Chair s Message Arlene Me ekisJung Board Chair During the frst thre e quar t ers o f the this last fscal y ear C olle en Mar tin led the organization as General Manager in the absenc e o f Harv e y Y esno f ormer P residentCEO Under her leadership the t eam c omplet ed a c ommunity engagement proc ess with Matawa First Nations c ommunities t o e xplore business de v elopment ne eds in light o f the pot ential mining de v elopment oppor tunities in their traditional t errit ory T o respond t o the ne eds e xpressed a c omprehensiv e proposal was de v eloped and submitt ed t o FedNor f or c onsideration o f funding Additional c omplementary proposals w ere submitt ed t o HRSDC MT CU Status o f W omen Ontario W omen s Dire ct orat e and in January 2013 t o the Ne w R elationship Fund Other signifcant annual activities c ontinued including the Business A wards and Mining R eady Summit in Thunder Bay in Oct ober and through a par tnership with the Entrepreneurship C entre under the C ommunity Ec onomic De v elopment C orporation o f the City o f Thunder Bay an Aboriginal Business Day held during Small Business W e ek was liv e streamed f or par ticipation o f rural and remot e First Nation c ommunities The e v ent included a k e y not e address b y W ab Kine w and students from the Dennis Franklin C romar ty High School w ere sponsored t o par ticipat e As many are aware Harv e y Y esno did not return t o his position as P residentCEO due t o his ele ction t o Grand Chief o f Nishnawbe Aski Nation in August 2012 The Board and staff c ongratulat ed Harv e y wishing him w ell in his ne w care er Quickly af t er re c eiving the ne ws the Board o f Dire ct ors be gan a dialogue with input from the management t eam t o re vie w the current P resident CEO job description against the current environment and resulting organizational ne eds The end result was de v elopment o f a ne w title and job description f or an Ex e cutiv e Dire ct or t o lead the organization A re cruitment proc ess was under tak en and Brian Dav e y NADF s f ormer Spe cial Initiativ es Advisor was the suc c essful candidat e and assumed his ne w role on January 7 2013 Brian is a member o f Moose C re e First Nation He possesses e xt ensiv e business and leadership e xperienc e and w e look f orward t o w orking with him in his ne w role with NADF Board C omposition In February 2013 w e w ere pleased t o w elc ome Aaron K ak epetum K e e way win First Nation Derek Fo x Bearskin L ak e First Nation and Jason R ase v y ch Ginoogaming First Nation as members o f the C orporation Af t er many y ears o f servic e R osie Mosquit o st epped do wn from the Board and I w ould lik e t o tak e this oppor tunity t o thank her f or her c ontributions o v er the y ears Onc e again on behalf o f the Board I w ould lik e t o thank our staff clients and par tners f or their suppor t W e look f orward t o c ontinuing t o w ork on y our behalf in the y ear ahead 8 Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund