Migizi Communications
receives $1.2 million grant
MINNEAPOLIS – Migizi Communications, Inc.
has received a $1.2 million federal grant to launch Native Youth
Financially Independent. This five-year demonstration project is
funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of
Community Services and the Administration for Native Americans.
The Native Youth
Financially Independent project is designed to present permanent and
sustainable solutions to the intergenerational poverty and lack of
economic opportunity that have plagued the Minneapolis Indian
community since its formation in the 1950s. Migizi Communications
will recruit 150 low-income Native youth from across Minneapolis,
ages 14-21, providing them with opportunities and support needed to
prepare them to become financially-independent adults.
These
students will undergo work readiness training, be placed in paid
internship opportunities in high-growth, high-demand careers; save
earnings for college in an Individual Development Account which will
be matched four-to-one through program funds; and receive financial
literacy training, mentorship and 21st century skills development
opportunities.
The project’s main
partners include AchieveMpls, which will provide workforce training
and internship placement for participants through the STEP-UP Achieve
youth employment program over the five year course of the project.
One of the country’s premiere youth employment programs, STEP-UP
Achieve – part of the City of Minneapolis STEP-UP program –
places 800 Minneapolis youth each year in paid internships with Twin
Cities companies, non-profits and public agencies.
NYFI’s second
partner is Woodlands National Bank, owned by the Mille Lacs Band of
Ojibwe, which will administer youth IDA savings accounts. The
students will have their savings matched four-to-one to be used for
higher education expenses. Woodlands is the primary banking
institution serving the urban American Indian community in
Minneapolis.
NYFI responds directly to the needs identified and
vision created out of a two-year strategic planning process
(2008-2010) initiated by the Native American Community Development
Institute and involves hundreds of Minneapolis American Indian
community members of all ages.
The document created from
this process and published in 2011, “American Indian Community
Blueprint: Building a 21st Century American Indian Community,”
articulates a 20-year vision for a “vibrant, healthy, and balanced
community where American Indian people have living-wage jobs that
build wealth and assets and eliminate barriers to success, creating
economic self-sufficiency.”
Migizi Communications has been in
existence for over 37 years and advances a message of success,
well-being and justice for the American Indian community.
Tiwahe Foundation announces
grant recipients
MINNEAPOLIS – The Tiwahe Foundation is
honored to announce that at its Oct. 14 board meeting, 14 grants were
awarded to Native American individuals in the Twin Cities
seven-county metro area through its American Indian Family
Empowerment Program.
This program awards
$70-80,000, annually, to American Indian individuals and families
seeking financial resources to achieve their goals, shape their
future and make positive contributions to their community through
three priority areas: economic self-sufficiency; education; and
cultural connections.
Grants range from $500 to
$2,500 – enough to make a significant impact on grantees and the
community and contributing to the self-determination of individuals.
During the September grant round individuals received awards in the
following focus areas:
Goal 1: Preserving and
Renewing Native Cultural Connections: Carolyn Gurneau; Goal 2:
Educational Achievement: Daryl Alkire, Mika Barrett, Vivian Big
Eagle, Roberta Dunkley, LaCecelia Guernsey, Melissa Olson, Joseph
Regguinti, Michael Roberts and Lucie Skjefte; Goal 3: Economic
Self-Sufficiency: Alexandra Buffalohead, Troy Clark, John Hunter and
Rachel LaFriniere.
AIFEP strives to reverse
the social, educational and economic challenges facing American
Indians by investing in human capital, skills, resources and cultural
strengths that people possess that allow them to live healthy and
productive lives, build strong relationships and make meaningful
contributions to their communities.
SMSC and SCALE Receive National Honors
PRIOR LAKE, Minn. – The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community received an Honoring Nations award on Oct. 29 from the
Harvard University Project on American Indian Economic Development.
SMSC’s nomination of the Scott County Association for Leadership
and Efficiency was selected as an Honors recipient, the Honoring
Nations award for excellence in Native American tribal governance.
SCALE consists of more than 30
members, including the SMSC, all of which are governments or agencies
in Scott County. The organization formed in 2003 to foster regional
collaboration, better serve local residents, and share resources to
save money.
“SCALE has helped improve
communication, trust and cooperation between the SMSC and neighboring
governments,” said SMSC Chairman Charlie Vig. “We truly value the
relationships we have built, and we appreciate the Harvard Project’s
recognition of SCALE as a model for other communities and tribes to
follow.”
