Bridging Gaps and Building Bonds: Reflection on Transformative Experience of the Native Voices Rising Funder Learning Fellowship

The Fellowship helped philanthropic leaders deepen their understanding of Native organizing and power-building and strategize how to move more funding to the field.

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Institutional philanthropy may be a relatively recent concept for Native communities, but the tradition of giving within these communities dates back to time immemorial. Native people are the original philanthropists of the United States, practicing resource redistribution to ensure community survival and uphold cultural values such as respect, reciprocity, relationships, and responsibility.

Wealth in Native communities is not measured by possessions but by the spirit of generosity and the ability to give back. Native Voices Rising (NVR) embodies this age-old tradition of Indigenous philanthropy, standing as a testament to the power of giving rooted in Native values.

Native Voices Rising, a fiscally sponsored project of Common Counsel Foundation and in partnership with Native Americans in Philanthropy, addresses the drastic underfunding of Native-led organizations, which receive less than half of 1% of all philanthropic dollars. As a pooled regranting collaborative, Native Voices Rising builds broad-based support for grassroots groups dedicated to solving environmental, racial, and social injustices through community self-determination. [Read more in our 10-year Impact Report]

In our 11 years, we have made $12.5 million in grants, but what sets Native Voices Rising apart is its community-led grantmaking approach. Native community members make grant decisions within regional review committees. This model not only fosters sustained partnerships with organizations, but by trusting decision making to Native Community Reviewers, it brings non-Native donors into a deeper understanding and appreciation of Native-led social change work, rather than being the ones leading it. As a national funder, Native Voices Rising’s efforts have significantly strengthened the capacity of Native-led organizations by providing flexible, culturally-relevant support, making strides toward rectifying the enduring inequities in philanthropic investment.

Our Inaugural Funder Learning Fellowship

Native Voices Rising chose to engage in a fellowship to deepen relationships with funders because we believe that true support and understanding come from genuine human connection and education. Our inaugural Funder Learning Fellowship program, which concluded in May 2024, exemplifies this approach. It was designed to create a space where philanthropic leaders could connect with each other and Native community leaders and activists.

While organizing and fundraising campaigns, such as NVR’s successful tenth anniversary-$10 million raise, play a crucial role, it’s recognized that non-Native funders often lack a nuanced understanding of Native issues. This fellowship offered an immersive journey that went beyond the basics to create a transformative experience. It created a vital space and container for funders to confront and grapple with unfamiliar concepts and unknowns, helping them navigate discomfort with grace and develop a deeper felt-sense understanding.

“I really enjoyed the safe space y’all created for everyone to really be comfortable in not knowing. I think that was a really important source of support to be in relationship with folks who were open to learning and also open to being honest about needing to learn more. That space made it easy to ask questions, even if they seemed silly. Also, Mijo and Dana thank you for being such supportive leaders for this cohort, I think that the support y’all gave to us was really important – the office hours, one on one time and just being in community when we were with each other in person was all so so so helpful and also created a space where we could be open with each other.” – Funder fellow

By fostering these meaningful relationships and encouraging funders to understand the rich history and cultural nuances of Native communities, we aim to transform their approach from merely doing what feels right to deeply comprehending why these actions are necessary, ultimately advocating for more profound and lasting change.

Spotlight on Fellowship Activities

During the Native Voices Rising Funder Learning Fellowship, participants were immersed in transformative experiences that left an indelible mark on their understanding and approach to philanthropy.

One of the highlights was an in-person retreat on the sacred Suquamish lands in Washington. Fellows gathered to deepen their bonds with one another and with the local Native community. The fellowship coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision, a significant ruling for the Suquamish people that affirmed fishing rights for Washington tribes, and the cohort had the honor of collaborating with the Suquamish Foundation. The fellows attended a screening and panel discussion featuring tribal fishermen, which provided profound insights into the community’s ongoing struggles and triumphs.

The fellows were thoughtfully prepared on cultural norms and following community cues to show up respectfully to the space. To prepare, fellows were encouraged to bring three meaningful gifts from home, which were then shared with other participants and speakers at the gathering. This act of gifting, rooted in the value of reciprocity, initially felt unusual in a professional setting but soon became a warmly held practice. The exchange of gifts symbolized the deep appreciation for the knowledge, relationships, and experiences being shared.

The fellowship also included a gathering at the Native Americans in Philanthropy conference in Minnesota. Minneapolis, with its vibrant urban Native population and close ties to local tribes, served as an ideal complement to Seattle. The city’s numerous Native-led nonprofit organizations underscored the importance of seeing and acknowledging these spaces in the city and beyond.

“Going to the NAP conference was such an amazing and beautiful experience to be in community with so many badass Native organizers and practitioners. Not only was I able to build closer relationships to folks in the fellowship, but also with organizers and other folks throughout the conference. Also it has been so wonderful building intentional relationships with all the folks we’ve been working with at NVR. If anything this fellowship has gotten me so excited to really recenter our values to indigenizing philanthropy and the ways that we build relationships.” – Funder fellow

During the Minnesota trip, fellows also had a luncheon where they met with senior foundation leaders from Northwest Area Foundation, Inatai Foundation, Bush Foundation, and Colorado Health Foundation to build relationships and ask questions about philanthropic strategy. These foundations are among the top 20 funders who have made significant funding commitments to Tribes and Native-led nonprofits, have successfully recruited and retained Native staff and board members, and have thoughtfully engaged with Native communities to develop their funding strategies. Our Fellows had an opportunity to ask questions about those strategies and learn from their leadership in the field.

