About Us

Who We Are

Reciprocity Research Inc. is a social enterprise based in Victoria, BC.

Reciprocity was founded in Summer 2019 by Craig Candler (PhD), a second-generation Canadian born on the prairies in Treaty six country and now settled on the west coast. Craig is a dad, a home and business owner, and a community-based researcher and cultural anthropologist. He helped found the Firelight Group and has worked for more than 25 years with and for Indigenous communities across what is now Western Canada.

Reciprocity is a two-way relationship that connects home and business owners with Indigenous governments. We aim to provide a simple, direct and friendly way for home and business owners to meaningfully recognize Indigenous rights where we live and work, and to acknowledge Indigenous communities, lands and waters that enrich and inspire us. Through Reciprocity, we also continue our decades of effort providing Indigenous governments in Western Canada and beyond with high-quality community-based social and ecological science, impact assessment and restoration that focusses on what matters most to communities.

It’s through working with Indigenous communities that we learnt the importance of reciprocity. It’s based on that work that we hope Reciprocity will provide new ways to recognize our relationships as home owners, business owners, and relative newcomers, on Indigenous land.

We all sit down at the table with colonialism every day, whether we recognize it or not. We know that reciprocity is at the heart of historic treaties and relationships that we are all part of. We know that our colonial past has had too little reciprocity, and our colonial present needs a lot more.

We want to decolonize our backyards, and our futures, together.

As home owners and business owners, we are privileged to live, work and own property on Indigenous lands. After 150+ years, we think it’s time to start decolonizing our backyards.

Reciprocity is looking towards certification as a B Corporation.

RECIPROCITY

rec·i·proc·i·ty
noun
1. the practice of building relationships through exchanging things of value over time for mutual benefit; latin root: moving back and forth.

Our Vision

Reciprocity makes territorial recognition real and does useful things to support the visions of Indigenous Nations. We create simple, direct, and friendly ways to decolonize the culture of home, and change what it means to own property and do business on Indigenous land.

Our work returns wealth to Indigenous Nations, property owners and business owners by recognizing reciprocal relationships that create ecological, economic and cultural value. The vast majority of every reciprocity dollar goes directly to Indigenous Nations to support Indigenous-driven goals.

We use our own revenue to support and grow our quiet revolution, make Indigenous land and language more visible, and provide a reliable return to our partners and shareholders so that Reciprocity keeps going.

We are committed to being a successful and sustainable social enterprise, and to sharing our ownership and success.

Meet The Team

Craig Candler

FOUNDER + CEO

Craig Candler (PhD) is a cultural anthropologist and Founder and CEO of Reciprocity Research Inc. Based in Victoria, British Columbia, Craig has more than 25 years of experience in environmental, regulatory, and indigenous rights processes. He helped found the Firelight Group and works with communities to produce strong, respected, and respectful research at the applied intersection of ecological, medical, and legal anthropology.

craig@reciprocityconnects.ca

Sammy Kent

CULTURAL ECOLOGIST AND LEAD RESTORATION AGROLOGIST

Sammy Kent (BSc, AAg) is a restoration professional and Indigenous entrepreneur with almost 10 years of experience working directly on native plant and community-based restoration projects. Sammy has extensive experience working with Indigenous communities on knowledge and use studies, environmental assessments, ecological and cultural use mapping, and community-driven projects supporting Indigenous knowledge, sensitive ecosystems, and restoration. Sammy is a member in good standing with the BC Institute of Agrology, a Certified Permaculture Designer, Organic Horticulture Specialist, and Arborist Technician.

Sarah Reid

RECIPROCITY PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Sarah Reid (MA) has worked with Indigenous communities in BC and Alberta for 8+ years, supporting the design and implementation of community-based socio-economic baseline and impact assessment studies; stewardship, land use and strategic planning processes.

Ash Morris

CULTURAL ECOLOGIST

Ash Morris (BSc, BIT) is a cultural ecologist at Reciprocity providing support for design and implementation of research projects, and environment impact assessment. Originally from Australia, Ash moved to Canada to continue her work with Indigenous Nations. Her previous work includes developing and implementing community-based monitoring programs and research for Indigenous ecological knowledge studies.

ash@reciprocityconnects.ca

Dexter Robson

CULTURAL GEOGRAPHER

Dexter Robson (MA) is a cultural geographer at Reciprocity whose main focus is on participatory research, mapping and GIS. His most recent work looks into evaluating online mapping technologies for how they facilitate Indigenous self-determination at the community level.

dexter@reciprocityconnects.ca

Eleni McGowans

JUNIOR CULTURAL ECOLOGIST

Eleni McGowans (BSc) is a junior cultural ecologist at Reciprocity who supports and facilitates community-based ecological and social science research with Indigenous communities. Eleni has a strong background in environmental science and is working toward her master’s degree in environmental practice.

eleni@reciprocityconnects.ca

Naomi Devine

STORYTELLER + STRATEGIC ADVISOR

Naomi Devine is a sustainability policy and communications expert, trained in human-centered design thinking, and is a member of the Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC). For over a decade she has advised governments and worked with universities, local governments, and civil society organisations on sustainability and climate policy. Visual communications and storytelling are what she employs to assist communities and organisations in crafting persuasive, effective, and long-lasting moves toward a more equitable future.

Associates

Karen Fediuk

COMMUNITY FOOD SYSTEM AND NUTRITION RESEARCHER

Karen Fediuk (MSc) provides technical food systems research support to Indigenous communities, with a focus on understanding current practice, confidence in and safety of the traditional food system, and rights-based food harvesting and food independence/security. In 2017, the Dietitians of Canada presented Karen with the Association Catalyst Award in recognition of her professional expertise and achievements in advancing the field. Besides working with Reciprocity, Karen is the Project Manager for Climate Change Adaptation and Food Security for First Nations.

Leah Ramsay

BIOLOGIST

Leah Ramsay (B.Sc, RP Bio) is a biologist with over forty years of experience in various roles relating to species research, conservation, and management. Leah has extensive experience in conservation from her role with the BC Conservation Data Centre where she assigned Conservation Status Ranks and supported the development of the NatureServe methodology. Today, Leah works as a consultant on biodiversity and conservation projects including but not limited to: status assessments, range review and adjustments, conservation status reports, biodiversity surveys and species-at-risk assessments.

Dave Fraser

BIOLOGIST

David F. Fraser (M.Sc, RP Bio) is a biologist with over thirty years experience in biodiversity conservation, education, assessment and restoration.  Dave has extensive experience in mine land restoration, endangered species assessment and priority setting for biodiversity management. He has been a member of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada for 24 years  He is the chair of the criteria working group for COSEWIC and responsible for training COSEWIC members in Red-listing criteria, including the threats assessment system used by the Committee. Since 2019 he has been a Scientific Advisory to Canada’s Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) program. He authored an options paper for adapting the IUCN KBA standards to a national level program which in turn led to the development of Canadian Standards which are being implemented to identify KBA in Canada.