Tribal Nations Partnerships
Honoring the sovereignty and self-determination of Native nations with investments in their priorities
Community-Informed Principles
In 2022, Meyer brought together a multigenerational group of community leaders from across the state so we could hear directly from Native people about their priorities, circumstances, needs and dreams. This was an opportunity to deepen our understanding, building on years of prior learning and engagement. We heard from leaders representing rural Tribal and urban Native perspectives. Across a series of four engagements, several key takeaways emerged:
- For Native communities to thrive, they need to be able to create places where their children want to come home.
- For Native people, “community” is more than just humans — it includes mountains, fish, clean water and more.
- The chronic crisis of Native community erasure and invisibility is a barrier that must be dismantled.
- Native nation-building is a foundation for everything else.
Flexible Support to Suit a Range of Needs
One way that we’ve acted on this wisdom is by establishing a dedicated funding stream for the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon. Funds are set aside explicitly to support tribal priorities, regardless of whether they relate to Meyer’s other focus areas. Our partnerships with sovereign nations must go beyond the dollar, though. We need to show up and share space with our tribal partners, to learn from them and amplify their efforts.
We also know that federally recognized tribes represent only a portion of Native people in our state. Oregon has the ninth largest Native population in the country, with members of more than 300 Native nations living here. That is why, alongside this dedicated funding stream for Tribes, we expect that all of Meyer’s program portfolios will also fund work that supports Native communities.
Our Collective Prosperity
Fostering community-based economies that are self-supporting while building wealth for the next generation
Guiding Principles
- Broaden our definition: Recognize that prosperity extends beyond just income and includes wealth and asset-building.
- Build wealth at all levels: Support initiatives that foster individual and community-wide growth.
- Empower the family: Promote self-determination within families to grow and strengthen thriving communities.
Portfolio Themes
- Prosperity is an ecosystem: Building sustainable and resilient local economies requires a multifaceted approach incorporating entrepreneurship, career pathways, and innovation.
- Advocacy is central: Activating and mobilizing community voices is essential to transform policies and systems.
- Housing builds stability: Increasing homeownership opportunities and removing barriers to affordable housing is foundational to communal well-being.
Portfolio Goals + Strategies
- Close the racial wealth gap
- Support thriving families
- Promote housing justice and pathways to homeownership
Goal 1: Close the racial wealth gap
We must address the persistent economic disparities created by institutionalized and systemic injustices. We can create a just economy by increasing income stability, promoting opportunities and advancing pay equity.
Strategy 1: Support coalitions, initiatives and research focused on economic justice and systems change
Strategy 2: Advance equitable opportunities for entrepreneurs
Strategy 3: Promote just employment with access to livable wages, benefits, worker protections and career pathways
Goal 2: Support thriving families
For Oregon’s families to move from surviving to thriving, we must offer holistic support that addresses all aspects of family life.
Strategy 1: Strengthen the care economy
Strategy 2: Promote multigenerational asset-building
Goal 3: Promote housing justice and pathways to homeownership
Homeownership is still one of the most stable and enduring ways to build intergenerational wealth. We must create new opportunities for buyers while addressing the unjust policies and practices owners and renters face.
Strategy 1: Support housing justice through initiatives in tenant rights and anti-displacement efforts
Strategy 2: Increase homeownership through education and asset-building opportunities
Our Resilient Places
Caring for our natural and built environments in ways that are rooted in culture and community
Guiding Principles
- Center frontline voices: Recognize that communities are experts in their own experiences and should be the primary architects of their solutions.
- Shift the narrative: Use education and storytelling to help Oregonians understand and engage with environmental challenges.
- Honor multiple perspectives: Hold space for a range of complex ideas – from restoration to reconnection, action to adaptation.
Portfolio Themes
- Movements require capacity: Strengthening organizing efforts is essential for long-term resilience and systems change.
- Aiming for energy sovereignty: Community control of natural resources, including lands, waters and energy systems, will ensure environmental and economic independence.
- Resilience is attainable: Thriving, regenerative local economies are possible with the right programs and policies.
