THE UPPER MIDWEST ASSEMBLY

Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and 23 Native Nations

Vision and Strategies

With the added challenge of working entirely over zoom, this Assembly began and completed the first stage of its work in 2020.  Considering the travails of that year, the Assembly was eager to immediately activate a portion of their $3M while also mobilizing funds for their futures. Their three-pronged gift-making strategy attends to the nuance and complexity of the region and disrupts traditional philanthropy. Essential to their way of working is: 

A model of Relation: Being a Good Relative
Collective Agency

While 2 of their fund strategies will support practitioners representing and/or in solidarity with Black Indigenous, and folks of color in the field of creative placekeeping on two different time scales, the third strategy will connect to the larger Land Back Movement. In short, their strategies are expediting generosity for immediate action, extending generosity for future building, and amplifying sovereignty.