Rebalance App

The Rebalance App is geared towards Indigenous users seeking a culturally relevant mindfulness application. While many mindfulness applications exist, few of them are accessible to Native youth. This application seeks to address mental health disparities among Native youth by implementing ancestral knowledge that is vital to building a healthy future for Indigenous peoples.  Traditional knowledge will be the foundation of the mobile application to support the user in taking concrete steps to practice mindfulness in their life while engaging in practices rooted in culture. Once developed, to scale up our project, other Native communities may implement their own knowledge in order to support their mental well-being. This application will advocate for Indigenous knowledge within a mindfulness setting and support our Indigenous youth and appeal to a multigenerational audience through the healing of historical trauma.

Indigenous communities suffer from a lack of healthcare and culturally appropriate mental health programs. Recently, because of the health disparities arising because of Covid-19. Navajo Nation has been one of the Hot Spots of Coronavirus cases and deaths in the United States. According to Indian Health Services, American Indians and Alaska Natives continue to die at higher rates than other Americans in many categories, including chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, unintentional injuries, assault/homicide, intentional self-harm/suicide, and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Mental wellness is an antidote to depression, anxiety, stress, negativity bias and trauma-induced physical illness.  People with diabetes are 2 to 3 times more likely to have depression than people without diabetes. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/mental-health.html The lack of culturally relevant practices in Western medicine contributes to stress and a lack of well being in Native peoples. Trauma expert, Peter Levine writes that historical and cultural trauma is passed down through epigenetics. While Steven Porges addresses intergenerational trauma in groundbreaking research in polyvagal healing modalities. Additionally, innovative solutions and alternatives are rooted in Native culture but in many circumstances are not accessible to all members of tribal communities.

The Rebalance app will use high and low tech to incorporate Native wisdom as the foundation of the mobile application. The app will be a multifaceted platform that uses culturally relevant exercises, practices, teachings, and storytelling properties to help alleviate mental imbalances. As a digital filmmaker and photographer, I have cultivated an eye for the phenomenal beauty in my tribal lands. There is beauty everywhere, but if someone is depressed they might not see or experience it. The power of Native storytelling is something I am learning more and more about and want to incorporate multimedia storytelling into the app. The culturally relevant material will be gathered and advised by collaborating with traditional practitioners. The application will include multigenerational knowledge by including digitally edited audio and video of elders. These audio and video segments will also include agricultural demonstration to find peace working with the land. Lastly, a virtual community is critical to allow users who are isolated by rural spaces in Navajo Nation to feel connected and not alone in their own battles. The hope is to generate a user-friendly experience where users will feel comfortable and connected with others.

First, the solution is centered around Navajo communities. However, we hope to construct a blueprint that allows other Indigenous communities to import their cultural knowledge into the application. The solution will benefit the communities by allowing a virtual convergence of healing using cultural wisdom. Our target audience is the younger generation who are affected most by historical trauma and many other mental health disparities. As a member of those communities, it can be difficult to create a safe community to properly talk about these challenges. The stigma of mental health (stress, anxiety, depression, and others) amongst Native men has created a toxic community. As Native communities strayed away from matriarchal practices, it's important to find innovative ways to include those in the foundation of the mobile application. It will also be a platform for users to engage in cultural practices that will benefit their way of life. The Navajo way of life is centered around balancing internal and external health with cultural practices. Creating this  platform makes mindfulness and well-being accessible to communities who have strong histories of spirituality and wellness, yet currently lack resources to implement their knowledge in a contemporary context.

The target audience is the younger generation who disproportionately suffer from generations of historical trauma. The platform is to create access to cultural principles that help to cultivate mindfulness, instill calmness, and create inner tranquility. Our team has subject matter experts on various issues related to Indigenous well-being. One-step is creating a sample pool of customer archetypes that might fit the end-user. An archetype that we identified are young indigenous women suffering from patriarchy brought on by colonization. Reclaiming their intuitive emotional connection and pathways to return to a matriarchal society allows further examination of the interface. 

We think this solution is innovative by integrating the Indigenous perspectives into a Western dominant market of mental wellness mobile applications. Our top competitors are Calm App, and Headspace App among many others. An app specifically for Indigenous People incorporating indigenous worldviews is absolutely needed. As social entrepreneurs, we will focus on social, environmental, and economic issues. First, the social aspect is driven by the lack of a mindfulness mobile application that is focused on a Native American audience with content by and for Native Americans. The importance of culturally integrated content is unique and will be displayed through short films. The power of storytelling will be the foundation of each video that will strive to create a cultural shift for health and ignite a push for wellbeing and tribal sovereignty. Some cultural content will be captured through puppetry in the Navajo language which is to ensure the longevity of language. The multimedia content will strive to help de-stigmatize the access to mental healthcare for Navajo and other Indigenous communities. Second, the environmental component will incorporate traditional ties to the land which help to shape the understanding of self, community, and worldviews. Lastly, is the economic structure of creating a funding circle in partnership with other Native led organizations that are actively working in spaces for Indigenous communities.

