Source: First Nations Development Institute

First Nations Receives Grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to Continue Research and Dissemination about Philanthropic Funding Inequities Faced by Native American Organizations and Causes

Longmont, Colorado , Jan. 10, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) has received a $225,000 grant over three years from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The grant will support First Nations’ general operating needs.

In particular, First Nations will apply the funding toward its continuing research and wide dissemination of information relating to the philanthropic funding inequities faced by Native American organizations and causes. First Nations has been studying and reporting information on this issue for several years, and most recently compiled several reports outlining this issue, all of which are available at this link. They are:

  • We Need to Change How We Think: Perspectives on Philanthropy’s Underfunding of Native Communities and Causes
  • Growing Inequity: Large Foundation Giving to Native American Organizations and Causes - 2006-2014
  • Community Foundation Giving to Native American Causes

“We’re excited to have the generous, direct support of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as we continue to study and address the chronic and significant underfunding of Native American nonprofit organizations by mainstream philanthropy,” said Raymond Foxworth, First Nations Vice President. “The foundation, through its active involvement with the Fund for Shared Insight funder collaborative, has already helped support much of our recent research in this area, and this new grant will allow us to conduct a much deeper dive into this problem and, hopefully, develop some highly effective solutions going forward.”

“The Hewlett Foundation is committed to helping the philanthropic sector, as a whole, to become more effective, and we’re delighted to provide this unrestricted support to the First Nations Development Institute,” said Lindsay Louie, Program Officer with the foundation’s effective philanthropy group. “Through its research, the First Nations Development Institute has played an important role in helping funders understand how they can be more inclusive of Native American communities.”

About First Nations Development Institute

For 38 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

About The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is a nonpartisan, private charitable foundation that advances ideas and supports institutions to promote a better world. For more than 50 years, it has supported efforts to advance education for all, preserve the environment, improve lives and livelihoods in developing countries, promote the health and economic well-being of women, support vibrant performing arts, strengthen San Francisco Bay Area communities and make the philanthropy sector more effective.

The foundation was established in 1966 by engineer and entrepreneur William R. Hewlett and his wife, Flora Lamson Hewlett, with their eldest son, Walter Hewlett. Today, it is one of the largest philanthropic institutions in the United States, awarding over $400 million in grants in 2017 to organizations across the globe to help people build better lives. Its philanthropic approach, and its core areas of grantmaking, remain connected to the ethos and values of its founders.

Established through the personal generosity of the Hewlett family, the foundation is wholly independent of the Hewlett Packard Company and the Hewlett Packard Company Foundation. Visit www.hewlett.org.