2023 Indigenous Communities Fellowship
Renewing Native intergen leadership to combat isolation
What is the name of your solution?
Renewing Native intergen leadership to combat isolation
Provide a one-line summary of your solution.
We combat isolation and hopelessness by renewing Native mentored inter-generational leadership structures that provide safety nets, skills and opportunities for girls, women & 2SLGBTQ+ people to thrive in their power, locally and across Indian Country.
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Our program is specifically designed to address the unique stressors and risks faced by Native girls, young women, and 2SLGBTQ+ at the intersection of race, gender, age, culture, and socio-economic status. According to the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), suicidal thoughts, planning, and attempts were most prevalent among Native American, 2SLGBTQ+, and female high school students. In the year prior to the survey, 13% of females, 16% of Native Americans, and 22% of 2SLGBTQ+ students attempted suicide, as compared to 8% of white males. Additionally, nearly 60% of female students and 70% of 2SLGBTQ+ students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Native Americans and girls experienced the highest rates of sexual violence.
While these (and most other) data do not support gender-race disaggregation due to small Native sample sizes, it is clear Native girls need more supports across multiple domains. Research shows that family, community, school and friend support reduces suicide and increases well-being, but many Native girls, young women and 2SLGBQ+ do not have access to such traditional supports due to the effects of colonialism on Native families. While not disaggregated by gender, Annie E Casey KidsCount data (0-17-year-olds) show that Native American children are likely to have experienced 2 or more adverse events (34%), reside with only one guardian (49%), have a parent who was ever incarcerated (16%), and have guardians who lack secure employment (43%).
Despite the preponderance of Native youth programs, few are expressly designed to directly address the unique stressors and risks that Native girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ experience at the intersection of race, gender, age, culture and SES. Census and First Nation's Development/FINRA figures demonstrate that even within Indigenous communities, young women, single mothers, and 2SLGBQ+ are the most financially fragile, have the least savings, and lowest financial literacy, yet by cultural tradition, females carry the heaviest responsibilities for emotionally and financially supporting both younger and older members of multi-generational families. A sizable proportion of the girls and young women we currently work with may in fact face being the single adult caretaker of a large multi-generational household at some point in their lives. They clearly do not receive the opportunities and fair share of resources they need, both within their communities and compared with gender and age peers across in the U.S.
What is your solution?
We work with Native communities to help rectify multi-faceted inequalities - characterized by the intersections of race, gender, age, culture and SES - faced by girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+. Our goal is to ensure they are better supported to claim their fair share of resources, have their voices heard and plan alternative futures they envision. Our work with Native girls and the local Native women who mentor them is the subject of the 2021 multiple award-winning documentary “The Lakota Daughters.” It showcases only one of our many Native partners doing this work with us, the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
Our Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN) brings together tribal governments and Native non-profits from rural tribal and urban Indian communities to strengthen the protection, safety, and resilience of girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ by reclaiming neighborhood spaces and building local Native female-led mentorship programs. Known as Girl Societies, this ancient collective form of gathering is being renewed to strengthen community connections and serve as a platform to transmit, preserve and renew tribal history and cultural knowledge, as well as provide resources, skills, opportunities, and protection to the next generation.
Local "Girl Societies" for girls aged 8-14 years meet bi-weekly in scores of communities across Indian Country (see map below). The Native Women across Indian Country who serve as Girl Society mentors form the IMAGEN Circle that meets monthly via Zoom and annually in-person. We recently started a cohort 14-29-year-old Indigenous Young Leaders, each of whom is provided with a stipend, frequent group mentorship, training and support and exposure for their work over a 12+ month period to begin with, and longer if they wish.
IMAGEN is bolstered by global and local knowledge of what works best for Native girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+. The model incorporates historical knowledge and decades of research on girl-centered design and programming in Indigenous settings carried out by our own team members and many others. It embraces a gender-expansive and life-stage approach to support Native females through many pivotal life events that occur during adolescence and young adulthood (losing a parent, becoming fostered or justice-involved, dropping out or leaving school, early or unwanted sexual experiences, pregnancy, first motherhood, experimenting with alcohol and drugs to self-medicate, leaving home to search for opportunities, etc.). In systematizing Native female networks, IMAGEN honors the relationships and expertise already embedded in the Native tribal and urban Indigenous communities we partner with. Girl Society content and implementation designs are sovereignly determined in each location, with the network of Girl Societies receiving a suite of tools (mentor handbook, program implementation guide, sample curriculum) and on-going monthly virtual and annual in-person supports from our team to guide their locally-defined goals, planning, implementation, and assessment.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
We provide real things to real girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ in real places. We are bona fide and tangible physical, intellectual and cultural movement and not merely a virtual media-based entity. Our goal is to reach Native girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ most in need, early enough to make a difference in their lives.