The Rebalance Application uses existing technology, coding and application development, to create an accessible wellness application for Navajo users. Not only are we committed to bringing mental wellness to our Navajo communities, but we also envision this type of technology eventually becoming accessible to other Native communities. There is a lack of Indigenous coders and web developers, and if this project were to be funded, we plan on involving Native youth in the development of this application. Although this solution does not innovate new technology, it brings existing technology into communities that have not historically had access to modern technology. With creating this model there’s an emphasis on incorporating the Navajo principles of living. The cyclical nature of Navajo practices helps to think of alternative business models that better align with Indigenous methods of practices such as spiritual, mental, and physical balance. The integration of these principles helps to differentiate the model from a Western thought of practice.

There are hundreds of mental wellness applications found in the Apple and Android app stores. The app that we’ll focus on is the Calm app that uses meditation to help alleviate stress. In 2019, a study was conducted by Dr. Jennifer Huberty, who investigated the effectiveness of college students using the Calm app. The research focused on how practicing meditation exercises helps college students deal with stress and create a healthier coping methods. The results showed that there were significant improvements in overall mindfulness scores. Also, 85% of users were satisfied with the effectiveness and experience of the mobile application. (https://mhealth.jmir.org/2019/6/e14273/) This research fortifies the notion of effectiveness for a younger audience and usage of a mindfulness application experience. This is an indication that the platform has the viability to work well for our target audience.

The incorporation of Indigenous healing practices would make the principles of the application more effective for Native American users. The content will center on culturally relevant material which will be created by the media creators who will be Native American students and workers. The importance of structuring a model that is made by and for Native Americans is extremely important. The purpose of creating a structure that allows Indigenous people to return to the business is a form of a social enterprise. The operation will strive to conduct Indigenous ethical constructs that will enable employees to continue to work and create a sustainable model of growth. There will be other sectors of the business model like a funding circle that will allow the organization to continue to support and partner with entities that are working in areas of food sovereignty, wellbeing practices, and technology. 

Our solution to creating a Native wellness-based APP will impact the problem of Native people’s disproportionate lack of access to mental health and well-being care on and off reservations.

Goal 1: Our primary long term goal is to create and develop the Rebalance App in order to strengthen resilience to improve overall well-being and health within tribal communities and individuals. 

Activities: 

1. Work with Native or indigenous coders to create a free Beta version of the app.

2. We will conduct surveys, ask for feedback and seek testimonials. 

3. Track the metrics for beta users.

4. Incorporate the changes into the next prototype

Our long-term goals: 

Goal 1: Our primary long term goal is to create and develop the Rebalance App in order to strengthen resilience to improve overall well-being and health within tribal communities and individuals. Our theory of change utilizes an indigneous worldview of building Self-Awareness + Family + Community + Environment = Resiliency. Our activities to accomplish our goal is to develop a small team consisting of tribal affiliate organizers, technical experts and artists to develop web and app content. 

Goal 2: Just Transition/Restorative Economies Model - Resources (Regeneration) + Indigenous Worldview (Responsibility/Respect) + Purpose (Ecological and Social Wellbeing) + Governance (Democracy/Community Based) = Work (Cooperative Ecosystem)

Currently, we are not serving anyone yet but plan to engage in conversations and customer discovery to build on our business model to resolve mental wellness issues that continue to impact the lives of indigenous peoples from historical trauma. We plan to serve 25-50 people in the next year 2021 with the prototype. In the next five years, we project to reach 150-200 users while providing culturally relevant content of mental wellbeing.

By August 31, 2020 we will be a fiscally sponsored organization that will develop our social enterprise business model while fundraising for the Rebalance App. 

By September 30, 2020 we begin creating content via video and podcasting samples.

By November 31, 2020 we will conduct 50 customer discovery interviews to develop the market segment of the application. 

By December 31, 2020 we will begin defining our values as an organization to provide our value proposition for our business model.

Year 2 - We will begin building the social profit business model that includes determining the Customer Decision Making Unit and a framework to brand the Rebalance app. In addition to developing content for web application we will be fundraising and raising awareness of wellbeing through our indigenous communities through video and audio content. While providing value to our end users, we plan to continue developing and testing key assumptions for the Rebalance app. 

Year 3 - We will have a social profit business model in full operation and building our network. As native entrepreneurs, it's our responsibility giving back to our indigenous communities by allocating a percentage of funds for social and environmental causes occurring in indigenous communities related to healing, native artists, and environmental sustainability. 

Year 4 - We will continue operation and scaling up production of the Rebalance app to reach more end users. 

Year 5 - We will continue operation, finding ways to improve our service and building partnerships with indigenous communities.

There are several barriers including the technical side of coding to build an app for end users. There is an exponential cost to develop a mobile app for iOS and Android operating systems, in addition to finding an experienced app coder to help design and develop the Rebalance app will be expensive. Another limitation are legal concerns in developing a social enterprise model and taxation of business operations to fit our needs of a Just Transition model. Lastly, we are aware of not adding culturally sensitive information in this mobile app.

