Page 31 - 2024 October

GRANT PROGRAM COMMITTEE MINUTES (9)
First Nation-specific resources to align with new Provincial Grade 10 financial literacy requirements in Saskatchewan and Ontario. Second, it will support MFI’s work with the Sudden Wealth Coalition of financial literacy experts and practitioners to prepare Indigenous youth. Third, the funds will help with digitizing the IYEP offerings, including the development of video and audio content for MFI’s e-learning hub known as the TREES network. Lastly, the support will help MFI partner with First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities to culturally adapt the MFI curriculum. The first year will focus on convening the affected parties and doing research. Year 2 will focus on development and implementation. The third year of the grant will be spent launching the program, taking it to scale and evaluating it. Chloe said MFI plans to secure matching dollars from government and private sources with a goal of achieving sustainability.
The discussion then turned to the need for the Sudden Wealth Coalition. While class-action settlements with tribes in the U.S. totaled $5 billion, settlements in Canada could reach $20 billion for child welfare and another $20 billion to communities. The makeup of MFI’s board was also discussed. Chloe said the board is being restructured to include 2 Indigenous members and an Indigenous advisory council. The first member of the Indigenous Leadership Team, Isaac Wolfe, has come on board.
MFI is working to increase community engagement to find out what issues are most important. The high school program is in 35 schools, and the plan is to expand it to 60. Presently, the students are 70% Indigenous, with the percentages being the highest at on-reserve schools. MFI works closely with other educational nonprofits, such as Indspire and Pathways to Education Canada. Chloe said MFI wants to follow in Pathways’ footsteps, especially when it comes to evaluation. Chloe and Griffin then left the meeting.
During the discussion, it was clear that organizations like MFI and ANSEP have been doing this work for some time while Dalhousie is just beginning. In some ways, JSF has an opportunity to be a catalyst for MFI’s program. The integration of financial literacy into the high school curriculum might be a way to connect the program to JSF’s education-focused mission. There was a request to see the outcomes of The Early Years program that JSF previously funded. Other comments centered around the Sudden Wealth Coalition. In the U.S., some tribes dealt with this by linking payments to educational milestones.
The Committee approved as presented a proposal from MFI for a 1:1 matching grant of $950,000 CAD over 3 years for 3 Indigenous-specific entrepreneurship and financial literacy resources supporting students in middle and high school as well as adult education settings.
f. Linkage report
A report by Sherry on Northern Arizona University (NAU) had been circulated. NAU is near the border of the Navajo Reservation and is near the Hopi, Havasupai and Hualapai reservations. JSF started working with NAU in 2010. NAU is not a TCU or a Native-serving institution, but it does offer programs for tribes. The Native population in Arizona is 4.5% compared to 3.5% of the students at NAU. The numbers declined during the pandemic but are going back up. There are 64 full-time Native students in the business school and 14 part-time students. JSF helped to set up a $2.2 million scholarship endowment that supports 10 to 12 students per year. In addition to supporting scholarships and the endowment, JSF has supported the Center for American Indian Economic Development (CAIED). The JSF funding for all 3 programs totals $1,146,751. Both CAIED and its Seven Generation Money Management financial literacy programs started by Levi Esquerra continue to thrive in his absence. In some ways, Levi is one of JSF’s biggest success stories. The challenge of tracking alums makes it difficult to assess the true impact of NAU’s programs. Without hard data, it is still possible to conclude that NAU links well to JSF’s mission.
Education / A Powerful force for change Page 29