Gallery of Community Based Programs & Models in Indigenous Communities 

Following are Indigenous organizations and programs who joined us at our November meeting in various sessions, and related meeting handouts/materials.  Download a Printer Friendly Version.

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American Indian College Fund
Emily White Hat, Vice President of Programs

The American Indian College Fund seeks to increase the number of American Indians who hold college degrees. Along with student scholarships, the College Fund supports programs at accredited, tribally controlled colleges and universities. Since its founding in 1989, the American Indian College Fund has been the nation’s largest charity supporting Native student access to higher education. The Ihduwiyayapi: Advancing Indigenous Early Childhood Education partners with tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) to build the capacity of their early childhood education programs and improve teacher education through family and community outreach, enhanced child developmental pedagogy, pathways development, enhanced capacity, and engagement in national conversations about ECE best practices and lessons learned. The program was initially funded by W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2011. The program received continued support from WKKF and in 2020 received funding from Heising-Simons Foundation and the Bezos Family Foundation. The Bezos Family Foundation has since committed a $5.3 million grant over four years of a broader $11.3 million program plan.

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Better Birthing Collaborative - California
Adene Sacks, Co-Founder, With/In Collaborative
Danielle Anderson-Reed, Community Engagement Coordinator, First 5 Humboldt (CA)

Danielle and Adene shared their experience working alongside parents and leaders from tribal lands in and around northern California – and with medical practitioners, on how to better the birth experience of Native parents at Providence St. Joseph Hospital. What emerged from the time this team of folks spent together —  now known as the “Better Birthing” team —  are multiple efforts that seek to provide the care Native parents want versus what they have experienced in the past. The early outcomes of their work together resulted in the change of a California law — and the creation of a birth plan that centers Native birthing traditions. And their work continues — they are currently working on peri-natal care and training for native doulas in the community. Please join them in a conversation about the imperfect and ongoing effort to create a more culturally responsive birth experience in this community by centering relationships and creating the time and structure to reimagine a different path. 

Related materials:

• • History of Native California, 13 min video
  • About the Better Birthing Project, 1pg
  • Better the Birthing Experience for Native Parents, With/In Collaborative Blog

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C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi - Lower Sioux Children Are Sacred School (Morton, MN)
Vanessa Goodthunder, Director

C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi (Lower Sioux Early Head Start and Head Start, Children Are Sacred School) was created to meet a need for increased cultural connections and wrap-around services to target families with a need for resources and early child care and increased cultural connections.  Once we received federal and state grant dollars to plan, hire staff, create policy, obtain training, and conduct renovation, we thankfully opened doors on August 1, 2018. We have now finished our first year of operation and are in our second year serving 83 children and families with 60 in the center, 11 home-based, and 12 expectant families. We are looking to build with and for the community for this school to raise the next generation of Dakota language speakers to thus strengthen our community’s sovereignty and overall well-being.

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Early Relational Health - Family Network Collaborative
Nicole Loveless – Native American Parent Leader, San Felipe Pueblo, NM
Bryn Fortune – FNC Coordinator

Nurture Connection's Family Network Collaborative is an exciting and innovative approach to partnering with parents/caregivers that moves away from learning from a few parent voices or perspectives to an approach that co-designs with representative groups of neighborhood parent/caregiver voices without the filter of organizational lenses.  Six Parent Leaders from all regions of the country represent groups from whom we have the most to learn: families of color, Spanish-speaking immigrants, fathers, children with special health needs/disabilities, families receiving home visiting services, the Native American community, and rural Southern culture.

Related Resources:

• FNC Parent Leader - Map & Family Demographics Represented
• NM Tribal Map served by Nicole/FNC Parent Leader
• Centering Parent Voice and Leadership to Support ERH, May 2023. Collective Impact Forum podcast featuring the Family Network Collaborative Parent Leaders.
• The Risks and Rewards of Sharing Your Power With Community, January 2023, by Mia Halthon, FNC Parent Leader and Ira Hillman, Einhorn Collaborative, The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
• A Conversation with the Family Network Collaborative, January 2023, Contributors: Bryn Fortune, FNC Coordinator and Steven Thibert, FNC Parent Leader

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Indigenous Early Learning Collaborative
Tarajean Yazzie-Mintz, First Light Education Project
Joshua Sparrow, Brazelton Touchpoints Center

The Indigenous Early Learning Collaborative is a national Institute that serves as an intellectual home for Indigenous early learning and development Communities of Practice to engage, learn, and access material and intellectual resources to inform their locally designed community-based inquiry, programs, Co-Learning (and evaluation), and strategy for sustaining high-quality early learning opportunities for Native children and families. The Indigenous Early Learning Collaborative Institute relies on Community-Based Inquiry and knowledge generation as a foundational component toward achieving racial equity in Indigenous early learning and care systems.