We provide a platform for Native girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ to devise, test and share gendered, female-led strategic decolonization tools. We provide resources, connections, and guidance for renewing and sustaining Girl Societies, locally girl-led collectives that raise up girls’ lived experiences and build their power to access resources, supportive allies and cultural knowledge. Our vision is a Girl Society in every Native community, so current and future generations of girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ are more able to tell their own stories, produce their own evidence, and access resources to create the alternative futures they envision. We focus on strengths, not deficits, of Indigenous girls and their communities while recognizing the myriad challenges they face. We prioritize geographic areas with high concentrations of Native Americans, engaging with sufficient spatial density to foster a hub of girl-centered activity and partnering with existing Native-led, like-minded organizations. We are steadfastly a movement, convening frequent supportive learning exchanges across Tribal communities of girls.
These are some of the activities we undertake to achieve our objectives.
- To raise awareness of the potential returns to investing in Native girls, we engage girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ to present during webinars and panel discussions and at professional conferences. We will utilize an existing newsletter listserv, social media and share announcements with allied organizations. Native young women co-lead the production and dissemination of various types of media highlighting their activities and describing successes and challenges.
- To grow the capacity and leadership of Native American girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ to restore, sustain and document female-led collectives and to spark a network of cascading leadership, we recruit participants through existing Native-led organizations and utilize capacity already built within the IMAGEN Network by tapping experienced young women as expert trainers and advisors during virtual and in-person workshops.
- To increase the number of Native-led organizations equipped to support girls in their power to use tools, generate evidence and plan for the futures they envision, we hold small grant leadership competitions open to Native individuals, Native-led organizations and Tribal governments. Young women already working with IMAGEN review and score proposals. To increase chances of affecting change regionally, we concentrate awards in geographic areas with high concentrations of Native Americans.
- To accelerate the formation of girl-led initiatives in Tribal and urban Indigenous communities, frequent trainings, support and exchanges are provided across the movement in parallel with the small grants leadership opportunities.
Which Indigenous community(s) does your solution benefit? In what ways will your solution benefit this community?
To date, Girl Societies have been created in 45 Native communities across Indian Country. From the group of Native-led organizations that met in 2017 to conceive of this initiative (AISES, Pine Ridge Girls School, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center [NIWRC], White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society, Indigenous People’s Task Force, and GIRL Center at Pop Council), to the IMAGEN COVID-19 emergency fundees in 45 communities in 14 US states shown in the map below, to our network of current and past primary IMAGEN grant funded thought/implementation partners working in tribal and urban Indigenous communities (Oklahoma City Indian Clinic [OK], White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society [SD], Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation [SD], 100 Horses Women's Society [SD], Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe [MN], and American Indian Family Center [MN]), the IMAGEN model continued to spread during COVID-19 and has grown since. It is strengthened by knowledge shared among the many tribal and urban Indigenous communities that form the network. Through conversations with Native girls, women and 2SLGBTQ+ members of our network across Turtle Island, the IMAGEN team has collected six key lessons for building and supporting Indigenous mentored leadership groups:
- IMAGEN makes female inter-generational connection more reliably and systematically available, especially to girls lacking parental support. Girl Societies are resoundingly inclusive of girls in their intersectional identities, including 2SLGBTQ+, two-spirit, ICWA, incarcerated, survivors, substance-affected, etc.
- Embodying historical mechanisms used by Native communities to pass knowledge to the next generation, Girl Societies are eagerly embraced by Indigenous females as a decolonizing practice.
- IMAGEN’s Native-led culture-based group mentorship model provides unique roles, supports, and benefits for Indigenous girls, young women, 2SLGBTQ+ and elders.
