We recognize that profound social, political and financial harms are deeply complex and have been enacted through systematic efforts to erase Indigenous peoples from these lands.
Our reconciliation funding is focused on the transition to a reconciliation economy, emphasizing the importance of building respectful relationships with partners and prioritizing Indigenous-led solutions. The purpose of these strategies is to build prosperity through prioritizing collaborative models with Indigenous-led organizations and Indigenous communities in a good way.
- Indigenous-led Collaborative Funding Models Efforts by Indigenous entities to access, pool and redistribute resources to implement solutions with and by Indigenous communities. Building on the belief that communities know what is best for them, Indigenous-led funding models ensure those making decisions about resource allocation work in culturally appropriate ways and help connect Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in a good way.
- Indigenous-led Solutions to Advance Economic Reconciliation We prioritize partnering with Indigenous-led initiatives that identify economic challenges that Indigenous peoples face and address systemic barriers at the local, regional or national scale. For this strategy, we avoid being prescriptive. We understand that these challenges can be new or persistent, and are impacted by factors such as rights, policies and legal frameworks, culture, and knowledge and skills. To get a sense of what these can be, past projects funded under this strategy have addressed amongst others: governance, land and resource management, housing, food security and sovereignty, or information technology.
- Financial Solutions Projects seek to redress barriers to financial independence, sovereignty and prosperity through tackling complex financial mechanisms. These projects point to, and remove, financial barriers in a meaningful way: Indigenous peoples access financial capital to achieve economic and social prosperity on their own terms.
To learn more about the questions and criteria for all three funding strategies, please read our Sample Application Form.