The Platform Was Missing
“If you’re willing to ask the question, you should be willing to be part of the answer.”
That line from a mentor stayed with Art Proctor. While most people treat advice like decoration, Art treated it like a contract.
In Calgary’s innovation circles in the late 2010s, something important was absent. Indigenous professionals were already working in technology, innovation, and the creative industries. They had the skills, the ideas, and the results. What they did not have was a dedicated platform that treated them as the experts they already were - not as a one-off panel, not as a side conversation, and not as an afterthought at the end of someone else’s agenda.
Missing platforms matter. Without access, talent stays under-recognized and scattered. Relationships remain on the surface. Opportunities stay hard to reach. Art recognized this. Born in Calgary and a 28-year veteran of the film and stage industry (IATSE Local 212), Art brought a unique, multi-neurodivergent perspective to community building. As a regular presence at Rainforest Alberta’s Lunch Without Lunch gatherings, he noticed the gap. Shortly after the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was established, he made a straightforward observation: the group should do something meaningful for the day.
The organizers looked back at him. The question he had asked returned. He accepted the responsibility.
Art Proctor is the Founder, CEO, and Tech Steward of Indigitech Destiny, and this year, we are calling out to past supporters, participants, alumni, and community champions and inviting you to join us as we celebrate Indigitech's 5th anniversary of community advocacy and capacity building. What a journey!
Within two weeks, the first IndigiTech Summit took shape in a back room at Platform Calgary.
No long planning cycle. No polished infrastructure. Sixty people showed up. Five or six speakers took the floor.
The early years were imperfect and largely informal. Only later did the work formalize into a non-profit, connect with ElevateIP Alberta, and secure the support needed to navigate the ecosystem for Indigenous founders. Art intentionally kept the growth "small but mighty," resisting the pressure to scale too fast and lose the intimate heart of the community. With a 50% attendee return rate year after year, the core held strong.
Art still describes reaching the five-year mark as something close to a miracle. But IndigiTech Destiny exists because one person refused to leave an important question unanswered.
That is why this work still matters.
“Indigenous talent and innovation were never missing. What was missing was access, investment, and a platform that placed Indigenous leadership at the centre.”
The fifth anniversary of the IndigiTech Summit takes place on September 23, 2026, at TELUS Spark Science Centre in Calgary. This is your invitation to join us, because this work still matters, move than ever.
Photo: Randi Russell, Diverge Social and Charlene SanJenko, reGEN impact media.
If a space that centres Indigenous professionals in technology, innovation, and the creative industries matters to you, now is the moment to stand behind it and reserve your place.
The celebration begins on Tuesday, September 22nd with a hosted reception marking five years of Indigitech, with local food, remarks and space to meet some of the founders, innovators, storytellers, families, Indigenous leaders, systems thinkers and socially conscious Calgarians joining us.
Then we experience a film screening of IMAGINE together. For full details, please review this Food + Film Night invitation.
Put a group together and join us.
And if you’d like to help more people experience the evening, we are enthusiastically welcoming partners and supporters to sponsor seats for youth, families and community members, helping us extend the ripple beyond those already able to attend. Connect with charlene@regenimpactmedia.com to discuss how you can partner to support.
