Leading with heart: Jeff Cyr on investing in Indigenous well-being
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At Raven Outcomes, I lead our outcomes purchasing, act as Chief Investment Officer, and help build the partnerships and investments that drive better outcomes for Indigenous communities.  

This work is deeply personal to me. I’m Métis and grew up in a large Indigenous family shaped by generations of poverty and survival. I saw firsthand what happens when systems don’t support our people. From a young age, I knew I wanted to make a change. Wherever my skills could be useful, I’d use them to make things better.

I’ve worked in various roles, including as a negotiator for Indigenous Nations, an advisor within the federal government, and later in the non-profit sector. Through those experiences, one thing became clear: we didn’t have the right tools to drive real, lasting change. The systems we were working within just weren’t built for Indigenous well-being. And while it’s easy to point fingers at individuals, the truth is that it’s a systems problem. So, I turned my attention to system-level solutions.  

Why outcomes finance?
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I started with Indigenous-led venture capital. It was exciting and important work, and it showed me that capital led and owned by Indigenous people can show up differently. But for me, it still wasn’t focused closely enough on the system-level outcomes I knew we needed to secure for communities. Venture capital is still a profit-first model, whereas outcomes finance, while not philanthropy, centers on impact over profit. That felt like a better fit with Indigenous worldviews—where community well-being and long-term relationships matter most.

That’s why we launched Raven Outcomes. We wanted to build a tool designed for Indigenous communities, led by Indigenous people, and focused on Indigenous-defined success.

Key lessons from the journey
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1. The system still holds bias.

‍Mainstream finance still sees Indigenous communities as “risky.” But most of that is based on fear or misunderstanding, not on real evidence. The truth is that Indigenous investments are not riskier than others. In fact, many are more stable and have long-term value. We need to challenge those assumptions and show that capital can be safely and effectively deployed in Indigenous contexts.

2. Indigenous intermediaries are essential.

For investments to work in Indigenous communities, you need people in the middle, people who understand both finance and community. These intermediaries can build trust, adapt to real-world conditions, and keep community priorities at the center. They can pivot when something doesn’t work, redesign contracts to fit better, and support long-term success. When Indigenous groups lead, the results are stronger and more sustainable.

3. We need to scale.

The work we’re doing is making a difference, but it’s not enough. The challenges in front of us are big, and we need bigger tools to match. That means growing our funds, telling our stories better, and providing solid evidence that this approach works. We also need to define impact on our own terms. Indigenous communities need to set their own success markers, not rely on outside definitions.

Looking Ahead

We're at an exciting point at Raven Outcomes. We're closing our first Outcomes Fund and moving on to full deployment. That means real dollars going into real projects, and real change happening on the ground. What excites me most is that governments and private investors are showing growing interest in this approach. They want to invest in solutions that work, and they want to see measurable impact. This is our moment to scale, not just in Canada, but globally.

When Indigenous communities thrive, everyone benefits. That’s the future I’m working toward, and I’m proud to be doing it with this team and our partners.

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