- IMAGEN facilitates cross-tribal learning by hosting monthly exchanges among Girl Society mentors from across Indian Country.
- While providing a systematic approach and blueprint for implementation, Girl Societies are also tailored to the specific assets and interests of the community. In many contexts, IMAGEN partners benefit from the support of schools, tribal governments, Indian health clinics and community centers.
- Girl Societies, like Native communities, remained resilient and adaptable in the face of COVID-19, embracing new approaches to support virtual and when possible, safe in-person engagement.
How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
The team leader is Kelly Hallman, enrolled Cherokee Nation citizen, originally from Oklahoma who went to high school and college in Arizona. I split time among Oklahoma, Arizona, and New York and maintain extensive ties to my communities in OK and AZ. With help from family and support networks, I thrive after experiencing violence, residential instability, substance use, a suicide plan and historical trauma. My grandfather survived the Charles H. Burke Indian Boarding School in Ft. Wingate, NM. I am a first-generation college student, Pell grant and Arizona regents’ scholarship recipient, and was lucky enough to go on to earn a PhD. I combine my personal experiences and professional training to strengthen programs for girls and women. I worked with global Indigenous communities from 2000-2015, and in 2015 started as advisory consultant to National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) where I established voluminous connections across Indian Country. I spent extensive time in South Dakota and Minnesota with NIWRC, and through our IMAGEN grants and learning circles we have forged many close tribal partnerships there and in Oklahoma. I started IMAGEN while working at a large international NGO but realized after several years that with racial and social justice movements surging in the US, being a sovereign Native female-led organization was vitally important and moved the project to the organization I founded in 2022, Indigenous Justice Circle (IJC). IJC is a fiscally sponsored project of the 501c3 Panorama Global which is headquartered in Seattle, WA. In our first year with Panorama, we were one of only a handful of fiscally sponsored projects they chose to spotlight in their annual Global Action Report.
Besides myself, the team includes a Program Manager versed in adolescent health, program design/evaluation and historical trauma, Lisa Polen, MPH, with IMAGEN since 2019; graphic designer, GIS and Indigenous specialist, Stephanie Martinez, MPH, emerging PhD, with IMAGEN since 2017; a Latinx gender, LGBTQ+ and media specialist, Kassel Franco Garibay, MA, emerging PhD, with IMAGEN since 2018. We currently employ three young indigenous female student consultants: Callie Pettigrew, Cherokee Nation Citizen, emerging MPH in Community Health at Columbia University; Hannah Jimenez, Cherokee Nation Citizen, emerging BA in archaeology at Columbia University; and Olivia Girling Lease, Cherokee Nation Citizen, emerging BA in applied mathematics at Columbia University. IMAGEN Circle members are mainly from South Dakota, Oklahoma and Minnesota. Our new cohort of Indigenous Young Leaders represents women and LGBTQ+ persons working in South Dakota, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, New York and Mexico.
Our program content and implementation designs are sovereignly determined, with local leaders receiving a suite of tools and on-going virtual and in-person supports to guide their locally defined planning, implementation and assessment goals. While providing this systematic approach and blueprint for implementation, Girl Societies are tailored to the specific assets and interests of the community. We have convened all Girl Society leaders monthly since early 2020 in the virtual IMAGEN Circle held on Zoom. We meet yearly in-person (before/after the COVID-19 period).
Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
Promote culturally informed mental and physical health and wellness services for Indigenous community members.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
We have offices in Oklahoma, New York, and Arizona
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
What is your solution’s stage of development?
Growth: An organization with an established product, service, or business model that is rolled out in one or more communities
How many people does your solution currently serve?
2418 people directly; 45,000 indirectly
Why are you applying to Solve?
Although the team leader and several other team members are experienced data analysts, we need some support to strengthen our digital Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) platform since we are not digital programmers or system developers. This M&E platform is an essential modern technological component of our model. It’s a mobile attendance monitoring system with an intuitive interface and backend, developed from digital intake forms, to track attendance at Girl Society meetings, offering real-time data on participation rates. This information helps identify trends and potential areas of concern, such as a sudden drop in attendance, which could act as an early warning mechanism in the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women. Additionally, the platform facilitates easy communication between mentors and families forming a proactive safety network for Indigenous girls. We are working on developing a straightforward digital evaluation tool to measure and demonstrate IMAGEN's impact more effectively. Looking ahead, we plan to integrate cloud-based computing and potentially AI algorithms to better anticipate areas where girls might face significant risks.
