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Meet Penny Carpenter, the first Aboriginal woman to become the Director of Finance at a tribal council, and the first woman to be part of the management team of Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO).\u00a0 She is the director of KNET Services, the Indigenous-owned and operated telecommunications and digital services division of the KO First Nations Council in Sioux Lookout, Ontario.<\/p>\n
Her colleagues and people in the community described her as a trailblazer. Her leadership and vision made KNET services the first owned and locally operated broadband network in the First Nations communities unlocking the opportunity of digital education in her community. As she stated in one of her interviews, \u201cBringing broadband to communities does not just bring technical skills\u2026 It brings health skills; it brings education skills, so people are able to remain in the community\u201d (Garrick, 2015, para. 8). KNet broadband grew from serving five First Nation communities to supporting over 50 First Nations in Ontario, including a joint venture with northern Quebec and Manitoba to provide band satellite, and network to organizations in Sioux Lookout and Thunder Bay (http:\/\/www.wawataynews.ca\/home\/enterprising-first-nations-women-honoured<\/a>).<\/p>\n She is an inspirational force for many women. Her contribution to the community helps close the digital divide in education caused by factors such as socioeconomic status and geographical location. Moreover, her research is focused on education and social justice in the First Nations communities. She has co-authored several papers highlighting digital innovations and using information communication technologies (ICT) in education and life-long learning in remote First Nations. Below are examples of papers she co-authored:<\/p>\n https:\/\/ineducation.ca\/ineducation\/article\/view\/266<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/journals.brandonu.ca\/jrcd\/article\/view\/1001\/228<\/a><\/p>\n