designed to draw in more than just the trainees; in our first pilot we have seen an amazing degree of support from across the community including artists. In our first pilot with the T'Sou-ke Nation several graphic artists and a master carver worked with us to create a final project for the trainees that tied the project and the learning back to the culture.

Next steps include:

• Working with the leadership of CanSIA to build an oral exam process that will allow our trainees and many others from Frist Nations and other communities that learn best and demonstrate best verbally.
• Building more links between technology and innovation and arts and culture.
• Creating business opportunities to work with our trainees and leverage their talents and training in the project.

• Art Napoleon is a Cree artist and entertainer who worked with First Power to build a training video series that marries education with comedy.
• Dr. Robin June Hood, who holds a PhD in education with concentration on economic development in a First Nations context, contributes her many years of experience as a social entrepreneur and professor at the University of Victoria.
• Eric Smiley, of Vancouver Island University has provided strategic advice
• Diverse community members of the T'Sou-ke Nation have tested and evaluated our materials and approach.