We could also use help with strengthening our marketing and PR, as well as help with making our pitches to donors.
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Kelly K. Hallman (enrolled Cherokee Nation citizen), PhD, Founder & Executive Director, IMAGEN & Indigenous Justice Circle
Please indicate the tribal affiliation of your Team Lead.
Enrolled citizen of Cherokee Nation
How is your Team Lead connected to the community or communities in which your project is based?
The team leader is Kelly Hallman, enrolled Cherokee Nation citizen originally from Oklahoma who went to high school and college in Arizona. I have residences and split time among Oklahoma, Arizona, and New York and maintain extensive ties to my communities in Oklahoma and Arizona. I am active in Cherokee Nation politics. With help from family and support networks, I now thrive after having experienced violence, residential instability, substance use, a suicide plan and historical trauma. My grandfather survived the Charles H. Burke Indian Boarding School in Ft. Wingate, NM. I am a first-generation college student, Pell grant and Arizona regents’ scholarship recipient, obtaining my BA from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. From 2015-2021 I worked as an advisory consultant to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) and established myriad connections in Indian Country during that work, especially in South Dakota and Minnesota. Through our IMAGEN grants and on-going learning circles, I have forged even stronger partnerships with tribes and Native-led NGOs in South Dakota and Minnesota, and maintain them in Oklahoma and Arizona where I am from and still reside with family members. I maintain monthly contact with Native women from the following organizations: Cherokee Nation (OK), Oklahoma City Indian Clinic (OK), White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society (SD), Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (SD), 100 Horses Women's Society (SD), Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, and NIWRC (NE/SD/MT).
What makes your solution innovative?
Indigenous girls and families are looking for actionable strategies to avoid or heal from sadness, suicidal thoughts, violence, trafficking and incarceration that result from centuries of harm to their communities, including present-day injustices. IMAGEN (Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network) is an evidenced-based, scalable approach, designed to address the realities of excluded Native American girls/young women/2SLGBTQ+.
Pressures to contribute care and cash to bolster family well-being - within an environment of severe underinvestment, over-regulation and multi-generational trauma - result in Native American girls having among the highest rates of school-leaving, trafficking, and exposure to violence within the US. Despite their roles as providers of emotional and economic support to children and elders, there are few programs that directly address the stressors US Native young women face.
Native American young people have high “status dropout rates” (16-24-year-olds not enrolled and without a high school credential) of any race group at 13% (versus 7% overall), and unlike other race groups, girls are nearly as likely as boys to not complete high school. Neither home nor school are safe places. Social causes of injury and death—violence, accidents, alcohol, drug abuse and suicide—account for high mortality among Native young people. One-fourth of American Indian/Alaska Native women report being raped and 55% experienced sexual violence other than rape in their lifetimes (Rosay et al 2016).
Despite these obstacles, females carry immense responsibilities within tribal communities; women head 40% of households, which are often multi-generational and include extended family. This, against a backdrop of geographic isolation and limited economic opportunity, results in Native females reporting inordinately higher rates of financial fragility compared with Native males (Dewees & Mottola 2017). Despite their need to support families, Native females have lower financial literacy and service access than males. By age, young women have the lowest stock of financial skills and service access (ibid), and young mothers - mostly unmarried - are the most likely among the Native population to be poor (US Census 2021).
Existing Native community and financial asset building programs (First Nations Development Institute 2022; Oweesta 2023) appear to have few, if any, gender-specific components. Even among burgeoning Native youth programs there is little attention to gender or life-stage issues (Generation Indigenous 2022), with most lumping girls and boys together, recruiting a wide age range (a 10-year-old girl is treated the same as a 24-year-old boy), or focusing on 18-24-year-olds — a period long after important opportunities for human asset-building could be realized.
Even when programs exist that could potentially build the productive and protective assets of Native girls and young women before a personal or family emergency occurs, many are not aware of, do not know pathways to access, lack parental support, or experience discrimination and are discouraged from pursuing them. A health or economic shock within a family can cause immense strain, and teenage girls may feel compelled to attempt to remedy the situation. Native girls may serve, in effect, as surrogate life partners to their mothers, who are often separated, divorced, and socially isolated.
