Tiwahe Foundation

In 2023-2024, we continued the programming for the partnership we started with the ozhigin fellows in 2022 (they were paid their fellowship stipends in 2022). The oyate leadership network (oln or 'oyate') originated over ten years ago as an outgrowth or next stage of tiwahe's existing aifep grantmaking program to connect and resource our community members and organizations to their next stages of growth through a cohort-style learning community to where they connect with other native leaders to learn from each other's strengths, unique experiences, and leadership practices. (continued on schedule o) unlike aifep, oyate (dakota for "the people or "nation") is statewide, and we have alumni representing most of the eleven tribal nations in minnesota, as well as other cities with large native populations like duluth and bemidji. Oln is to be the connective tissue for native leaders across generations and geographies within minnesota. Oyate has been revitalized to respond to the many widespread requests to do more as a keystone organization for native leadership within minnesota and help establish what "indigenous leadership" means with our communities, deepening avenues to reconnect or deepen cultural practices and traditional teachings. Tiwahe wants to see oln supporting an active and growing community of alumni, entrepreneurs, native language practitioners, educators, wisdom-keepers, creating connections and resources. We want our native leaders to "have a relative wherever they go and to participate reciprocally in the network as it is an infinity loop for exchanging talents, knowledge, and opportunities. Oln is being rebuilt with our dakota and anishinaabe values at the center of program design because our people flourish in spaces and systems that are relational, restorative, and recognize our spiritual needs. With past alum, our wisdom council, and others, we developed a working indigenous leadership change theory, that captures the collective vision for oyate: "connecting indigenous peoples to our cultures, values, and languages fosters transformative wellness outcomes that ripple throughout family and community circles. Our oyate leadership network facilitates experiential learning communities that reveal how actively caretaking cultural teachings moves cultural knowledge from "what we know" to how we live, ensuring that indigenous values guide our actions, decisions, and leadership styles. This allows our people to heal and grow by uplifting relational ways of being as we help each other cultivate unique identities as indigenous leaders, connected, supported, and continually learning as cultural knowledge is built and shared over time through community care. This process honors our interconnection and power to restore the traditional pathways of knowledge for future generations." the relaunch of the oyate program has already begun, and it is iterative and will span over several years. Our work supports individuals and organizations through direct resourcing and programming, culturally-centered leadership and network development designed to infuse diverse personal, professional and cultural networks with the strength and wisdom of american indians living in minnesota. Some of the impacts we anticipate are: 1) increased social capital, connections, and access to resources for our people 2) enhanced recognition and agency as a hub for native leadership across all ages, 3) increased data collection and analyses strengthening native evaluation, and 4) dispersion of innovative ways of leading to our wider community.

Tiwahe is one of four lead organizations in a partnership called linkingleaders, which brings together four networks of leaders of color in the indigenous, black, asian american, and latine communities. A shared effort for the african american leadership forum, coalition of asian american leaders, latinolead, and tiwahe foundation, linkingleaders focuses on strengthening connections across our networks in order to increase our shared leadership and solidarity practices so that we can advance powerful systems change work that aims to achieve racial justice and equity. (continued on schedule o) our mission is clear build bridges of cross-network solidarity, empowering bipoc leaders through culturally relevant leadership development opportunities aimed at growing solidarity in minnesota. We enhance connections, offer leadership tools, and create room for cross-cultural collaboration. Additionally, we foster cultural understanding and inity by faciliating learning communities across our different cultures and worldviews, allowing our networks to appreciate and support the unique perspectivecs of each community while standing together in solidarity to drive meaningful change. Beginning in 2024, we will be hiring dedicated managing directors from across our four organizations to work our model for bringing solidarity home as a place-based partnership, as well as finalize our cross-cultural solidarity guide, capturing all of our learnings and recommendations over the years to serve as a blueprint for other bipoc community organizations, which we envision will be used across the country and beyond. At the end of 2024, we will hold our launch event of our truth-in-history project, which highlights the bipoc communities that make minnesota home, weaving together diverse narratives from 20 community storytellers and historians. We are producing videos and conversation guides featuring the voices and stories of minnesota's indigenous communities and other communities of color. This project will have longevity and we intend to do this annually.