New $1 million investment from Blue Meridian Partners to support programs for holistic well-being and a positive sense-of-self for Native youth
Longmont, Colo. (December 22, 2021) – First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) is honored to announce the receipt of a $1 million investment from Blue Meridian Partners. The funding will go toward First Nations’ ongoing work with Native youth-serving organizations that support Native youth development in education, mental health, and strengthening Native identity.
Blue Meridian Partners is a philanthropic organization that makes large, performance-based investments to scale up the most promising strategies that boost economic mobility and make a meaningful difference for young people and families in poverty across the country.
First Nations President and CEO Michael Roberts said the support will go toward supporting Native organizations working with Native youth. This will include programs working to perpetuate Native languages, culture practices, and knowledge systems that are the heart and soul of Native communities and the vehicle through which ancestral traditions are passed, and values – such as respect for elders, community, and the Earth – are taught.
“The Native youth-serving organizations doing this work are the unsung heroes,” Roberts said. “And this investment in their work from Blue Meridian Partners will help ensure that a new generation of tribal members will build a positive cultural identity through values systems that link the past and the future.”
With the funding, First Nations will provide general operating grants to community partners. First Nations will also provide capacity-building technical assistance and training aimed at Native communities working at the intersection of Native youth development, language perpetuation, and cultural knowledge development.
More information about First Nations and the Investing in Native Youth program can be found at www.firstnations.org.
About First Nations Development Institute
For 41 years, using a three-pronged strategy of educating grassroots practitioners, advocating for systemic change, and capitalizing Indian communities, First Nations has been working to restore Native American control and culturally-compatible stewardship of the assets they own – be they land, human potential, cultural heritage or natural resources – and to establish new assets for ensuring the long-term vitality of Native American communities. First Nations serves Native American communities throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.firstnations.org.
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