What are your impact goals for the next year and the next five years, and how will you achieve them?
We endeavor to
- Raise awareness among communities, advocacy groups, funders and policymakers of the potential returns to investing in Native girls, young women and 2SLGBQ+; increase demand for Native leadership, planning and implementation of community initiatives; influence advocacy groups to focus more on building girl, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ power; and attract more attention and resources to Native girl-led initiatives.
- Grow the capacity and leadership of Native American girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ to restore, sustain and document girl-led social infrastructure projects, and spark a cascading leadership network in which previously trained young women serve as expert trainers and group mentors to a younger cadre of Native females.
- Increase the number of Native-led organizations that are equipped to support girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ in their power to use tools, generate evidence and plan for new futures they envision, and affect regional change through geographic density of this work in areas with high concentrations of Native Americans.
- Accelerate the formation of girl-led initiatives in Tribal and urban Indian communities and increase the availability of girl-focused training and support to Native American communities.
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?
How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?
With regard to our four goals articulated above
- We will measure awareness raising by documenting attendance over time at webinars, panel discussions and conference presentations, and track subscriptions to our newsletter and downloads of policy briefs and other resources. When we hold leadership grant application portals, we will characterize types of applicants who express interest. We will track conversations with advocacy, funding, policy and media groups, as well as document Native girl/young women-oriented resource/opportunity announcements we happen to observe emanating from these sources.
- To gauge growth in the capacity and leadership of Native American girls and young women to restore, sustain and document girl-led collectives, we will measure: a) the number of girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ who are participating actively in monthly exchanges the project convenes; b) the number of previously trained young women who serve as trainers and presenters during workshops, panel discussions and conference presentations; c) the number of new participants in our workshops, panel discussions and conference presentations.
- To assess the number of Native-led organizations equipped to support girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ in their power to use tools, generate evidence and plan for alternative futures they envision, we will quantify and characterize the leadership applications we receive by organization type, location, and proposal quality. As these subgrantees proceed with their work, we will assess their level of engagement, activities carried out, as well as any collaboration with existing Native initiatives.
- To evaluate the formation of Native girl-led initiatives, we will document participation levels of both newly joined and experienced Native girls and young women during our monthly gatherings. We will document planning, evidence gathering, implementation activities and collaboration among organizations receiving leadership grants via attendance at, content shared and polls conducted during our project gatherings and through written reports.
What is your theory of change?
By renewing female social, economic and political power structures, we ensure that Native young women are empowered to claim their fair share of resources, have their voices heard, and plan alternative futures they envision. Through these supportive networks we help forge that bring girls, young women and 2SLGBTQ+ together repeatedly in intergenerational spaces to undertake leadership and cultural activities, bond together, obtain mentorship, and receive information about and access to opportunities and crisis support, we aim to have the following intermediate outcomes: increased social connectedness, less isolation and loneliness, greater hope, improved goal setting skills, stronger cultural identity, a stronger sense of purpose, greater financial literacy, and more skills to access community services. Based on our and others’ peer-reviewed and published work on this topic from Indian Country, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, we hypothesize that in the longer-term girls will have stronger goal achievement, better school performance, greater financial skills, be less likely to become missing or murdered, have fewer suicidal thoughts and attempts, have fewer unintended pregnancies, be able to marry if, when and who they wish, and be more likely to advance to higher education or technical training.
Describe the core technology that powers your solution.
IMAGEN leverages both modern digital technology and traditional Indigenous 'technology' to create a comprehensive and adaptable solution to empower indigenous girls and restore matrilineal traditions. Each of our components represents a unique blend of technology, both modern and traditional, digital and human, all working in concert to empower indigenous girls in a culturally sensitive and effective manner. The IMAGEN program’s strength lies in this integrated approach, combining the best of all worlds to tackle the challenges faced by this community.
