Fall/Winter 2023

Understanding Workforce Grantmaking in Native Nations and Communities: A Webinar Series

Wednesday, 10/18 at 3 PM ET

Workforce Grantmaking in Native Nations and Communities (WGNNC), an emerging funder collaborative focused on supporting workforce development in Native Nations and communities, is convening a three-part webinar series launching this fall to deepen the understanding of those working in philanthropy about the current Native workforce development landscape. Attendees of this series will gain an understanding of how philanthropy can more impactfully support self-determined efforts by Native nations and communities to develop the professional skills and knowledge of Native people in accordance with their holistic values, needs, and long-term goals. This series is being co-sponsored by Native Americans in Philanthropy.

Webinar II: Developing the Native Workforce on Native Terms: Success Stories from Indian Country and Their Lessons for Philanthropy (October 2023)


This webinar will share two leading approaches to Native workforce development as well as an overview of the innovation movement that is emerging across the Native workforce development landscape. Native workforce development practitioners will provide attendees with deep insights into how Native definitions and criteria for success fundamentally differ from those of workforce development elsewhere across the country, and what those distinctions mean for how philanthropy should develop and support workforce development partnerships with Native nations and communities.

Speakers:

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Tatewin Means
Executive Director, Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation

Tatewin Means is from the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota, Oglala Lakota and Inhanktonwan nations in South Dakota. In 2015, Means was sworn in as the Deputy State's Attorney for Oglala Lakota County and a German Marshall Fund Marshall Memorial Fellow. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Stanford University in Environmental Engineering with a minor in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, a Master’s of Arts from Oglala Lakota College in Lakota Leadership and Management, and a JD with a concentration in Human Rights Law from the University of Minnesota Law School. Tatewin joined Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (TVCDC) as the Executive Director in July 2018. 

PetraSolimon

Petra Solimon

Director, Pueblo of Laguna Partners for Success

Petra is from the Pueblo of Laguna located 50 miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Petra is an enrolled Tribal member of the Pueblo of Laguna and works with the Pueblo of Laguna Partners for Success, where she is Director of many programs including Partners for Success, Laguna Acoma Connections, and the PoL Direct Education Scholarship. In 2020, under Petra’s leadership, Partners for Success was awarded the Program of the Year by the US Department of Labor. She has committed her time to strengthening American Indian education, Native Financial Literacy, and the Indian Child Welfare Act and Domestic Violence. Petra holds a Masters and Bachelors in Public Administration from Barry University in Miami, FL and is an Appointed Member of the New Mexico Statewide independent Living Council. She is the program manager of the New Mexico Native American Workforce Partners.

Register Now
All Workforce Matters members are welcome to attend this free event, but you must register in advance to participate. Approved registrants will receive a Zoom link for this event via email.
Workforce Matters, 2023