Throughout these gatherings, fellows faced moments of discomfort as they navigated unfamiliar cultural landscapes and grappled with their own privileges. However, this discomfort was embraced as a crucial part of the journey. The fellowship created a safe container where funders could confront these feelings together, moving through them with grace and empathy.

This collective experience laid a strong foundation for ongoing meetings and fostered a sense of community and trust. The fellowship aimed to build authentic relationships that would continue to grow and support efforts toward racial justice by normalizing the process of not knowing everything and identifying gaps without letting them hinder progress.

“The fellowship really helped me understand how limited my knowledge of Native communities and history was, particularly outside of California. Also as someone very new to philanthropy it really helped me understand the history and struggles that Native communities and organizations have had to experience when working with foundations and patterns of giving, etc.” – Funder fellow

In between these in-person experiences, the fellows participated in bi-monthly virtual sessions, where they took in presentations from leaders from Suquamish Foundation, Native Organizers Alliance, Chief Seattle Club, Potlatch Fund, Na’ah Illahee Fund, NDN Collective, Hawai’I People’s Fund, SAGE Development Authority, Ekvn-Yefolecv, and Funders for Justice. Many of the speakers are Native Voices Rising grant partners or leaders who have participated in its Native-led participatory grantmaking process.

The goals of gathering the cohort were to build respectful, meaningful relationships with Native communities, deepen understanding of Native approaches to organizing and power-building, and develop more humble and trusting grantmaking practices. By moving more funds to support Native communities, especially for organizing and power-building, the fellowship aimed for lasting impact that makes a transformative difference.

An insight we had not initially anticipated in this first cohort is how including several Native participants enriched the experience, ensuring there was mutual support for each other in the experience, and ensuring there was no undue burden on any single individual or tokenizing their experiences.

In reflection, the fellows shared some of what they learned from the experience:

- “This Fellowship provided the opportunity to learn from Native nonprofit leaders working on a wide variety of issues and in different places throughout the country. It also offered many opportunities to learn with and from the other fellows, which was helpful in better understanding how others are thinking about and doing good work to support Native communities.”
- “This fellowship asked us to lean into the intersectionality of Native organizing and engage with topics and issue areas that were at times unfamiliar. While we may not have walked away knowing everything about the topic of the day, our eyes were opened to something we may not have been exposed to before.”
- One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that I will have to fundamentally change the way my foundation does engagement and grantmaking with Native communities.
- Even Native practitioners could learn more about our organizing practices!
- I came into this with my own understanding as a Native person. However, I was and still am interested in thinking critically about the burden philanthropy inadvertently puts on community partners when asking to “build relationship.” I do feel like this fellowship helped me think about relationship building from within a non-Native foundation and offered me tools to bring back to my colleagues. I’d still love to dig into the issue of when relationship building becomes a funder-imposed hurdle keeping us from simply moving funds.

Senior Program Strategist Dana Arviso, PhD., designed and led the fellowship. She shared a personal reflection at the end of the time together with the fellows:

“I’ve been waiting my whole career to do something like this. I have been in philanthropy for 17 years, and I’ve never had the concentrated time with a group of funders to take them through an experience like this, not just creating exposure to the issues, but to unpack, to deepen knowledge. Some of the seeds we planted in Suquamish retreat we could draw connections to later with other speakers. From learning about tribal sovereignty and fish wars from tribal fishermen, and many other contextualizing moments – it was deeply fulfilling to see fellows making connections from what we experience together to the world around them moving forward.”

Thank you to the participants of this inaugural NVR Funder Learning Fellowship

- Clara Steele, Roy & Patricia Disney Family Foundation
- Claire Poekling, MacArthur Foundation
- Michael Roberts, McKnight Foundation
- Charlotte Basch, Magic Cabinet
- Alexis Aviles, Magic Cabinet
- Joaquin Uy, Magic Cabinet
- Leah Salgado, Weissberg Foundation
- Nikki Pieratos, Tiwahe Foundation
- Joe Lucero, Common Counsel Foundation
- Gabby Dizon, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
- Rye Young, Sprocket Foundation

As we look ahead, Native Voices Rising remains committed to creating challenging spaces where individuals can step outside their comfort zones and lean on each other for support.

We aim to provide a safe environment for processing transformative moments and bridging the knowledge gaps that exist due to limited and often inaccurate historical education about Native people. We recognize that these gaps are not merely due to ignorance but are a result of systemic issues that have invisibilized contemporary Native experiences.

We are deeply honored to have earned the trust of our Native partners and fellowship participants to facilitate such meaningful experiences. With great anticipation, we are happy to share that another cohort will be launched in 2025, and we are dedicated to thoughtfully developing this next group, ensuring an enriching journey for all involved.

Thank you to Brittany Schulman at Native Americans in Philanthropy and Mijo Lee at Mijo Consulting for your thought partnership, co-design, and facilitation of this fellowship.

If you are curious about learning more about the NVR Funder Learning Fellowship or joining a future cohort, please contact Dana Arviso, Senior Program Strategist, at dana@commoncounsel.org

About Native Voices Rising

Native Voices Rising is a research, donor education, re-granting, and capacity-building collaborative created and led by Common Counsel Foundation and Native Americans in Philanthropy. Native Voices Rising is designed to support organizing, advocacy and civic engagement in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

Since its inception in 2013, Native Voices Rising has awarded over $12.5 million general operating support grants to Native-led organizations. Eligible organizations are rooted in a Native community, led by Native people, hold a vision for change that improves the lives of Native community members, engage the community to take action together and/or seek to affect the policies and rules that govern the community. Native Voices Rising serves as a mechanism to build broad-based philanthropic support for grassroots groups led by and for Native communities and to amplify Native voices elevating indigenous solutions to historic harms and society’s most pressing issues.

Headshots of cohort participants & facilitators