Toronto – August 17, 2020 – Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) announces that Keith McIntosh is the recipient of the 2020 Award for Excellence in Aboriginal Relations. The award, presented at the Business Recovery Forum, CCAB’s first-ever virtual conference, on September 16, 2020, recognizes a Canadian who has contributed to building bridges between Aboriginal peoples and Canadian society, and whose efforts make a substantial impact across Canada.
Keith is named the recipient of this prestigious national award for his role in introducing more than 85 corporations, over the last four years, to the value and capabilities of Indigenous people as technology professionals, and helping to advance cultural awareness and understanding in boardrooms from Vancouver to Halifax and beyond.
In 2015, following the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Report and his participation in the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference, Keith founded PLATO Testing, the world’s first Indigenous-led and staffed software testing company. His goal was to address two important issues: our country’s shortage of technology professionals and the high rates of unemployment among Indigenous youth. He issued a challenge to corporate Canada to bring work back onshore to communities from coast to coast to coast, to diversify their workplaces and supply chains, and to build bridges into the technology sector with Indigenous Peoples.
“I am humbled and honoured to join the outstanding list of CCAB award recipients,” said Keith McIntosh, Founder, PLATO Testing. “In everything I have done throughout my professional life, my goal has been to provide others with opportunities to create strong, sustainable lives for themselves and their families. PLATO Testing gave me the chance to extend that goal to members of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities across the country, and to be a part of meaningful person-to-person reconciliation. I am grateful to the CCAB for their support of PLATO, and know that together with our corporate and community partners across the country, we can reach our mission of creating a network of 1000 Indigenous software testers from coast to coast to coast.”
For over 20 years, Mr. McIntosh has also led PQA Testing, a multimillion-dollar organization with nine offices across Canada, and a team of more than 150 professionals who provide quality software testing services to customers both at home and abroad.
“We are proud to present Keith McIntosh with the 2020 Award for Excellence in Aboriginal Relations,” said Tabatha Bull, President and CEO, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. “His commitment to growing Indigenous participation in tech continues to have a profound impact on not only the people he employs and their families and communities, but on long-held mainstream beliefs about who Indigenous people are and where we belong. He is dismantling some of the harmful narratives that have kept Indigenous people from taking their rightful place in the Canadian economy.”
About Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB)
Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) is committed to the full participation of Indigenous peoples in Canada’s economy. A national, non-partisan association, with a mission to promote, strengthen and enhance a prosperous Indigenous economy through the fostering of business relationships, opportunities, and awareness. CCAB offers knowledge, resources and programs to its members to foster economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples and businesses across Canada. For more information visit www.ccab.com.
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For media enquiries, contact:
Amanda Charles
Communications Associate
Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business
acharles@ccab.com | c: 647-289-2753