By Joy Persall, Shash Yázhí Moreno Charley, Camila Nakashima & Dana Arviso
After 11 impactful years under the stewardship of the Common Counsel Foundation (CCF) and Native Americans in Philanthropy, Native Voices Rising (NVR) has become an independent entity through a fiscal sponsorship (FSP) arrangement with CCF. In our new structure, CCF will provide NVR with fiduciary oversight, financial management, and other administrative services. We are excited for this next phase of growth! Native Voices Rising will now be fully Native-led to self-determine our focus, uplifting Indigenous leadership and mobilizing philanthropy to support grassroots movements in even more meaningful ways.
This evolution reflects our success and strength. Since its inception, NVR moved more than $16.5M to over 250 Native-led groups resourcing our Native communities. In 2013, NVR made 32 grants totaling $216,000 and in 2024 made 145 grants totaling $4M. We also broadened our national scope to include funding grant partners in 32 states and DC, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
With over 10 years of impact, as one of the few participatory grantmaking initiatives in the country, NVR centers Native leadership and vision in decision-making to reinforce the power of Native communities to lead on their own terms. Our work has always been rooted in trust, reciprocity, and partnership with Native communities. It has been inspiring to witness Native organizers shape solutions that directly respond to their community’s needs and aspirations.
In addition to grant support, NVR also cultivates and organizes learning and leadership opportunities:
- Funder Learning Opportunities: NVR’s Funder Learning Fellowship supports philanthropic leaders to deepen their understanding of Native organizing and power-building and strategize how to move more funding to the field. Alongside Native participants, non-Native donors and funders immerse in transformative experiences to understand the rich history and cultural nuances of Native communities, and foster meaningful relationships with Native grassroots leaders to support Native-led solutions, organizing, and advocacy;
- Community-Led Grantmaking: NVR’s Community Reviewers process demonstrates the sovereignty NVR is moving towards. Different from traditional philanthropy where Native communities are often not in decision-making positions, NVR Community Reviewers are recruited from a pool of national Native leaders within the nonprofit & philanthropic sectors. NVR operates from a deep sense of relational responsibility towards community similar to how relatives help take care of one another. This process engages a great number of Indigenous community members from differing generations and levels of experience, including Native Americans in Philanthropy’s Youth Grantmakers. In this way, Native voices and relationships are not just amplified at the grant partner level, but also within the grant-making process.
- Supportive Assistance: Grant partners connect with skilled Native consultants to strengthen their organizational capacity on topics such as organizational development, fundraising, communications, and financial management. In our Peer to Peer learning spaces, supported by Leadership Coaching, our grant partners expand their networks to include other Native organizations and leaders who are facing similar challenges in building up strong and sustainable nonprofits.
Our commitment to Native-led movement-building and community power will continue to remain at the heart of everything we do. We want to thank everyone who supports NVR and made our growth possible. We look forward to expanding our philanthropic advocacy efforts to support Native-led initiatives that will transform and further strengthen Native communities. We invite you to stay connected with NVR and continue with us on our journey.
If you’d like to learn more about how to partner with us, please reach out to development@nativevoicesrising.org.
