CenterNative

It's no secret that Native American people have some of the poorest health and wealth outcomes, and are also challenged with structural economic and social inequities such as lack of access, poverty, unemployment, low education attainment, and lack of philanthropic investment. Federal, state, and private funding resources are challenging for Native American communities to access due to a myriad of factors that Center harmful Western approaches to funding, evaluation, and devalues Indigenous knowledge and values.

In 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic shed a harsh reality on the deep systemic lack of infrastructure investment in Indigenous communities across New Mexico and the Navajo Nation including inadequate or non-existent access to safe water, broadband, roads, affordable grocery stores, education, healthcare, housing, etc. While the lack of investments from both state and federal governments has long been known and ignored, Native American people have always found ways to support their families and communities through their own innovations. The Native American ecosystem in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation has always been strong but lacks a coordinated understanding of who, what, where, and how resources are being distributed by Native-led and Native serving organizations across the region. This lack of understanding and coordination exacerbates existing barriers for Native American people who live within their Tribal Nations and for those living off their Tribal Nations in neighboring cities (approximately 80%). In New Mexico there are approximately 228,400 Native American citizens, which represents nearly 10.9% of the state’s entire population. New Mexico is home to twenty-three federally recognized Tribal Nations - nineteen Pueblos, three Apache tribes (Fort Sill Apache Tribe, Jicarilla Apache Nation and the Mescalero Apache Tribe), and the Navajo Nation. The New Mexico Indian Affairs State Department (NMIAD) is responsible for working in the complexities of coordinating resources directly to the tribes, but their mandate does not require them to work with Native-led and Native-serving nonprofits, for profits, coalitions, mutual aids, and community members who are serving and supporting Native American communities, regardless of location. No one group or place brings these organizations together in one place to make them visible and accessible, to not only share their resources and strategies, but to amplify their work while ensuring they are invested in. As COVID-19 has taught us, these local organizations were critical in gathering, moving, and dispersing life saving resources directly to our Native American communities, at times, more effectively and efficiently than federal, state, and tribal entities. Our challenge now is to find a way to connect these organizations, grow their reach, and amplify their information and resources without putting more work on them as they are already doing so much for our communities.

Native people Center and value relationships and reciprocity within their communities. In thinking about how to better connect Native-led and Native serving nonprofit and for profit organizations to not only each other, but to public (i.e. tribal, state, local, county) and private stakeholders (i.e philanthropy), we knew we needed to approach this challenge from our Indigenous perspective. We know our communities are sophisticated and have relational connections and ways of being that are often overlooked and ignored. We wanted to Center community wisdom while accelerating connections to move resources to where they are most needed - such as a curated virtual space to showcase and amplify these connections. 

In 2021, Roanhorse Consulting partnered with EcoMap Technologies (EcoMap), a tech company making ecosystems more equitable, visible, and ensuring easy access to information about what’s happening all around us. With EcoMap we’ve been able to build a digitized ecosystem called Center Native. Center Native is a platform that centers Native-led and Native-serving efforts across New Mexico and the Navajo Nation. It is a growing ecosystem for public and private stakeholders to create and monitor their profiles, and funders can connect with groups they are interested in. This evolving community-led ecosystem is built on a digital, user-friendly platform that highlights an organization's assets and efforts using their own words and encourages them to uplift key connections. 

The Center Native platform has the potential to do more than just connect key stakeholders to resources and investment in local initiatives. With enabled features, users can begin to build their own space that amplifies their organization, events, news, job announcements, and lists of who they are connected to. As the Center Native ecosystem grows, we can begin to work with EcoMap to incubate and create pods of key Native American networks in the social, business, and entrepreneur sectors enabling us to further build out the infrastructure, move more resources, and expand networks to other regions of the U.S.

