NT-2024-AR - Flipbook - Page 37
Frank Brown (Heiltsuk) and Valérie Courtois (Innu)
Lummi Nation, North America | Indigenous Leadership Initiative
through direct collaboration with the Qqs
Projects Society, a Heiltsuk-led organization
dedicated to the well-being of Heiltsuk youth,
culture, and environment. Building on years
of partnership, Nia Tero is working alongside
Heiltsuk leadership to explore enterprise-level
investments that align with the Nation’s longterm vision of sovereignty and stewardship.
These discussions have centered on fostering
Heiltsuk-led enterprises that strengthen local
economies while integrating innovative and
regenerative business models.
As a coastal Nation with heavy ties to
marine stewardship, Heiltsuk leaders
continue advancing efforts to protect and
manage their territories despite facing
challenges relating to extractive industries
and climate change. By supporting initiatives
promoting Heiltsuk governance over natural
resources, we are working to ensure their
guardianship is recognized and upheld.
As we move forward, Nia Tero remains
dedicated to amplifying local leadership,
supporting economic pathways that align
with Heiltsuk values, and promoting
cultural-community vitality.
Through the Indigenous Leadership
Initiative (ILI)’s work, a historic agreement
providing $375 million to fund one of the
largest Indigenous-led land conservation
initiatives in the world was signed by 22
First Nations governments, Canada, the
Annual Report 2024
Ramona Croff (Blackfoot) dancing | Blackfoot Confederacy,
North America | Mariah Gladstone (Blackfoot, Tsalagi)
Government of the Northwest Territories,
and private donors. The Northwest Territories
initiative, NWT: Our Land for the Future, will
protect lands, enhance climate resilience, and
create jobs, supporting cultural and economic
opportunities while honoring Indigenous
self-determination. Canada has committed
monetary support to leverage government
and use $75 million in private funding to
aid in Indigenous conservation through the
Project Finance for Permanence model,
which ensures funding for community-led
protected areas and stewardship programs,
to contribute to the country's goals of
conserving 30% of lands and waters by 2030.
Nia Tero provided grant assistance to the ILI,
which enabled First Nations communities to
create the model.
Aligning with our mission of reciprocity
and responsibility since 2019, Nia Tero has
provided grants to the Puget Sound region,
where our organization is headquartered,
supporting Native communities and
learning how to best steward these lands in
partnership with their original caretakers. In
five years, we have distributed $723,000 to
Indigenous organizations and their allies in
the region, including support to more than
25 Pacific Northwest Art Fellows. In 2024,
we refined our grant process for the region,
ensuring that we are a good neighbor to the
Coast Salish Peoples whose homelands and
waters we gather, work, and live.
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