Our Organization

M’akola Development Services (MDS) is a non-profit consulting firm with Indigenous roots that is committed to supporting vibrant, diverse communities across British Columbia. For over 35 years, our team has provided relationship-focused consulting services to help our clients plan, develop, and operate affordable housing.

Our Vision

Indigenous-based, socially-conscious professional development services organization.

Our Mission

M’akola Development Services builds meaningful and sustainable relationships in order to:

Provide professional planning, research and development support;
Build affordable homes and mixed-use projects; and
Build capacity and invest in Indigenous communities.

Our Core Values

Rooted In Indigenous Values

Our business philosophy is informed by Indigenous leadership, rooted in reconciliation and traditional sustainability, and focused on client relationships built on reciprocal respect.

Client Centered and Collaborative

Our approach to work emphasizes understanding, respect, and collaboration to put each client’s unique needs at the center of everything we do.

Relationship-Focused

We build lasting relationships by caring for our clients, nurturing partnerships, and attentively meeting their needs.

Responsive

With an emphasis on continuous improvement and a culture that values both learning and leadership, we adapt our approach for each client’s specific needs and priorities.

Professional

Rooted in a not-for-profit approach, our professional services are delivered by a team of experts with expertise in planning, development, finance, environment, and public health.

Capacity Building

As leaders in our sector, we actively share our knowledge and skills to create a bigger pool of people with expertise in planning and development.

Holistic

Driven by values and goals that go beyond the financial bottom line, our social purpose centres people, process and the community when building projects.

Our History

The ‘Victoria Native Indian Housing Society’ was incorporated on February 6, 1984 as a non-profit society. The name was changed to the M’akola Housing Society on April 5, 1988.

The Society was originally established to provide safe, affordable housing for families of Indigenous ancestry who were in core need of housing in urban centers on Vancouver Island. Since that time the Society and its mandate expanded into what was known as the M’akola Group of Societies, consisting of up to eight societies at one point. As of today, there are only two societies: M’akola Housing Society and M’akola Development Services.

The Mis’kow’aao Development Society (MDS) was incorporated March 18th, 1988 as a non-profit society. The goal was to build up the development capacity of the organization and to provide opportunities to give back to Indigenous communities through grants, scholarships, bursaries and events. Over time, the organization realized it could assist other non-profits with development projects using the internal capacity and expertise it had built up from planning and building units for M’akola Housing Society,. Leadership identified that Mi’s Kow ’A Ao Development Society could become a social enterprise that actively bids on development projects and hire on staff to take on bigger projects. In 2017, our name changed to M’akola Development Services.

Today we continue our work as a non-profit organization, governed by a volunteer Indigenous board of directors with significant related experience, skills, passion, and understanding of the needs of both on and off-reserve Indigenous Families.

Our Logo

Playing off of the theme of a home, which is the M’akola Housing Society’s logo, this design represents a refurbished house with a new door that represents a man’s mouth. The façade of the house is refurbished with two killer whales, each with a seal in its mouth and the top of the house is a killer whale coming towards the viewer with a seal in its mouth. The peaks have also been replaced with a more ornate design. The killer whale represents the spirits of our great chiefs. The seals are a staple for our people and for the orcas. The face with the mouth for the door presents an ancestor.

The artist, Richard Hunt is a Kwaguilth (Kwakiutl) Native from Fort Rupert.