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Indigenous Parent Leadership Institute (IPLI) – White Earth Nation, MN
Beth Ann Dodds, Program Manager, Indigenous Visioning
Susie Ballot, Graduate & Facilitator
Ashley Bunker, Graduate

IPLI is a partnership with the National Parent Leadership Institute (NPLI), White Earth Nation (WEN), Dr. Anton Treuer and the Northwest Minnesota Foundation to bring this parent leadership initiative to Indian Country. IPLI is a free 22 week program which integrates child development, leadership, democracy skills and Ojibwe culture into a parent curriculum to empower the parent voice.  The mission of the Indigenous Parent Leadership Initiative (IPLI) is to guide parents in becoming leading advocates for children using a cultural lens. IPLI supports parents, grandparents, foster parents and other community members to build on their leadership skills they already have and help instill a confidence in using their parent voice. Learn more about IPLI.

Related materials:

• • IPLI Flyer - Journey of Healing and Transformation
  • ECFC November 2023, Parent Leader Bios
  • INDIGEBOX - an educational subscription box for early childhood learning environments (child care, preschool, Head Start, etc.) filled with early learning tools that will benefit programs serving American Indian children.

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Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan
Michelle Leask, Project Manager/CAN Coordinator

The Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Inc. (ITCM) is a 501©(3) non-profit corporation duly organized under a State Charter filed April 16, 1968, representing twelve federally recognized tribes in Michigan. The Agency was created out of financial necessity.  Tribes originally part of the Agency were so small in population that an organization combining all the numbers could generate more fundable programs for much needed delivery services to tribal members. The communities suffered extreme poverty, high unemployment, poor housing conditions, poor health care, and other basic services were not readily available for most Indian people. The Inter-Tribal Council was the frontier consortium that allowed a beginning to for small tribes working for self-sufficiency and better services for their people.   

Related materials:

• • ITCMI Tribal Home Visiting Network
  • ITCMI Tribal HeadStart and Early Head Start
  • ITCMI Early Childhood Wiba Anung Work
  • ITCMI HRSA Infant Health Equity Action Plan
  • ITCMI Food Access Report: Supporting the Health and Return of Locally Produced Traditional Foods Among Michigan Tribal Communities
  • Michigan Tribal Service Map

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National Indian Child Care Association (NICCA)
Jennifer Rackliff, Executive Director  

The National Indian Child Care Association is the recognized representative body of the Tribal Child Care and Development Fund Grantees.  NICCA was established in 1993 to provide information, support, coordination, and advocacy for Tribal child care. Tribal child care programs serve over 300,000 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children from over 500 Federally recognized Tribes across the United States. Participation in the Child Care and Development Fund allows Tribal governments the opportunity to design, implement, and support programs which are beneficial to the unique needs of our Tribal citizens.

Related resource: NICCA Impact Brief

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Partners in Development Foundation (PIDF) - Hawai'i
Shawn Malia Kana’iaupuni, President & CEO

PIDF empowers families to navigate social challenges and to grow self-resiliency, vibrancy, and healthy, secure communities in Hawaiʻi. E mālama i ka ‘ohana, ola ke kaiāulu, care for the family, and the community lives. From our beginnings in 1997, PIDF draws on ʻike kupuna, ancestral wisdom and knowledge, to meet the current challenges facing Hawaiʻi. We serve the needs of young keiki, their caregivers, and economically vulnerable youth and families in the Hawaiian community to overcome systematic disparities and historical trauma. Our programs are guided by time-tested values and practices that honor our kuleana for people and place in caring for our islands and communities.  E ola ka ‘ohana, may the family thrive.  Learn more about PIDF's work, including multi-generational education programs such as youth mentorship, homeless family education, and a community school model to address physical, mental and emotional health needs of students, their families, and staff.

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Raising a Reader - California
Kim Nall, Executive Director, Tribal Child Care Association of California
Michelle Torgerson, President and CEO, Raising a Reader

Sharing collaborative work in California to customize Raising a Reader’s Super Summer Learning Adventures (SSLA) program with tribal communities, to ensure Native American children and families living California see themselves reflected in books—affirming their cultural identity, and receive culturally relevant materials and resources that empower them to connect with their heritage while fostering a love for reading.  Learn more about their work together.