One of the priorities of Honoring
Nations is to help share the innovative ideas of its award recipients
with other tribes across the country. Related to SCALE, the goal is
to encourage tribes, cities, townships and counties nationwide to
cooperate more as governments in order to build trust and effectively
serve tribal members and local citizens.
Some of SCALE’s achievements
include:
Regional Public Safety Training
Facility – Needing a local option to train public safety officials,
the SCALE partners combined resources to build a joint facility in
2008;
Fiber optic ring – To enhance its
members’ ability to work together, SCALE helped develop a 94-mile
fiber optic ring that allows every government and public agency in
Scott County to function as one continual network. It is the largest
high-speed fiber network in Minnesota;
First Stop Shop – A clearinghouse
called the “First Stop Shop” was established in 2012 through
SCALE to provide one point of contact for businesses that are
interested in locating in Scott County. The First Stop Shop assisted
Shutterfly and Emerson Electric in opening facilities in Scott County
in 2013;
Mutual aid agreements – The SMSC’s
Mdewakanton Public Safety has established 15 mutual aid agreements
with other local fire and emergency response departments to improve
the quality and speed of responses;
Joint transportation plan and numerous
road projects – SCALE members developed a unified transportation
plan and jointly implement road projects to increase safety and
capacity;
Intergovernmental Working Group (IWG)
– As an outgrowth of SCALE, the IWG meets regularly to discuss land
use, transportation, upcoming trust applications, and planning issues
of common concern to the SMSC, Scott County, and the cities of Prior
Lake and Shakopee;
Interconnected water system –
Another development that traces back to SCALE is the SMSC, the City
of Prior Lake, and the City of Savage interconnecting their water
systems, so that they can share water in the event of a shortage.
“The SMSC and SCALE’s other
members make it a priority to work together, because we can
accomplish much more that way than working alone,” said SCALE Chair
Jay Whiting, who is a Shakopee City Council member. “Strong,
creative partnerships are critical when needs must be met and budgets
are stretched thin.”
From a pool of nearly 90 diverse
programs that were nominated for an award, the Honoring Nations Board
of Governors selected three High Honors and three Honors recipients.
Awarded programs demonstrate tremendous impact in their communities
and evidence great effectiveness, significance to sovereignty,
transferability, and sustainability – the criteria by which
Honoring Nations assesses applicant programs. In addition to the SMSC
and SCALE, the other 2014 award recipients include the Citizen
Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma (High Honors), Lummi Nation in
Washington (Honors), Ohkay Owingeh in New Mexico (High Honors), Port
Gamble S’Klallam Tribe in Washington (High Honors), and Swinomish
Indian Tribal Community in Washington (Honors).
Shooting Star Casino announces new
General Manager
Minn. – The White Earth Nation Tribal Council congratulates Bill
Marsh as the new general manager for the Shooting Star Casino, Hotel
and Event Center in Mahnomen, Minn. In addition, Mindy Iverson was
named as the assistant general manager.
Marsh is a member of Michigan’s
Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians and has more than 14 years of
professional and executive level experience in Indian Gaming. He has
been responsible for all facets of casino marketing, including
strategy development, branding, advertising, media, promotions,
player development, database (mining and analysis), direct mail,
public relations, group tours, sales, revenue projections,
entertainment and in-house graphics.
He has also been involved in team
building, coaching, vision creation, planning and development and
training in gaming environments. Marsh has a master’s degree in
Business Administration and Marketing and a bachelor’s degree in
Business Administration from Lake Superior State University in Sault
Ste. Marie, Mich. He has been with Shooting Star Casino since 2010 as
the director of marketing.
Iverson has been the Human Resource
Director for Shooting Star Casino since 2008. She has 16 years of
executive level professional experience in gaming, and retail from
Lueken’s Foods, Inc. in Bemidji, Minn. She holds an Advanced Tribal
Human Resource Professional Certification from Falmouth Institute and
the National Native American Human Resource Association.
She is currently a Native Nation
Rebuilder, Cohort IV, through the Bush Foundation representing tribes
in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Iverson attended Bemidji
State University from 1989-1994. She brings an extensive background
in Workforce Development, Strategic and Business Planning, Financial
Budgeting, Employment Law, Associate Relations, Conflict Resolution,
Peer Mediation, Staff Recruitment/Retention and Setting Performance
Standards.
She loves to travel, make star quilts,
read and compete in 5k’s in her community. Iverson is an enrolled
member of the White Earth Nation and the daughter of Vernon and
Denice Iverson of Bagley, Minn.