Knowledge Base, Volume 1
2002-2003

SERVING RURAL AND TRIBAL COMMUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR STRATEGIC COLLABORATIONS
June 11, 2003
Washington, DC

SUPPORTING NATIVE AMERICANS AND WORKING IN INDIAN COUNTRY
9:00 am - 11:30 am

Welcome and introductions

Dianne McSwain, DHHS Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, opened the meeting with a word of welcome from the Department of Health and Human Services, host for the meeting. Sally Maggard, USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, described the objectives the meeting. In two sessions, participants from federal agencies, the National Rural Funders Collaborative (NRFC) and its funders, and non-governmental organizations will explore collaborations to revitalize rural and tribal communities and improve the quality of life for families and rural places. Participants will be better able to engage programs across traditional boundaries, serve low-wealth communities, and work through interagency and public/private partnerships.

Representatives from six federal agencies, the National Rural Funders Collaborative, ten non-governmental organizations, and three land grant universities participated in the meetings. They briefly introduced their agencies and the resources they brought to the table. A list of participants is attached.

National Rural Funders Collaborative (NRFC) overview

Jim Richardson, Executive Director, described the background and purposes of NRFC.

NRFC is a collaborative of a dozen private foundations and several public agencies, including USDA, Dept. of Health and Human Services and Appalachian Regional Commission. It has been established as a vehicle through which multiple funders pool resources for investments to revitalize rural communities, especially in areas of persistent poverty. Jim reviewed the process of establishing the NRFC and discussed its efforts to develop models of regional strategic change, raise rural policy issues, and leverage new or untapped financial resources to support sustainable developed and improved quality of life for rural families and communities.

NRFC has identified three cross-cutting issues, or areas of engagement, around which to organize its funding, learning and policy work: building wealth, building leadership, and building self-sufficient families. Long-term its goal is to establish a more sustainable resource base at the regional level and increase capacity for on-going development through strengthening institutional resources, increasing financial resources, and leveraging the various resources available to enable rural areas to make a measurable difference.

First Nations Development Institute

Jim Richardson introduced Sherry Black, Vice President of First Nations Development Institute (First Nations), and asked her to share perspectives on how we can effectively partner in Indian Country. Sherry described her experiences moving from a federal government position at the Indian Health Service, where approaches were based on a deficit model of native communities, to work at First Nations Development Institute (founded in 1980), where programs reflect an asset-based model. This fundamental difference in perspective helps explain why First Nations has not coordinated work with the federal government for many years, although possibilities for collaboration are emerging.

First Nations programs include grant making and a variety of intermediary services. It collaborates with tribal governments and the new native non-profit sector emerging as tribal governments develop. First Nations has identified 1200 non-profits (including community radio stations, schools, and CDCs), sponsored a native non-profit forum, and convened native grant makers.

A forthcoming Ford Foundation study, "Native Americans of the New Millenium," ranks First Nations as the twelfth largest funder in Indian Country from 1988 - 1998. In 1993 First Nations created the Eagle Staff Fund, a funders collaboration that has made over three hundred grants for a total of $10,000,000. Forty percent of First Nations work is directly or indirectly related to food. It has developed a Native American Hunger Program and sponsored the first Native American food summit. Currently they are exploring connections between food systems and native agriculture (with Kellogg support) and related opportunities for entrepreneurship. It has funded a study on predatory lending in Indian Country and developed a curriculum and trained educators for a Native American Financial Literacy Coalition. Fannie Mae Foundation distributes the curriculum free of charge. First Nations' communications program includes publishing "Native Americans Millenium," a magazine devoted to the entire hemisphere of native issues. It also works internationally with "First People World Wide." Its Native Assets Research Center (NARC) is drawing lessons from the field to inform policy and development practice.

Sherry stressed the need for an indigenous social investment strategy that engages corporate and other funders. First Nations' Alista established the Lakota Fund as the first CDFI on Pine Ridge to help native communities control their own assets. There are now more than twenty certified CDFIs in Indian Country and seven native IDA programs.

First Nations brings to the table models of public-private partnerships, experience in indigenous development, opportunities for networking, and an interest in and resources for building a clearing house and data base.

Rural Community College Initiative

Bo Beaulieu, Director of the Southern Rural Development Center, described the new phase of the Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI). With support from Ford Foundation, the Southern Rural Development Center and North Central Regional Center for Rural Development are developing long-term partnerships between land grant institutions and rural and tribal colleges. Goals are to increase access to education for under-served populations, enhance civic participation, and contribute to sustainable economic development. Coaches are working with community and tribal college teams in a process of planning and problem solving as the teams engage their surrounding communities in strategic planning. The partnership also provides access to technical training in economic and community development and entrepreneurship.

