About Us
Native Ways Federation uplifts Native-led nonprofits. Learn more about our mission, vision, values, and strategic plan below.
Mission
Our mission is to activate and expand informed giving to Native-led nonprofits in Indian Country through donor education and advocacy.
Vision
We envision a thriving Native-led nonprofit sector, championing a diverse community rooted in Indigenous values and ways of being.
Values
Our staff and board rely on Indigenous values to guide us in our relationships and our work, both internally and externally, at our organization. The knowledge passed on to us from our ancestors informs our ways of knowing and being in the world and ensure that we think of the next seven generations in all of our actions. We advocate for our values in all of our relationships to continue to affirm the integrity of Indigenous ways of knowing and to build visibility.
Kinship
At our core, we are human beings who take pride in our relationships with others. We value the relationships among extended families, tribal nations, and communities. We recognize that we are all related, interdependent, and that our collective voice is powerful and necessary in to ensure a world where our future generations can thrive.
Integrity
We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards, and strive to act with honesty, transparency and accountability throughout our internal operations and external actions. We recognize that our ancestors expect us to act with good intentions and clear minds on behalf of current and future generations.
Respect
We value the connections between the land, water, air, all beings and creation. We recognize that everything and everyone come into this world with gifts to contribute. We honor those gifts by acting responsibly toward one another. We do this by listening and engaging with each other, with our external partners, and with our constituencies.
Generosity
We value communal generosity and reciprocity and strive to build sector connections that are relational rather than transactional.
Courage
We are working toward systemic change, and the ability to live and work in alignment with our Indigenous cultural values. This is not easy work, but we recognize that we come from strong and resilient ancestors, and we carry the legacy of their stories with us when faced with challenges.
Indigenous Worldview
We value the multitude of cultural practices, traditions, languages, and ceremonies that connect the Indigenous peoples of this land to one another and to the earth. We believe that Indigenous knowledge and ways of being must guide us in developing and implementing solutions to address the issues our communities currently face.
Strategic Plan
Native Ways Federation’s Strategic Plan (effective October 2023) focuses our energy and resources towards common goals and allows our staff and board to continually evaluate and adjust our activities in response to the needs of Native nonprofits in an ever-changing philanthropic sector. We have three key strategies and each influences the others:
Strengthening and Unifying Native Nonprofits
Building a base of Native nonprofits for visioning, ideation, collaboration, and mutual support.
Advocating With and for Native Nonprofits
Advancing Native nonprofits via advocacy, narratives, and representation.
Influencing Philanthropic Systems Change
Increasing funding and accountability for Native organizations.
Visualizing Our Strategic Plan
Our Vision, visually represented by a Star Quilt, is achieved by joining the strategies, visually represented by the diamond pieces. They surround the central star, which represents our mission, and rely on each other to complete the star and hold the quilt together. Our values are woven throughout our work.
The visual was inspired by the star in our logo:
Implementing Our Strategic Plan
Programmatically, our work emphasizes:
- Native Nonprofit Initiatives
- Visiblity and Public Relations
- Philanthropic Influence Initiatives
- Data and Resources
Ahéhee’! Nya:weh! Pidamaya! Chi Miigwech! Thank you!
Thank you to our fellow Native-led nonprofits, our founding organizations, funders and donors, and allies that continue to support our work to activate and expand informed giving to Native-led nonprofits.