Alumna Jace Meyer establishes new education scholarship for Indigenous students

February 27, 2023

Donor and alumna Jace Meyer pictured during a speaking engagement.

Jacylin (Jace) Meyer (B.Ed 2011) is a Métis woman and the founder of COYA Productions Inc., an education production company that amplifies the thought leadership of social impact creators, Indigenous entrepreneurs, and unheard youth voices. This year, she established an entrance scholarship with the Faculty of Education that will be awarded to an Indigenous undergraduate student who has demonstrated financial need.

COYA is an acronym; it stands for ‘Consequences of Your Actions’. Jace points to this as a long-time guiding principle in her life. She says the real logic is that if you can imagine what the consequences of your actions are, you’re probably ready to confidently act on those things.

When we believe in the consequences of our actions, we can make really powerful and important things happen. We're not the product of our circumstances. Rather, we are the consequences of our actions.

Finances are a huge barrier to access to post-secondary education, especially for Indigenous students. This was true for Jace, who knew she wanted to be an educator while unsure if she could ever afford the required teaching degree. Now, years after obtaining her teaching degree and building a career as an educator and entrepreneur, she is in a position to give back financially.

Jace established the COYA scholarship specifically for Indigenous education students as a way to honour the lived experiences that she knows are real for many people. She wanted to create a scholarship that considered financial barriers but didn't also require somebody to have the highest level of GPA because she knows that Indigenous students are often overlooked for their dedication to being of service to their community, which might undermine their grades.

We have to provide more equity into the world. Education is a strong tool for that, and it's important to consider who is doing the educating. There's a lack of diversity in that space, historically. Teachers are key in helping us understand new realities and perspectives in the world. If we have more diversity in those teachers, more learners see themselves in a future with new opportunities.

Jace’s background as an educator has largely shaped her outlook as an entrepreneur. While building her business, she’s worked hard to prioritize relationships while fostering a sustainable business model. This way, when financial success happens, there is an opportunity to reintegrate that money back into the economy responsibly and equitably. The new COYA scholarship is an example of this. COYA already donates 1% of their profits to carbon sequestration to protect the planet and are moving toward a 10% contribution back into education.

Over the coming years, Jace hopes to see COYA grow to be a community place of knowledge sharing and transmission. She is currently building a creative studio space on Lekwungen-speaking territory that will be for any Indigenous and social impact entrepreneurs to use for creating videos, headshots, product photography, voiceover work and podcast production. She envisions a platform and library filled with content that is created by Indigenous entrepreneurs, social impact creators and unheard youth voices, but accessed by anyone. There is already a beautiful collection of content that is growing from COYA’s entrepreneurship trainings.

Bankrupted businesses don't make social impacts. So, money isn't necessarily evil, or wrong or bad. It's necessary. But we can choose to consider money as medicine and ensure that the money we make is reintegrated back into our economy in a really good way. When we make money, what's the impact we want that money to have?

Apply for the COYA Scholarship
Application deadline is April 30 each year

Connect with Jace
Follow @coya_productions on Instagram
Visit Jace’s website