Social and Economic Development Strategies for Growing Organizations (SEDS-GO)
National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) (OR) - $200,000
Project Description: National Indian Child Welfare Association will strengthen the organization's ability to provide high-quality virtual training on American Indian child welfare. Due to COVID-19, they have been unable to offer in-person trainings to tribal communities, child welfare workers, and other interested parties. Currently, NICWA's staff lack experience in conducting remote trainings and thus will use this project to develop two staff members' knowledge and expertise in virtual training and adult learning. The project also will deliver 12 high-quality virtual trainings on Indian child welfare. Ultimately, the newly acquired expertise in virtual training will allow the organization to create engaging content and reach larger audiences that support frontline staff who work with Native children and families to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Ulu Ae Learning Center (HI) - $179,691
Project Description: Ulu A’e Learning Center seeks to improve the efficiency of their financial and technology systems in order to sustain and expand their programmatic reach and impact as they have had to pivot their approach to technology and innovation due to COVID-19. Currently, their programs are serving over 13,000 underserved children. With the growing demand for programming due to high enrollments, there is an increased need to scale their impact, especially with the shift to online learning. This project will update their website, automate their program registration process, improve their financial structure, and increase their online presence. These improvements will eliminate inefficiencies like double entries and manual data intake in order to enable their organization to increase productivity in providing learning programs. Ultimately, a new path to innovation will be created by technological improvement leading to sustainable impact.
Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial (SD) - $109,371
Project Description: The Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financal’s project will improve utilization of technology and data tracking and management within the organization to better serve the community. Due to issues in serving the rural and remote area of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, there is limited technological capacity which obstructs proper service delivery. By installing needed technological upgrades within the organization, Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financal will be able to increase opportunities that build assets and create wealth for over 240 clients through their financial services. The project directly aids staff by empowering them to connect virtually with clients through a more efficient platform, provides staff training, and will allow them to decrease the time spent on managing data by 20%. By the end of the project’s implementation, Mazaska will have enhanced technology, policies, and training that will lead to a more efficient system serving the community.
Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation (NV) - $66,555
Project Description: The Shoshone-Paiute Tribes will create a sustainable computer lab that is equipped to meet the current needs of tribal members that use the computer lab. At present, the 20 existing computers in the lab run Windows XP or Windows 7, neither of which is supported by Microsoft, meaning the necessary upgrades cannot be made. By updating workstations for the 20 existing computers after the first year, the community will increase the number of computer lab users to 150 participants per month. In addition, three IT Department employees will be training for workstation maintenance and software support. The project will serve the residents of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation with 50% of the monthly users being students of GED and distance learning courses. Ultimately, this updated computer lab will allow students and job seekers to thrive, benefiting the education, health, and economy of the tribe.
Arrowhead Incubator, Inc (MI) - $162,399
Project Description: Arrowhead Incubator's Partnership and Technology Strategy Building Project will create partnerships and increase Arrowhead Incubator's technological capacity so that the organization can better support Native American entrepreneurship and economic sovereignty. Through the project, the organization will build internal technological capacity through new equipment, software, network infrastructure, and develop improved technology policies and procedures. In addition, they will create and strengthen partnerships which support understanding the rights of Native Americans.The project's goal is to enhance their internal organizational capacity in order to help promote Native American business opportunities and economic development through Native start-ups, entrepreneurship and business expansion. The project will serve the Native American communities and citizens of Eastern Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula Michigan. Ultimately, Arrowhead Incubator envisions a thriving Native American business industry that allows Native people to remain on their homelands and preserve cultural connections for generations to come.
National Council of Urban Indian Health (DC) - $200,000
Project Description: The National Council of Urban Indian Health's (NCUIH) leadership seeks to strategically grow the organization to reach their full potential to best serve their mission and efficiently advance the health needs of Native American communities across the country. At present, NCUIH does not have strategic planning capabilities nor a staff education program although the staff has doubled in size in the last 12 months. Staff and board members will receive training in cultural competency, leadership development, and communication skills, and innovative development practices. This project will help NCUIH forecast the needs of their service populations which include urban American Indian and Alaska Native communities throughout the United States. Ultimately, this project will strengthen employee impact and retention which will lead to improved quality of healthcare delivery.
GUMA — Guam Unique Merchandise and Art, Inc. (GU) - $199,514
Project Description: Guam Unique Merchandise and Art, Inc. (GUMA) will create a nexus for community commerce and networking through the development of CHamoru cottage industries within Guam’s 19 villages. At present, GUMA provides CHamoru artists, cultural producers, and entrepreneurs with the training, resources, and tools needed to develop their products and concepts into successful businesses. This project will focus on expanding the capacity of GUMA by developing a strategic plan with the 19 village mayors and forming new partnerships. GUMA will work with the Mayor’s Council to devise a strategic plan, which will include establishing training and mentoring programs to create CHamoru cottage industries and village commerce within each of the villages. The project aims to create six new partnerships and an average of six cottage industries, ultimately benefitting 115 CHamoru unemployed or under employed community members who reside across 19 municipalities.
Tribal Nations Research Group (ND) - $137,579
Project Description: The Tribal Nations Research Group (TNRG) will fulfill its tribal mandate with this project to serve as the Tribal Data Storage Center for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and community. They will address two interlocking targeted challenges of technology usage and the ability to manage and track data. The Reservation is extremely rural and isolated in North Dakota. Currently, the tribal server only hosts raw tribal and program data that is neither searchable nor analyzed. There is also limited plans for server maintenance, software upgrades, and the do not have the capacity to develop policies for data governance. This project will implement an accessible data center with 100% of its data governance policies, server readiness, and access credentialing abilities completed. Dashboards will be created to facilitate data retrieval. Dashboard usage training will also be provided to a minimum of two tribal staff in each of the six areas: Demographics, Health, Economic Development, Education, Research, and Cultural. As a result, the project will move the community towards their long-term vision of using data management to protect tribal research data and to improve the health and well-being of the community.
Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indian Tribe of Alabama (AL) - $171,600
Project Description: The Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indian Tribe of Alabama will develop a strong grants and financial management system, which will improve the internal staff and operational capacity of the Tribe. Currently, the Tribe is fully reliant on using pen and ledger for their financial management systems and does not have a grants management system in place due to the limited number of grants previously awarded. Throughout the project cycle, the MCLCITA will secure a more reliable internet network that is accessible to their rural location, and establish an electronic grants and financial management systems. This will enable the collection, tracking, analyzing, and auditing of grants and financial data. Along with the establishment of the internal systems, the Tribe will train tribal citizens in the areas of grants management through the use of locally established partnerships. Ultimately, by training and empowering tribal citizens, the Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indian Tribe of Alabama will be able to preserve their traditional and cultural identity and enhance their physical quality of life by becoming self-sufficient.