In 2020, RCLLC’s primary focus was to serve as an intermediary to our Native American communities in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation with the goal of connecting critical life saving resources to our people during the COVID-19 pandemic via grassroots organizations already on the ground. Four years later in 2024, RCLLC continues the critical work to further develop Center Native as a solution to weave people, money, and power together to benefit those same communities who have historical been excluded. We recognize for change to occur for Native American communities, we must be able to tell our own story and provide proof to validate our experience, and oftentimes, our existence. Center Native is a tool that can capture information and data that RCLLC can analyze to map who exists in our communities and where, identify what resources are available, and gain an understanding of where the gaps, overlays, and opportunities lie in Native American communities in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation. This critical work will be a first step in centering and advocating for resource distribution at the tribal, federal, state, and local levels that is equitable for our Native American people and communities in the southwest. 

RCLLC’s solution to strengthening our Native American communities is through tech-enabled ecosystem-building tools and partnerships. We’ve taken a familiar ecosystem historically used by Native Americans and replicated it virtually to build upon the capacity of human and organization growth of grass roots entities doing on-the-groundwork to serve our local communities. Center Native is a growing ecosystem curated for Native-led and Native serving organizations including Native consultants and consultants who serve Native American communities. Today, the ecosystem is targeting organizations in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation, but there is the opportunity to expand into the four corners of the U.S. and further on. 

Roanhorse Consulting, LLC. is an Indigenous-led firm that purposefully works to change power dynamics in health and wealth systems to build a world where our children and grandchildren will thrive. RCLLC is based in Albuquerque, NM, and works with communities, businesses, organizations, and individuals to achieve and aspire their self-determination through strengthening Indigenous evaluation methods, creating equity through entrepreneurship, and encouraging economic empowerment from within. RCLLC connects these change-makers with the resources and people needed to help them be successful in their specific endeavors. We are an ecosystem-building company where our team members share in the same pursuits of connecting in the community. 

What is an ecosystem builder? RCLLC defines an ecosystem builder as a community connector with lived experiences working with and caring for Indigenous communities. A relationship builder that understands and proactively navigates the existing health and wealth landscapes (i.e. institutions, networks, resources, policies, and leaders) so they can help identify opportunities and solutions to advocate and weave people, money, and power together. 

RCLLC team has abundant knowledge and expertise with the target population because we have done so much work in the area, and we are from the areas we are targeting. RCLLC leans into the complexity of this work, recognizing that to do things differently, we must spend time as a company and with our clients to reflect, learn, and unlearn together throughout the co-creation process. We organize our work in four phases and weave into each phase curated key tools that support cross communication and collaboration. At the center of everything we do, RCLLC threads our values of truth, healing, co-creation, humor, courage, and curiosity. Our values align with our lived experiences growing up in the Indigenous communities we are serving and we embody them through the work we do internally and externally.

RCLLC continues to work with EcoMap to better understand the site and how to use Center Native to its fullest capability. In co-creating the site, RCLLC selected to enable platform features that allows users to amplify their organization by embedding their website and social media links, create and share upcoming events, post news and job announcements, and create lists of who they are connected to showcase their experience and reach. Center Native currently has a total 234 organizations and 80 people on the site. We also wanted to build an ecosystem that is user-friendly to enhance the functions and tools that we felt would be useful for these organizations. To test the Center Native site, RCLLC has incubated the ecosystem with four pilot projects to provide feedback: RCLLC’s Repatriating Economies Apprenticeship Program, our partnership with the Native American Recovery Fund Zone Grant, the Indigenous Evaluators Network, and the RCLLC revenue-based financing fund. We are working with the organizations and consultants to encourage them to create their profiles on Center Native, share Center Native with their networks, participate in quarterly training, and request technical assistance as needed. Through the pilots, we have received feedback from our partners on what has worked and what didn't work enabling us to brainstorm with EcoMap to identify issues and create improvements for a better client experience. 

In addition, we have begun identifying ways to uplift data sovereignty and data governance in the process of creating Center Native. We want to ensure organizations are empowered to “opting in” to the site and can control information and data they want others to see and can delete their profile whenever they want. We are in the incubation phase of working with the Indigenous Evaluators Network to design this process.  

Lastly, while establishing Center Native, we worked with our Media and Design consultant to build the branding and the name. We settled on Center Native because we often hear about Native American Centers, but we wanted to be different by actually centering the population we are working for on the project. Through multiple design sessions with the RCLLC team, we felt the need to incorporate spirals in the logo to showcase the community coming together and show that there is movement and connectedness. In March of 2023, RCLLC launched Center Native, and it was the first time we showcased the work with our partners and communities.