Digital M&E Platform: The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) platform is an essential modern technological component of our model. It’s a mobile attendance monitoring system with an intuitive interface and backend, developed from digital intake forms, to track attendance at Girls' Society meetings, offering real-time data on participation rates. This information helps identify trends and potential areas of concern, such as a sudden drop in attendance, which could act as an early warning mechanism in the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous girls, women and 2SLGBTQ+. Additionally, the platform facilitates easy communication between mentors and families forming a proactive safety network for indigenous girls. We are currently developing a straightforward digital evaluation tool to measure and demonstrate IMAGEN's impact more effectively. Looking ahead, we plan to integrate cloud-based computing and potentially AI algorithms to better anticipate areas where girls might face significant risks.
Digital Knowledge Sharing and Online Training: At the heart of our digital resources is the comprehensive "How To" Guide for establishing Girl Societies. This guide, designed with a wide spectrum of topics, serves as a practical digital blueprint for communities, offering all the necessary information and support to create and maintain their own Girls' Societies.
Online training sessions, conducted via platforms like Zoom, complement this guide, offering interactive learning experiences tailored to the needs of each community. These sessions can accommodate large groups, facilitate the sharing of visual materials like presentations and videos, and enable smaller, more focused discussions through breakout sessions. They allow for a more extensive reach, making the program accessible to communities regardless of geographical location.
In the future we would like to record training sessions and host them on our website, which would offer flexibility, enabling participants to access information and training at their convenience.
Virtual Talking Circles: The IMAGEN monthly Gatherings uses a digital platform (Zoom to blend traditional practices with modern technology. Our virtual talking circles, conducted via Zoom, bring together Girl Society program staff and mentors from across the country. This digital gathering offers a communal space for sharing experiences, brainstorming solutions, and celebrating successes. They offer emotional and practical support, creating a community among the Girl Society leaders spread across different locations. Participants can connect, share, and learn from others doing similar work, regardless of their geographical location. This unique blend of technology and tradition not only preserves cultural practices but also expands their influence and accessibility, something that regular in-person meetings wouldn't be able to achieve.
Girl Societies: The heart of IMAGEN's program is in the application of cultural and social 'technologies' through the formation of Girl Societies. These community-led spaces are designed to reinstate matrilineal traditions in indigenous communities and serve as a practical, evidence-based strategy for addressing contemporary challenges faced by indigenous girls.
These societies, led by local women mentors of varying ages, create nurturing environments where girls can grow, learn, and strengthen their ties to their culture and community. This approach is a form of human technology, effectively equipping girls with life skills, boosting their confidence, and empowering them to navigate life's challenges more effectively. Girl Societies emphasize a renewal of matrilineal traditions, thus reinstating Indigenous knowledge systems. Elder mentors support the Girl Societies by teaching cultural heritage and practices, while the youth mentors lead the groups each week, facilitating skill and confidence building through implementing the IMAGEN curriculum. This blend of traditional and modern mentoring is a unique strategy that respects cultural values while also addressing contemporary realities.
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new application of an existing technology
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
If your solution has a website or an app, provide the links here:
Web: www.imagen-network.org; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indigenousjc/; Twitter: @IJC_IMAGEN
In which parts of the US and/or Canada do you currently operate?
Across Indian Country with spatial geographic concentrations among several communities in Oklahoma, South Dakota, Minnesota.
In which parts of the US and/or Canada will you be operating within the next year?
Across Indian Country with spatial geographic concentrations among several communities in Oklahoma, South Dakota, Minnesota., next expanding our work within New York and Arizona.
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
How many people work on your solution team?
Full time: 2, contractors: 5
How long have you been working on your solution?
Kelly Hallman founded IMAGEN in 2017; Lisa Polen started in 2019; Stephanie Martinez started in 2017; Kassel Garibay began in 2018; our three young Indigenous consultants began in early 2022.
What is your approach to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into your work?
We are Native female-led and have majority Native-female (self-identified) staff, who are representative of the communities we serve. We have an adult advisory group that is 75% Indigenous female with a variety of lived experiences, including disability, gender-expansiveness, system-involvement, survivors of violence, etc. We are committed to ensuring that the rights of Native peoples with disabilities are better-known, supported and honored by Native communities and the broader society. Our Indigenous Young Leaders cohort is comprised of 14-29-year-olds, 100% of whom are Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQ+.
