Jerry is one of Canada’s most prominent Indigenous leaders. He is committed to enhancing the quality of life for Indigenous people through the creation of new business opportunities and development of skills and capacity. Jerry was President and founding member of the Tahltan Nation Development Corporation (1985), the largest native-owned and operated heavy construction company in Western Canada building it to a $60 million corporation with 8 divisions and 29 joint-venture partnerships in the mining industry. Today, the Tahltan Trust Fund holds $160 million for future generations from these opportunities. He is also a founding member of the National Indian Businessman’s Association (1981) (now the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business) as well as the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association (CAMA) (1991-November 2013) where he served as Vice President.
Jerry is an experienced negotiator. His success includes negotiating the first Impact Benefit Agreement in British Columbia with the Golden Bear Mine; the first native–owned independent power producer contract with BC Hydro; and a new health facility to serve the Dease Lake area.
As a seasoned trainer and educator, Jerry was instrumental in creating the Aboriginal Toolkit for Mining which received the Departmental Merit Award from Natural Resources Canada (2006) and won the International Award as the best Aboriginal mine training document in the world, from UNESCO (2007).
Jerry is currently co-founder and Chair of the Global Indigenous Development Trust (2014), where he actively travels the world sharing his knowledge and experience with indigenous communities in Peru, Colombia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Argentina, Panama, Sweden, Norway, Australia, Canada and the US. He is also Chair and CEO of Spirit Rock Resources, a mineral exploration and acquisition company formed to show how to work with the land and Mother Earth with reverence, respect and reciprocity, creating a new way forward in the resource sector (2019). Jerry has been Advisor to Minister of International Trade on Responsible Business Conduct (2018) and is currently Senior Advisor to the Canada-Africa Chamber of Business (2022).
Jerry has received the Prospector and Developers Assoc of Canada Skookum Jim Award – Aboriginal Prospector of the Year (2011); Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013) for his contributions to the inclusion and training of Indigenous People in the mining industry; Frank Woodside Past Presidents Distinguished Service Award AME BC (2016); Indspire Award for achievement in Business & Commerce (2017); Named Mining Person of the Year (2019) for BC, Mining Association of British Columbia (2020); was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in (2020) and received the Leadership Legacy Award from the Tahltan Nation (2022).