RCCI is no longer a program of direct grants from Ford Foundation to the colleges or a model of experts assisting recipients. The RCCI is now based on long-lasting partnerships between communities, rural and tribal colleges, and universities. A "coaching" role is evolving as an important brokering tool for information and resource dissemination, and the nature of the partnerships supports tailoring development approaches to local needs and diverse communities. Twenty-five communities and colleges are engaged.

The Rural Community College Association is calling for proposals for its conference on "Revitalizing Rural Economies," October 6-8, 2003, in San Antonio Texas. Bo encouraged participants to consider organizing sessions or making presentations that demonstrate collaboration and innovative partnerships that revitalize rural and tribal communities. See the conference website: http://srdc.msstate.edu/rcca03 or contact Susan Fey at the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development at 515-294-2878.

Discussion of key initiatives, challenges, opportunities

In a general discussion following these opening remarks, participants described a variety of exciting initiatives in and for Indian country, identified challenges in the work, and explored opportunities for aligning resources, programs, and funding.

Building capacity that is sustainable

In the Pacific Islands, building capacity for success with grants took twelve years. Communication about available resources is difficult because of remote locations and technology limitations. Grant writing requires special skills. In addition, tribal colleges need highly skilled leadership, but rapid turnover makes professional development particularly difficult.

Intermediaries, tribal colleges, and working "in place"

Intermediaries, the tribal colleges, and RCCI are essential resources. The Center of Family and Communities Services grew out of RCCI work at Ft. Peck and has since started a Wellness Center. They rely on a holistic approach, bring together everyone working on related issues, foster networking, identify resources, and discuss ways to build capacity around different issues. The tribal colleges are the premier engines for economic development in Indian Country, and RCCI is helping to integrate more fully into their communities. The coaching model of the new RCCI program, unlike a grants-focused model, brokers connections and partnerships. It also increases the likelihood that development work will be culturally appropriate and tailored to rural places. One size cannot fit all in Indian country or any other of America's diverse rural communities.

The discussion underscored the importance of intermediary organizations. This is a challenge for areas like the rural West where this critical path is weak. The National Rural Development Coordination Council, authorized in the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act, is being established. It will support increasing non-profit organizations and partnering with them.

Access to resources

Participants discussed a variety of ways of disseminating information about programs and grants. Existing resources and technical assistance capacity at the local level can be better coordinated, and training across fields can improve the quality of technical assistance. Resources Conservation and Development Coordinators, county agents, Extension educators, rural development staff, Forest Service field staff and field staff from non-profits like R-CAP could be linked at the local level to create a more effective pool of local resource people. Such coordination and skills sharing can greatly expand technical assistance for writing grants and can insure long-term commitments.

We could push the envelope further and create "circuit riders" for TA in Indian Country. A Memorandum of Understanding with non-traditional organizations could be developed to insure communications about resources and assistance. A discussion by Forest Service representatives has illustrated that federal agencies can be creative and shift the focus or expand some positions to improve access and a better federal presence on native communities. We also need to look at what works and what doesn't and cross train using best practices as well as failures.

Sorting out roles and getting better together

The roles for government, foundations, and non-profit organizations need to be rethought and clarified. Public and private funders tend to "projectize" the world, pushing communities to try and capture "program related" investments that may or may not fit in with long term strategic goals or immediate needs. Native and rural communities are trying to address multiple and deeply rooted needs, while funders tend to think and act in terms of "sectors." Person-to-person communication is key to addressing this. It will be an important output of the meeting. Everyone doesn't work "in the field," and we need to develop seamless and effective means of communicating across very different worlds of work.

Partnerships aren't easy, and there are many lessons to learn. The South Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations (SCACDC) is developing a Memorandum of Understanding with Clemson University, and in the process it has decided to train its academic partner in working at the community level. SCACDC is working on ways for universities to learn from communities, to value that learning, and to become better partners in the process.

We need to stay focused on the needs in tribal communities and avoid pushing programs at people. Our partnerships need to be "demand-side" driven.

From information overload to an effective resource base

There was agreement that we need information about resources and information about community needs. But people are already struggling with information overload. How can we develop just-in-time and topic-specific information delivery?

Examples of challenges include the "Federal Register" ("It is not an information tool!"). What is the alternative? Does "e-gov" hold promise? Will it lead to a standardized approach rather than to a process that can capture community input and help funders and policymakers quickly reorganize based on local needs? We need a new way of thinking about making resources finger-tip available and about communication flow.

There was further discussion about opportunities for building a resource base, including working with efforts underway at HUD, USDA, and HHS and exploring "Native Edge," an earlier interagency effort to develop non federal-speak communications with partners. Non-federal models exist, like the Native American Literacy Coalition that is a model of cross agency and partner communication in native communities. The Athena Alliance links local, traditional knowledge systems.

Take aways and comments for next steps