When we have advisory openings, job postings or leadership opportunities, we share these widely within our network and on different listservs to ensure we reach a diverse group of applicants. We document clear steps in application processes and outline expectations to ensure applicants are treated fairly. Our advisory and staff positions are advertised as location flexible, allowing a greater diversity of applicants and ensuring our center of gravity is in “Indian Country.”
We track progress on DEI goals by (a) documenting our contacts and conversations with groups that represent such girls, women and 2SLGBTQ+, (b) developing DEI figures from our sub-grantees, advisory groups, leadership and staff, and (c) collecting DEI information anonymously through polls during public webinars, panel discussions and other convenings, and during the monthly gatherings we will hold with partner organizations.
What is your business model?
Our business model is centered on serving Indigenous communities, specifically girls, women and 2SLGBTQ+, by offering a unique blend of traditional practices and modern resources. Our aim is to address critical gaps in support for Indigenous girls and their communities by providing a safe and nurturing environment that fosters cultural knowledge transfer, skill-building, mentorship, and leadership development.
Our primary beneficiaries are the girls involved in our Girl Societies, the mentors who guide them, the groups and organizations who implement them, and the broader Indigenous communities who benefit from the preservation and transmission of cultural knowledge and heritage through these societies.
The core of our work is centered around the Girl Societies - safe, neighborhood-based spaces that foster cultural knowledge transfer and skill-building for Indigenous girls. These groups offer girls the space to gain skills and resilience while connecting to their specific cultural heritage with the guidance of mentors – local young women and elder women from their communities. By blending traditional practices with modern resources, we are able to offer a unique, culturally sensitive, and effective approach to supporting Indigenous girls and their communities.
We offer comprehensive in-person and online workshops, trainings and a "How-to Guide" along with extensive tools and resources to enable communities to establish Girl Societies. These resources are designed to equip communities with the knowledge and tools necessary to initiate and sustain their own Girl Societies. By empowering communities to create and sustain these societies, we help them build a strong foundation for the education and development of Indigenous girls.
Our work extends beyond creating Girl Societies, as we also strive to foster a robust network of mentors and young Indigenous leaders. Every month, we host an online IMAGEN gathering for mentors and program staff, providing a platform for learning, sharing, and support. We also nurture a cohort of young Indigenous leaders through our small grants program, monthly mentoring, and networking activities. These initiatives not only bolster the capacities of the individuals involved but also contribute to a stronger, interconnected Indigenous community.
IMAGEN's offerings are needed and valued by Indigenous communities because they address a critical gap - they provide a structure for girls to learn and grow within their cultural context, they foster intergenerational connections, they offer a platform for mentorship and leadership development, and they help communities create sustainable structures that uphold and pass on their cultural heritage. We offer a unique, culturally sensitive, and effective approach to supporting Indigenous girls and their communities.
Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, to other organizations, or to the government?
Organizations (B2B)What is your plan for becoming financially sustainable?
Our approach to financial sustainability is built on a strong foundation of grant funding and private individual donations, and it is set to diversify and expand in the near future to ensure the sustainability and growth of the organization.
At the core of our funding strategy is the generous support we receive from various grant-making bodies and private individuals. These funds are primarily used to run our operations, support groups and organizations in their creation of Girl Societies, support and mentor young Indigenous leaders and develop and maintain our digital resources. This model has provided us with a stable funding base to launch and sustain our initiatives.
However, we recognize that for long-term sustainability and growth, it's essential to diversify our funding sources model to include income-generating activities such as hosting conferences and conducting workshops. By organizing these events, we aim to shed light on the crucial work being done to uplift Indigenous girls, women and 2SLGBTQ+ young leaders. These events will serve a dual purpose: generating revenue and fostering a productive environment for discussion, knowledge-sharing, and networking. The conferences and workshops will provide a platform for sharing effective practices, success stories, and innovative ideas. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue, learn from one another, and explore potential collaborations.
As a part of our commitment to accessibility, we will offer a sliding scale payment system for our events, ensuring they remain affordable and inclusive. Our proposed revenue generation model is designed to maintain the sustainability of our organization, while simultaneously promoting a broader impact, supporting more Indigenous girls, women and 2SLGBTQ+ through our initiatives, and contributing to a more robust and inclusive support system for these communities.
Solution Team
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Kelly Hallman Founder & Executive Dir., Indigenous Justice Circle
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Our Organization
Indigenous Justice Circle