RCLLC is applying for Solve for Center Native because we would love the opportunity to build a relationship with the MIT Solve team, their network, and other Solve Alumni. We see this as a way to leverage our resources to make Center Native the Native Linkedin we envisioned when we first developed the site and continue to uplift the work happening within our Indigenous Communities. Below are some ideas on how we think Solve can help us with Center Native:

1. Funding and Support for staff
   With additional funding, we would hire a Community Navigator to be our ecosystem builder and continue to uplift the work happening at a community level. Over the last couple of years, we have staff working on the project because they believe in the vision, and we want to start compensating them for their time. With the support of Solve, we can potentially get connected with funders for initial and longer-term investments

2. Technical support to build a business plan
   RCLLC would appreciate the support in building the business plan for Center Native. As we figure out its trajectory, it would be great to have someone specializing in this area help us make a business case. This could help us secure more funding in the long term. 

3. Legal Structures
   As we continue to hone in on our thoughts about data sovereignty and data governance, we will need legal support to solidify our plans. This would help us ensure RCLLC is protected, as well as the organizations and consultants.

Casey Long is Diné (“the people” in Navajo), and grew up in a border town near the Navajo Reservation called Gallup, New Mexico. Casey is Todik’ozhi (Salt Water Clan) and Nat’oh Taachii’nii (Tobacco of the Red Running into the Water People). Through his clans is how he identifies as a Diné male and how he recognizes the relationships around him. Casey likes to say that he “forever an uncle,” and enjoys spending time with his nieces and nephews. 

Casey worked in various nonprofit organizations (locally, regionally, and nationally) with a strong emphasis on public health. At the same time, he was attending graduate school to expand his knowledge about public health practices. Casey enjoyed the spaces he got to sit in and the constant use of western public health practices through the bodies of work, but a portion of him felt like he was doing more damage than good. Oftentimes, he would find himself educating others about his Diné way of life and hoping they would have some level of understanding of where he was coming from. Through that experience, he realized that he wanted to center his lived experience with his work and with a community that understands where he am coming from.

Currently, Casey is RCLLC's Research and Evaluation Manager and has been with the company over the last three years. Through this position with the company, Casey has the opportunity to work with the Native-led and Native-serving organizations across New Mexico. Casey believes in the work that is happening in the tribal community and CENTER Native is a way to uplift the work

Center Native is taking a new approach to relationship building and ecosystem building for our Indigenous communities. We understand there is no other platform that exists that centers our Native-led and Native-led organizations and consultants. We are creating a space for our people by our people, and we are starting with a small portion of the Indigenous ecosystem. 

There is opportunity to leverage more resources to our Native-led and Native-led organizations. In our experience, we used Center Native by working with philanthropists in our area to do outreach on funding opportunities. Also, we have a "jobs" tab that users can advertise open positions. All of these are free features that users can utilize by being part of the platform. 

RCLLC is open and transparent with the users that we are not using their data without their permission, but we are working to elevate their work via. social media or as a "Featured Native Led Resource." We are changing the narrative that Native-led and Native-led organizations and consultants are the stewards of their own data and they can always "opt out" whenever they see fit.

Ecosystems are networks of organizations, people, resources, opportunities, activity, and other assets that share a common characteristic, and communities are networks of people.” - EcoMap.

Center Native recognizes that people and communities are often not connected to their greater ecosystems, and this can create silos, duplication, and miss opportunities for their growth and well-being. We are growing a tech-enabled solution that Centers ecosystem building and recognizes the importance of people-powered communities and networks as key to organizational and human capacity building. Center Native will build on the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s existing Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Building Playbook, which focuses on the long-term impacts of identifying and addressing barriers to entrepreneurship, more successful entrepreneurs, more thriving economies, and more sustainable communities. In addition to focusing on this entrepreneurial impact, Center Native will also consider the effects on Native-led organizations.

