A business case about an Indigenous entrepreneur has earned a StFX team top honours in an international competition. Erica Cameron, a 2026 honours graduate of the Gerald Schwartz School of Business, and professors Dr. Neil Maltby and Dr. Mary Oxner won first place in the Ivey Women Investing in Leadership (IWIL) Case Writing Competition. They finished first in a field that included 75 submissions from 157 authors at 50 institutions in 19 countries.
Their winning case profiles Mallory Yawnghwe, CEO and founder of Indigenous Box Inc. (IBI).
The competition, organized by Ivey Publishing with the IWIL initiative, recognizes outstanding case writing that brings women's leadership experiences into business classrooms and encourages greater representation of women as protagonists in business education.
In writing about the StFX team, Ivey Publishing noted competition judges were “particularly impressed by the clarity, relevance, and pedagogical value” of the case and that it stood out for the “thoughtful exploration of women leaders' perspectives and experiences in business and its potential to support meaningful classroom discussion.”
The Indigenous Box delivers corporate gifting and subscription services that support a growing network of Indigenous suppliers and helps advance economic responses to the calls for Truth and Reconciliation. The Schwartz School case describes Ms. Yawnghwe’s aspirations for an Indigenous Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in Edmonton and a global Indigenous economic community.
“Winning the competition was an unexpected but incredibly exciting surprise,” says Ms. Cameron. “We were all so proud of the case we developed, and having the opportunity to share Mallory’s story was an honour in itself. Her work to advance Indigenous entrepreneurship is truly inspiring, and knowing that our case can help bring greater attention to her story and the important work she is doing makes this recognition especially meaningful.”
Ms. Yawnghwe is a graduate of Coady Institute’s Indigenous Women’s Leadership program. Executive Director Eileen Alma and Manager of Local Engagement Paula Brophy had proposed Ms. Yawngwhe as a keynote speaker for the university’s annual social entrepreneurship summit, Impact X. Following the event, Ms. Cameron, Dr. Maltby and Dr. Oxner proposed developing a case about her work. Dr. Oxner had been working on a SSHRC PEG grant about young Indigenous women entrepreneurs, while Ms. Cameron and Dr. Maltby had been working on a SSHRC PEG grant about women founder entrepreneurs navigating growth financing.
“Collaborating with Ms. Yawnghwe enabled everyone to advance important foregrounding of Indigenous entrepreneurial founder opportunities and challenges,” Dr. Oxner says.
She says the IWIL competition was organized to highlight the experiences, decisions, and challenges of women leaders.
“The Ivey Women Investing in Leadership Case Writing Competition is an essential contribution to business education,” says Dr. Oxner. “There remains a pressing need to advance the opportunities and challenges of female protagonists, and IWIL fills this gap with engaging impactful stories of women's leadership.”
The case will be available on Ivey Publishing later in the fall of 2026.
