Gary Wilson, a proud Haiɫzaqv Nation member, was 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 past 28 years.

Gary earned Bachelor of Commerce degree from Royal Roads University in 2008 and a Master of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University in 2016.

He has more than 20 years of senior management experience over a variety of roles across First Nation economic development, banking, government, and the none-profit sector.

As the CEO 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 the senior management team and staff.

Gary serves on several boards and is currently in his 5th term as president and chair for the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA). Gary also serves as vice-chair to National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. (NICHI) board of directors and as a director for Vancouver Island Economic Alliance (VIEA) board.

Recognizing our First Nation community’s rich history of nation-to-nation inter-tribal trade from a national and international perspective, Gary believes that by incorporating 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.