NDN Collective Announces the 2024 Community Self-Determination Grant Open Application Period

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 29, 2024

Rapid City, SD — NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power, announces the fourth year of the Community Self-Determination Grant offered to Indigenous communities throughout Turtle Island, also known as North America, and related Island Nations. This includes Tribes, First Nations, Inuit, Metis and Indigenous-led nonprofit organizations across the post-colonial borders of Canada; Mexico; the continental United States; Alaska; and the Island Nations of Hawai’i, Borikén/Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Community Self-Determination Grants are intended to support community-based and community-driven sustainable solutions in all three of NDN Collective’s core strategies to Defend, Develop and Decolonize.

“Whether it’s protecting land and water, developing sustainable food systems, or revitalizing Indigenous languages and lifeways, Community Self-Determination Grants support community priorities on community terms,” said Janet Maylen (Mvskoke), Director of Grantmaking at NDN Collective. “Indigenous communities are best equipped to address the issues in their own communities. With access to flexible funding, these communities can develop sustainable long-term solutions and this is at the heart of the Community Self-Determination Grant program.”

Significant, flexible, multi-year funding will include the infusion of general operating support, power building, capital and holistic support for comprehensive initiatives, specific programs and community development based on regenerative principles. Grants of $125,000 per year, with commitments of two years, are available to Indigenous-led organizations working in the defense, development, or decolonization of Indigenous Peoples and the planet. The total grant award is $250,000 over two years.

“Our intention behind the Community Self-Determination grant is to support Indigenous-led initiatives that aim to create a better present and future for all peoples and Mother Earth,” said Serene Lawrence (Anishinaabe/Hopi), NDN Foundation Program Officer. “We believe in the power and ability of Indigenous people to envision and implement solutions to address issues that impact their own communities. Oftentimes, the outcomes of these initiatives bolster the health and vitality of our blended communities, as well as the lands, waters and ecosystems that all life depends on.”

$4 million in funding is available, and while national organizations are eligible to apply, NDN prioritizes community-based efforts.

To apply, applicants must first register. Information regarding the grant, as well as how to complete registration, can be accessed on the Community Self-Determination Grant page on the NDN Collective website.

Full Applications are due by 5pm US CST on Wednesday, July 17, 2024.

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NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.