Management Team
Meet our management team…
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Founder, Managing Director
Dale is a Nlaka'pamux member of the Spuzzum First Nation and a well-known Indigenous businessman and entrepreneur. He is the Founder and CEO of Ironclad Logistics in Vancouver, BC, and The Nation Group of Companies. Dale believes that the key to developing Indigenous economies is Indigenous ownership of the businesses that serve their communities. Dale was named to the Indigenomics Institute’s “Top Ten to Watch” list in 2019 and has assisted Indigenous communities (as well as individual entrepreneurs) as they make the transition from local government/wage earners to entrepreneur/business owners.
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Managing Director, Nation Clean Energy
Dennis has over 25 years of local and international experience in oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, project management, engineering, and construction. Dennis has worked tirelessly in and around Indigenous communities to create strong and lasting relationships and has been recognized by the province of British Columbia for his outstanding achievements in Indigenous business partnerships.
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Managing Director, CFO, Nation Fund
Over 25 years of experience in First Nations Governance, Management, Capacity building, and strategies for independence. Specialists in change management and growth through prudent fiscal management and leadership. Leveraging economic development in start-ups, corporate turnarounds, and early-stage development of emerging businesses. We provide expertise in all areas of corporate affairs, including corporate structure, organization, and reorganizations, taking companies public, privatizations and spin-offs, corporate administration & governance; corporate and securities law, audit procedures, financial structure and capture, management consulting, business venture negotiation and capture, and new venture management/development.
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Managing Director, Nation Build
As owner and President of Rempel Builders, Reg leads the team with over 35 years of knowledge bringing clients’ visions from conception to completion. He founded Nation Build in partnership with Nation Group which brings the hopes and dreams of a Nation into reality with sustainable economic development opportunities that will strengthen the community. Nation Build is led by a team of top-quality building and renovation specialists. Nation Build facilitates the general contracting and project management for luxury housing and commercial building for some of our current Nation Group projects. Nation Build works to remove barriers in the construction process and ensures that projects are completed on time and on budget.
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COO, Ironclad Group
Jeremy is the COO of Ironclad Logistics; the fuel transportation and safety management business owned by Dale Tsuruda. He’s been with the company since January 2014, but took over as COO in 2018. Prior to Ironclad, he was a Commercial Account Manager at GE Capital in the equipment finance division. He started with GE in 2009 in the Commercial Leadership Program at the head office in Montreal. Jeremy completed his Bachelor of Commerce with a major in finance from the University of Calgary. During that time, he traveled abroad to attend Copenhagen University for studies in environmental sustainability.
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Director of Indigenous Relationships
Monica Louis I am a proud member of the Okanagan Indian band, Vernon, BC. I have the desire to make an impact and create change in each community I engage with, I have an appetite to learn and apply new thoughts. I strive to see positive change, growth and stability. I would like to see each community filling the economic leakage gaps.
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Managing Director
Sam Tsuruda is a proud Two-Spirit member of the Spuzzum First Nation in the Fraser Canyon, with Nlaka’pamux and Stó:lō mixed ancestry, born and raised on unceded Coast Salish territory. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UVic, and a Master in Public Health degree from UBC, with a focus on Indigenous health research. In her Masters, Sam worked at the University of Auckland in Aotearoa (New Zealand) to support the development of culturally safe education for Māori social work practice. She is extremely grateful to have been working with Reciprocal Consulting for over nine years – the learning curve is never-ending, especially when getting to work with community members, traditional knowledge keepers, healers, and Elders from across Turtle Island.
Sam enjoys advocating to create space for Indigenous knowledge, decolonial race praxis, and disrupting norms to build communities of care and balance. Passionate about youth health, Sam is fortunate to have served as a Board member and President for the McCreary Centre Society, a provincial youth health research organization, and a mentor for the YWCA Indigenous Youth Mentorship Program. She currently serves on McCreary’s Indigenous Advisory Committee and Mulgrave School’s Advisory Board. Along with ancestral guidance, her passions for learning and contributing to Indigenous self-determination have led her to pursue a Ph.D. in Educational Studies – Sam is a humble Killam scholar, Indigenous Graduate Fellowship award holder, Four-Year Fellowship holder in the Faculty of Education, and recipient of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Award through SSHRC.
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Creative & Communications Director
Kate Tsuruda is a proud Two-Spirit Nlaka’pamux member of the Spuzzum First Nation, born and raised on unceded Coast Salish territory in Vancouver. She has pursued a life working in brand development, graphic and web design for almost a decade, consulting businesses on their overall brand identity, marketing, and design. Kate is also a young entrepreneur, co-founding businesses that include her extreme love for creativity, mental health, caring for others, and personal expression. She directs within Nation Group and our numerous development projects to fulfill each vision and develop each strategy to visually tell stories in meaningful and beautiful ways.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of our remarkable team member, Jeff Simla. He was an integral part of the community and has touched so many lives. There are no right words to express our sorrow, but we wish to share a moment of appreciation for a joyful life taken too soon. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jeff’s family and loved ones, and we feel blessed by the immense impact Jeff has made.
Rest in peace, Jeff, we miss you.
Contact Us
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