Center Native's impact is directly correlated to our relationship with Native-led and Native-serving organizations and consultants. We envision a platform that those most impacted can create a profile and be connected with philanthropist and additional resources they may or may not need. We can measure these goals by:

1. Community engagement. We have access to multiple Tribal communities in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation, and our future Community Navigator can be more present in the community events. He or she can get real life feedback from the community on how the platform has been beneficial to them. 
2. Partnerships. There is a portion of Center Native that individuals can create "groups."We can measure this impact by seeing how many groups have been created and leaning into the objectives of the groups. 

The core technology is a virtual ecosystem platform that allows organizations and consultants to create their own profiles, be responsible for their own data management, and incorporate their own web design. The platform is designed to have an interactive feature for individuals to be connected on Center Native and display the data/ information they want to showcase. 

For the users to create their own page, they can easily sign up by adding in their: name email, and creating a password. As they are brought onto the platform, users can add: a profile picture, current position, organization they are working with, and a small bio about themselves. Users are also given the opportunity to claim an organization they are working with (approved by Center Native administrator), and they can be in charge of the organization's information too.

Within the data management portion, we get the platform analytics to understand: how many users there are, who are claiming organization, who is posting on the events page, and how many people are advertising jobs on the site. RCLLC also established a list of keywords that resonated with the audience, and it helps the users navigate the platform a little easier. 

Center Native is a user-friendly platform that gives the organizations and consultants the opportunity to create their own profiles but also interact with the ecosystem we are building.

We are currently operating in the southwest of the United States.

RCLLC currently has eight full time staff, two part time contractors, and our relationship with EcoMap. Quarterly, RCLLC teams comes together to strengthen the work within Center Native, but three full-time staff are frequently working on Center Native.

3 years and 10 months

Roanhorse Consulting is 100% led by Indigenous women. We create solutions that represent not only the community we serve but we represent our community we serve. While we are a for-profit company, we center all our work on supporting Indigenous community-led health and wealth projects, strengthening organizational and human infrastructures so those organizations and people can lead their projects. DEI is represented in our work culture and values and is inherently found in our indigenous communities as we see every individual has gifts and knowledge that contribute to inclusivity in the communities we serve and live. Our values are co-creation, courage, curiosity, healing, humor, and truth. The foundations of our company culture are psychological safety, reflection, celebration, unlearning, and self-care.

Business Model for Center Native:

Customer Segments:

• Native-led/ Native Serving organizations and Native consultants/ Native Serving consultants who are willing to showcase their work on the platform. 
• Individuals who are seeking resources in their area and wanting to be part of the ecosystem. 

Value proposition:

• Showcasing the work of Native-led and Native-serving organizations and consultants Center Native platform
• Currently, there is no charge for users 

Key partnership

• Partnerships with Native-led and Native-serving organizations and consultants
• Partnership with EcoMap to maintain the platform
• Partnership with legal representatives
• Partnership with potential funders

Key activities:

• Maintaining platform for users to be engages in the ecosystem
• Develop a more formalize data governance and data sovereignty policy
• Hiring our Community Navigator to be engaged with the communities and uplifting their work

Cost

• Platform and features
• Business plan 
• Employee salaries

During the establishment of Center Native, we received local funding from the New Mexico Foundation, McCune Foundation, and Anchorum Health Foundation. With this funding, it was used to pay for the site and the features. A portion of the money was used to interview organizations and get an understanding on how they were using the site, and we provided them stipends for their time. We are extremely grateful for initial funding because it helped us push the movement for Center Native. 

In April 2022, we also received a small grant from Native Americans in Philanthropy and it helped us pay for another year for the site. This also provided us the leverage to think more about the data sovereignty and data governance piece. 

In 2023, we secured more funding from the Target foundation that helped us pay for two more years of the site and has given up more opportunity to do outreach with our internal projects. 

Now, we believe we can become more financially stable by securing more grants for Center Native. Over the last year, RCLLC has been honing in on mission and vision and how it relates to our strategic plan. We have now created a one pager on Center Native for funding and a powerpoint that is ready to be presented. Our goal is to keep Center Native free for the time being, but we had conversations on membership fees for premium features in the future.