Overview

Over the past five years, the National Urban Indian Family Coalition has been building urban Native civic engagement infrastructure by investing in the capacity of our member organizations of American Indian-led, community-based nonprofit organizations located in the largest Native communities in the country. These investments have allowed these critically important organizations to foster local community capacity to engage in civic and electoral work and build a foundation for independent political and policy influence. The NUIFC and our member organizations recognize that in order to transform and improve the lives of our urban Native communities that we must become dedicated to increasing civic participation and work towards policies that level the playing field, provide equitable redistribution of resources and recognize that we all need a government that works for all citizens.

In 2018, NUIFC and its members spearheaded a groundbreaking initiative to mobilize the American Indian and Alaska Native populations residing off-reservation. These populations represent over 70% of the total AI/AN population and are usually overlooked by conventional voter turnout campaigns. In the last five years, this initiative has empowered these Native communities to have a significant impact on multiple electoral outcomes.

We are thrilled to share the five-year Democracy is Indigenous Native Vote Report, which celebrates the impact of NUIFC’s Native civic and electoral work. The report showcases the results of our efforts in the last three major elections and Census, explains our ambitious plan behind the creation of our member cohort and its rapid growth, and highlights a few of the organizations that demonstrate the power of these investments.