FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 7, 2024
Rapid City, SD – Through the 2024 Collective Abundance Fund, NDN Collective has officially awarded $8 million to nearly two hundred awardees in an ongoing effort to build Indigenous wealth as defined by Indigenous People. This distribution is the second year of the Collective Abundance Fund, which has supported 396 Indigenous families and individuals through a total of $15.9 million over the last two years.
This round of distribution included awards ranging from $50,000 to $25,000 for families in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota.
The Collective Abundance Fund originally launched on May 9, 2023, and was designed in deep collaboration with communities across the tri-state area. The next round of applications will launch on February 5, 2025, and will be due on March 5, 2025.
Awardees will receive the opportunity to work with community partner Trauma of Money to receive power building resources and training including working and developing strategies to build a good life of financial security, self-determination, with social and cultural sharing.
“As we have launched and awarded year two, we have data that supports the impact these dollars have had in our communities. We can put the call out to philanthropy to keep creating innovative ways to give back to Indigenous and Black individuals and our communities,” said Star Means, Program Officer for the Collective Abundance Fund. “We all know the wealth gap wasn’t going to disappear with $50 million, but this opportunity can serve as a model and open doors for our people and philanthropy to continue this work together. Our People are deserving of these opportunities, so let’s continue this work together.”
“As a Program Officer, the full experience of walking through the grant process from launching the application to awarding this gift and everything in between with the Awardees has been a fulfilling journey. When one of our Awardees wins, it’s a win for all of NDN country. We are that much closer to closing the wealth gap disparity; there have been no losses, only learning opportunities to adapt and grow for everyone, including our team.” said Frannie McKay, Program Officer for the Collective Abundance Fund.
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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.