We plan to overcome the technical barrier in developing the mobile app by finding an app coder who is interested and willing to help with developing this initiative. Currently, we will use our network to find someone interested in joining our team or partnering with our project. For the legal and social enterprise model barriers, we reached out to experienced organizations and individuals passionate in developing Just Transition economies within tribal communities. To respect cultural sensitive information in developing the Rebalance App, we will look for common principles of healing and refrain from exposing traditional/ceremonial customs during the design and development phase.

4 people work on the solution team: One full-time employee, and three part-time employee. We are actively seeking out an indigenous person with coding and mobile app creation experience to join our team.

Keanu Jones (Navajo) graduated from Navajo Technical University in a bachelor of fine arts in May 2020. He was selected for the 2020 Sundance Native Filmmaker Lab. The importance of storytelling through filmmaking and photography has been of interest. He has hosted leadership filmmaking workshops for youth in Navajo communities. In addition, he was a participant in the I-Corps Culturally Relevant Economic Development (CRED) program in 2019. These skills and experience has allowed him to better understand the entrepreneurial pathway. 

Burrell Jones (Navajo) is from Grandfalls, Arizona located in the Navajo Nation. He was awarded the 2019 MIT Solve Indigenous Communities Fellowship. He graduated in May 2020 with a Masters in Public Administration and continues to work within Navajo communities to resolve issues stemming from social, environmental and economic problems. He brings organizational management experience and community organizing. 

Rose Elizondo - Rose Elizondo was a 2017 Soros Justice Fellow in Navajo Nation. She addressed historical trauma utilizing traditional healing processes with Truth and Reconciliation. Her innovative track record implementing models of indigenous peacemaking in schools, prisons and tribal communities will add value to our team. Her movement building approach and management skills will scale up the project. For the App content, since 2006, Rose taught mindfulness and meditation in prisons and years of experience with traditional healing modalities as well as food and water sovereignty.

Current Partners:

·     Over the years, our team has collaborated with many organizations and groups in Navajo Nation. We have worked with Native American Film Festivals, Food and Water Sovereignty Groups, Tribal Peacemaking and Restorative Justice Groups, Health and well being initiatives and cultural revitalization initiatives.

·     Growing Puppetry, Raising Sovereignty works in Native Communities. This nonprofit project will help create content for the App using puppetry for Native and Indigenous youth. This initiative will create opportunities for language and cultural revitalization by having puppets speak in Native Languages and bring in Native storytelling.  This will help create workforce development for the many artists in Navajo Nation.

Partnership Goals: 

·      Join or create an alliance of Native and Indigenous entrepreneurs working to create a restorative and regenerative economy.

·       Collaborate with business incubators or groups like Girls Who Code to create a workforce in the tech industry for Native and Indigenous people.

Possible partners:

·     Tolani Lake Enterprises

·     Black Mesa Water Coalition

Create a social enterprise to address social problems using a value-centered business. Address extractive capitalism with solutions found in collective activism theory and tribal societies.Our fiscally sponsored 5013c nonprofit has received donations. Investment Capitol, through the MIT fellowship, I want to acquire the skills and knowledge to create a pitch and seek out investors for our innovative tech idea thus our business model will have an integrated approach and fundraise as a non-profit organization while developing our social enterprise business model.We have sent inquiries to work with Full Spectrum Capitol Partners, co-founded by Taj James who also co-founded Movement Strategy Center and helped develop the Just Transitions Framework. “Just Transitions'' is used by many activists groups in Navajo Nation to create the shifts needed for climate change and environmental sustainability. It would be an honor to work with Taj to help us create a business plan that incorporates social and environmental values. His organization knows of investors wanting to invest in initiatives working in marginalized communities. We aim to start simple to keep our costs low by contracting out the coding and using a SAAP to host our App. Our project is compelling and tweaks highly successful Apps like Calm that we believe it will attract investor dollars. Financial sustainability means our workforce is paid well and treated with dignity. Once we are making a profit, we will create funding streams to fund projects for food and water sovereignty in Navajo Nation. 

We are applying for MIT Solve because it is an opportunity to expand our knowledge and connections with potential partnerships and mentorship. We believe Solve can assist us in developing our social enterprise model into a restorative economic solution to uplift our indigenous communities while creating a sustainable enterprise model. We are interested in partnering or finding training opportunities for coding experience to enable our ideas to become virtually available for our communities. Since building a mobile app is expensive, we are determined to fundraise and build a network of coders to help design the product with us. MIT Solve may have technical experts to help design and develop our Rebalane App.

Receive mentoring from MIT or solve staff for social entrepreneur strategy and managing a startup, beta testing and marketing.Connect with investors with similar values with hopes of funding our initiative and/or helping us with volunteer consulting.Collaborate with MIT staff on creating management strategy from an indigenous perspective or worldview.

Collaborating with MIT faculty or initiatives and other solve members with similar values and interests would be beneficial. We could gain skills from MIT staff for social entrepreneurship plans and have discourse on groundbreaking ways to incorporate TEK and Indigenous values like honoring the earth and Indigenous peacemaking into our structures.