Portfolio Goals + Strategies
- Affirm BIPOC communities’ relationship to place
- Build power with frontline communities
- Move towards a Just Transition
Goal 1: Affirm BIPOC communities’ relationship to place
Colonization and extractive policies and practices have led to inequitable patterns of land ownership and fractured marginalized communities’ connection to nature. We must prioritize restoration and healing.
Strategy 1: Support Native reclamation and restoration of tribal lands
Strategy 2: Support place-based projects focused on healing, belonging and climate resilience
Goal 2: Build power with frontline communities
BIPOC communities face disproportionate exposure to environmental harms and exploitative working conditions. They need the opportunity, access and support to advocate for their needs.
Strategy 1: Sharpen frontline communities’ advocacy and leadership skills
Strategy 2: Expand organizational capacity for movement building
Goal 3: Move towards a Just Transition
Transition is inevitable, but justice is not. To survive the climate crisis, we must shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative one.
Strategy 1: Drive policy and systems change towards regenerative economies
Strategy 2: Implement community-driven climate solutions
Our Empowered Youth
Providing access to a fully resourced education that helps our youth to realize their highest ambitions
Guiding Principles
- Let community lead: Leverage and uplift justice-oriented voices to ensure resources are equitably distributed.
- Look from cradle to career: Understand that education starts at birth and extends well past graduation. Focus on individual and system-level impacts at all stages of the continuum.
- Commit to transformation: Invest in long-term solutions within communities and support their vision for a student-centered and just educational system.
Portfolio Themes
- The system is broken: We need system-wide, education reform to prepare young people for a changing world.
- Culture matters: Culturally-relevant and culturally-affirming programs and policies are central to student success.
- Diverse leaders are essential: BIPOC educators, leaders and advocates need specific support and additional capacity to work sustainably.
Portfolio Goals + Strategies
- Build power for a thriving education
- Close the opportunity gap for our most marginalized students
- Cultivate educators and decision-makers that reflect our diverse youth
Goal 1: Build power for a thriving education
Oregon invests billions of dollars into its schools. For these resources to be equitably invested, we need community members at the table to guide where they go.
Strategy 1: Strengthen community capacity to engage in systems and policy change for educational justice
Strategy 2: Ensure equitable implementation of educational policies and practices
Goal 2: Close the opportunity gap for our most marginalized students
Until schools can fully meet the needs of our most vulnerable students and families, we must invest in programs, efforts and organizations working to ensure they thrive.
Strategy 1: Uplift promising educational models that repair harm, create belonging and address educational gaps
Strategy 2: Strengthening transitions from cradle to career so youth and families can thrive
Goal 3: Cultivate educators and decision-makers that reflect our diverse youth
While a growing percentage of Oregon’s students are students of color, far fewer of the state's educators are diverse. Educational equity requires that our educators and school leaders reflect the communities they serve.
Strategy 1: Invest in growing and retaining educators of color who center justice
Strategy 2: Increase leadership opportunities for youth and community to advocate for educational justice
Oregon Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative
The Oregon Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative is a coordinated and collaborative funding approach created to support the local nonprofits across our state that respond to the needs of immigrants and refugees. The partners include Oregon Community Foundation, The Collins Foundation and Meyer Memorial Trust.
Our Application Process: “No Wrong Door”
The grant process for this collaborative is open and ongoing. There is “no wrong door” for you to enter. We encourage nonprofit and community groups to reach out to any of the representatives from the participating funders by email. We communicate and share information and documents with each other. We will also coordinate our efforts when we communicate or request information from community groups to lessen the burden of answering similar questions for multiple people.
The funders in this collaborative share a common application form. The application form can be filled out via Word Doc or Fillable PDF.
Most funding from this program is made on a rolling basis, the OIRFC does not have an established grants cycle. The intent is to offer a nimble and responsive way that reduces the wait time for grantees. Once an application is received, you can generally expect to hear back from us within two months. If we have additional clarifying questions someone from the collaborative will contact you.
