NAF awards $500,000 to Native American prosperity building efforts

Grants will support proven approaches that build assets and wealth


ST. PAUL, Minn. (December 10,2009) The Northwest Area Foundation has awarded  three grants totaling  $500,000 to Native American-led organizations with proven track records of success in approaches that build prosperity in urban and reservation communities.  These awards are among the first set of grants, totaling $2.04 million, made under the Foundation’s new strategic plan approved by the board of directors in October 2008.

“Native Americans have experienced some of the highest poverty rates in the nation and have been deprived of resources to overcome barriers to prosperity. We believe that programs designed to build financial and human assets offer the best opportunity to thrive.  These grants represent the deepening of our longstanding commitment to the Native American community,” said Kevin Walker, president and CEO of Northwest Area Foundation.

The awards will further asset- and wealth-building strategies, one of three outcomes critical to the Foundation’s mission of reducing poverty and building prosperity in its eight-state region:

•    Oregon Native American Business and Entrepreneurial Network (ONABEN) of Tigard, Ore., was awarded $200,000 to provide technical assistance for reservation- or urban-based Native American economic development projects and support for small business development, including implementing the “Indianpreneurship” business development manual. ONABEN seeks to create a better quality of life for Native Americans by promoting ownership and management of successful businesses.

•    First Nations Oweesta of Rapid City, S.D., was awarded $200,000 to provide assistance to Native Community Development Financial Institutions in establishing Individual Development Accounts, financial education, loans, and to promote the use of the Earned Income Tax Credit.  First Nations Oweesta’s work is focused on developing Native assets and building strong Native communities.

•    First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colo., was awarded $100,000 to create the Native Asset-Building Partnership Project and a peer mentorship program between tribes.
First Nations works to strengthen American Indian economies by investing in economic development and asset control strategies.

These were among 14 grants approved in October to nationally-known and ethnically-diverse organizations that support community-based practitioners who focus on asset-building projects and which support efforts that help individuals and families build their financial and human assets.  Grants were also awarded for efforts strengthening capacity and leadership and improving public policy solutions.

Over the past 20 years, the Northwest Area Foundation directed more than $60 million to support programs focused on reducing poverty and building prosperity in reservation and urban Native American communities within its eight-state region.   Philanthropy Northwest “Trends in Northwest Giving 2008” reports that the Foundation contributed one-third of all grant dollars to Native communities between the years of 2004 and 2006 in Alaska, Montana, Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

The Foundation is currently accepting grant proposals only on an invitation basis.  For more information about the Foundation’s grantmaking approach and the work of grantees across its eight-state region, please visit www.nwaf.org.

The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to supporting efforts by the people, organizations and communities in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity. These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill’s son Louis W. Hill established the Northwest Area Foundation.