USA Funds Supports Seminar to Promote Higher Education for American Indians

USA Funds^® recently provided a $20,000 grant to support the Grantmakers for Education member briefing, The Education of American Indians: Promoting Successful Programs and Strategies. GFE is a national network of nearly 200 foundations, corporate-giving programs and individual donors who help improve achievement and opportunities for all students. The briefing, held at the Daniels Fund Conference Center in Denver, Colo., brought members together to explore the educational issues facing American-Indian students.

American-Indian students, at all levels, consistently rank the lowest on virtually all educational achievement tests. Information about the educational challenges and accomplishments facing this group generally is unavailable, and recent education research often overlooks this ethnic group. This lack of information hinders progress that would support new and innovative activities.

The briefing helped to advance educational efforts by creating a forum to address these challenges and to discuss best practices and current research about American-Indian education. Interested educational grantmakers learned more about American-Indian education and culture, how to more wisely invest their grant funds. Additional discussion centered on strategies and approaches with American-Indian educators, practitioners, scholars and other professionals.

“USA Funds strongly supports access to education for American Indians and works to help them overcome the educational barriers they face,” said Kyle Malone, USA Funds manager of philanthropy and scholarships. “We want to ensure that American Indians overcome those challenges while maintaining their connection to their heritage and culture.”

The briefing started with a Lakota Blessing Ceremony and traditional American-Indian song and dance performances at the Denver Indian Center. During the seminar, participants attended breakout sessions on topics including:

• American-Indian cultural and educational issues.
• Appropriate strategies and approaches to grant-making.
• Resources to help professional philanthropists manage funding initiatives more effectively. 

“The briefing was a success,” says Malone. “It gave grantmakers the opportunity to begin establishing successful and lasting relationships with American-Indian educational organizations.”

Since 2000, USA Funds has donated $100,000 annually to the American Indian College Fund, the nation's largest provider of private scholarships for American-Indian students. The AICF supports the nation’s 33 tribal colleges, which combine rigorous academics with cultural traditions to create a positive learning experience for American-Indian students.

The Lumina Foundation for Education, American Indian College Fund and the Daniels Fund also contributed to the success of this seminar.