Redefining Leadership Through Indigenous Identity: How Myan Marcen-Gaudaur Is Charting Scotiabank’s Path to Reconciliation

By Sarah Walker

“My grandpa built his career by abiding by the policies of assimilation. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that I would be building my career on assimilation’s great undoing,” says Myan Marcen-Gaudaur, Director of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation at Scotiabank, Ojibwe-Métis and settler descent and descendant of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation.

Her grandfather, Jake Gaudaur — a mixed-race football player and former commissioner of the Canadian Football League — kept his Ojibwe roots private, a common survival practice of all Indigenous Peoples of his generation. (She also descends from Chief Big Shilling, hereditary chief at Lake Couchiching.)

“Corporate reconciliation is a bit like a language. It’s a journey to learn and incorporate but with commitment, time and practice it becomes second nature. I hope to create enough momentum across the organization that reconciliation becomes so innate to how we think and behave and roles like mine are no longer required.”

In her role at Scotiabank, Myan oversees the Bank’s reconciliation strategy and the implementation of its enterprise-wide Truth & Reconciliation Action Plan — work that confronts the systemic barriers the financial system has long-created for Indigenous communities.

“The Indian Act was designed to eradicate Indigenous Peoples and their economic, social, cultural and spiritual distinctiveness,” she explains. “This colonial history not only led to cultural genocide but has also led to severe economic anaemia, not just among Indigenous communities, but across the Canadian economy.”

Myan’s path to her current role is shaped by her philosophy of looking “outward rather than up.” After launching an innovative jazz film festival called The Cinema of Jazz — which, coincidentally, received its first sponsorship from Scotiabank, she spent 15 years working in sponsorship and marketing.

“The question I’ve always dreaded most is ‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’” she says. “The answer is easier with a hierarchical mindset, then you can just look up and aspire to the title above. But I don’t look up, I look out. And what I see is expansive, filled with infinite options and destinations that can’t be seen until I’m closer to them.”

Her transition to reconciliation-related work began when she was approached to lead the Indigenous Client Strategy team at one of the big six Canadian banks – a first for a role of this kind.

“When I got the call, my first response was, ‘I can’t do that job,’” Myan recalls. “But it was such a good lesson to never say no until you know what you’re saying no to.”

Living in Toronto at the time, she took fair access to banking for granted. “The more I reflected on the role, the more I realized the responsibilities banks have in addressing significant disparities faced by Indigenous communities and I really wanted to be part of the solution. This was the first time I truly cared about the industry I was in at an emotional level.”

Since joining Scotiabank in April 2023, she has collaborated with more than 70 stakeholders and Rightsholders — majority of whom were Indigenous — to bring the organization’s Truth & Reconciliation Action Plan to life.

“It took us 18 months to do the work, and I share that because I’m proud of how long it took,” she says. “We moved at the pace of consensus-building. Reconciliation belongs to everybody.”

The end result is a framework which brings together 37 commitments across more than 12 business lines and functions to address some of the most topical issues on reconciliation including access to housing, data sovereignty, Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirited Peoples (MMIWG2S+) and sustainability, among others.

Having completed 16 marathons, including Boston twice, Myan sees useful, if surprising, parallels between long-distance running and reconciliation work, both of which require commitment, endurance and self-trust.

“Running has been one of the greatest teachers of my life,” she reflects. “Some days I was running away from things I disliked about myself, but most days I was running toward the gifts marathon running gives us: a sense of purpose, peace with discomfort, the ability to break down large concepts into bite-sized, actionable items. I approach corporate reconciliation the same way.”

Athletics became especially important in Myan’s early years, after she was diagnosed with dyslexia. “The education system wasn’t built for me,” she says, adding that she eventually grew to see her “limitation” as a strength and powerful differentiator. 

“Sometimes the things we see as a disability… those are actually the things that, when unpacked and understood, distinguish us and equip us with unique skills others don’t have.”

Today, she says her identity reflects the complexity of her lived experience — including that of a modern Indigenous woman.

“Many Indigenous leaders struggle with identity. I work in a space where identity can be weaponized. We live in a society that wants us to check one box — but identity is like an ecosystem: beautiful and complicated.”

She finds clarity in the words of her mentor, Chief Ted Williams of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation: “When I stand at the Narrows, bridging Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching, I am standing at the place my ancestors have been for hundreds of years. Identity is complex, but my place of belonging is very simple.”

As the 10th anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s final report approaches, Myan says Canada is at a pivotal moment.

“This is a time for all of us to reflect honestly about the work that has been done — and the work that still needs to be done,” she says. “Canada is facing an economic crisis, and fostering Indigenous economic development through reconciliation strategies can lead to a stronger economy and improved social outcomes for all Canadians.”

For those navigating uncertainty in their own careers, Myan offers this:

“A lot of people, in particular Indigenous People, are not hierarchical by nature or upbringing which make it feel hard to chart a mainstream professional career path.  For those who don’t know what they want next in their career, it’s okay. It’s okay to be comfortable, or even uncomfortable, not knowing what comes next. With curiosity, and a sense of purpose, great things will come. This is such a pivotal moment for Indigenous professionals.  Canada needs Indigenous ways of being in order to collectively heal from the harm of the past few hundred years. The more we reclaim of our Indigenous knowledge, values and culture, the more opportunities we’ll create to inform the future space of Canada.”  

She also emphasizes the importance of patience and self-compassion.

“It can’t be said too often; we need to be kind to ourselves and patient with the ebbs and flows,” she says. “There are times when I feel like I’m on top of the world with my career and everything comes easily, and then I round the next corner, and it feels uncertain again.”

It’s a perspective that’s helped her embrace the natural rhythm of growth.

“We often think of success as a straight path, but in reality, it’s more like a roller coaster. If we honour that natural rhythm, we can be kinder to ourselves during the low points and trust that the tide will turn again.”

It’s this hopeful, forward-looking mindset that Myan brings to her work at Scotiabank. Despite the challenges and the weight of the work, she remains unwavering in her mission to create lasting change.

“What we do now is the legacy we’ll leave for the next seven generations.  Now is not the time to back down. Now is the time to double down.”