Investing In Indian Country

“We view Native communities as great places of potential to do work that makes a lasting philanthropic impact,” said Northwest Area Foundation President & CEO Kevin Walker. “The wealth of our nation is directly connected to Indian Country. Through our nation’s early history, Native lands were the stage for exploration and exploitation, the substance for new industries and wealth-creation. Today, Native American communities represent opportunities for Native-owned growth and restoration.  Now is our time to support their vision.”

Over the years, the Foundation has dedicated more than 30 percent of its grant dollars to programs that support poverty-reduction and prosperity- building programs among Native Americans.  Since 2001, it’s directed nearly 80 million to support culturally-based, innovative initiatives in reservation and urban Native American communities within its eight-state region. This commitment is legacy, as well as recognition that Native people are among the most disadvantaged and underserved.

Grants to Support Native-Based Economic Development

In fall 2011, the Foundation launched its Native American Social Entrepreneurship Initiative, a grants strategy designed to stimulate the local economy on reservations. The long-term goal is to build a powerful network of native-owned business that over time would create new jobs and a thriving community. The strategy focuses on advancing the abilities of native economic development organizations, known as community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which provide loans, training and administrative support. The goal is to accelerate the learning curve of the CDFIs so they can provide more services to more business owners sooner.  A secondary goal is to build entrepreneurial skills that Native Americans can apply to social challenges such as improving education, access to health care, and reducing poverty.
The Foundation made seven grants to Native nonprofits that are working in a two-year learning cohort to build social entrepreneurship on reservations.

Gatherings to Envision and Plan for Thriving Communities

In order to promote the deepest and most sustainable change in Indian Country, The Foundation can’t go it alone. The saying ‘there is strength in numbers’ is especially true when funding partnerships come together. To foster these possibilities, the Foundation has sponsored Native American Roundtables that assemble influential tribal and philanthropic leaders. The purpose of those meetings is to cultivate understanding of each other’s missions and explore where there might be an intersection of goals. Two meetings in 2010 focused on examining gaps and misconceptions, developing far-reaching vision, and outlining a long-term framework for grantmaking in Native communities.

By bringing together diverse talent, experience, leadership and ingenuity, funders began to identify how they could realize their respective missions through grants into reservation communities. Together they laid out the 2030 Vision for Vital and Vibrant Native Communities that suggests how funders might partner in programs such as education, economic development, and healthcare to create flourishing Native nations within the next two decades. Plans are underway to convene a third Native American Roundtable in 2012, with a focus on funder collaboration. For more information, contact Martin Jennings at mjennings@nwaf.org

The Foundation also supports long-term strategic initiatives with three Native American tribes seeking deep and lasting change:

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe spans 2.8 million acres and contains 18 communities in central South Dakota. The Foundation committed up to $9.5 million over 10 years to support a 10-year strategic plan to reduce poverty.

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa is located in Belcourt, N.D., near the Canadian border.  The Foundation committed up to $10 million dollars over 10 years to support the Pathways to Prosperity initiative to help reduce the reservation’s high poverty rate.

Lummi Nation is located across the bay from Bellingham, Wash., near the Canadian border.  The Foundation committed up to $6 million over 10 years to the Lummi Ventures Community Partnership to reduce poverty rates on the Lummi Native reservation.

Northwest Area Foundation made grants of over $8 million to support strategies to build the ability of urban Indian organizations to reduce poverty and move toward prosperity among Native Americans living in cities.  This was done in recognition that urban Indians living in cities often suffer disadvantages just as severe as they would on their home reservations.   The grants went to five urban Indian organizations:

Native American Family and Youth Center, Portland, Ore.
United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, Seattle, Wash.
Native American Development Corporation, Billings, Mont.
Society for the Advancement of Native Interests Today, Rapid City, S.D.
Native American Community Development Institute, Minneapolis, Minn.

In 2001, the Foundation made a grant of $20 million to establish the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, which seeks to address the root causes of poverty due to inability of Indians to fully utilize and benefit from their land-related assets.

Northwest Area Foundation has supported a number of other Native poverty reduction efforts including:

•Community leadership
•Tribal leadership curriculum
•Cross-reservation mentorship
•Prior grants to build and strengthen Native community development financial institutions
•Promote native entrepreneurship
•Support for the Cobell trust fund lawsuit

These awards amount to well over $1 million.