NUIFC Press Release // The National Urban Indian Family Coalition Launches Thriving Cities Initiative
CONTACT
Rio Fernandes
National Urban Indian Family Coalition
riof@nuifc.org
(206) 913-3676
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2021
Urban Native Organizations Across The Country Host Policy Discussions With Elected Officials To Center The Voices Of Urban Native People
SEATTLE, WA — While Indian Country is receiving historic investments, over 70% of the American Indian and Alaska Native population, which reside in Urban Native communities, will unlikely benefit from this transformational opportunity. The National Urban Indian Family Coalition (NUIFC) and its member organizations are committed to defining a new narrative that will elevate the needs and issues of urban Native people.
The NUIFC and 9 member organizations are launching the Thriving Cities – Indigenous Spaces in the 21st Century series, inviting elected officials and policymakers from around the political spectrum to discuss and organize around the most significant issues facing our country. This speaking series is the inaugural effort to host a unified set of roundtable events focusing on the unique needs and disparities facing our country’s largest segment of the American Indian and Alaska Native population, urban Native people.
Each of the NUIFC member organizations involved in this effort has deep community roots and relationships cultivated over years of supporting, serving, and working with their respective urban Native communities. As long-standing pillars of their communities, these organizations will be able to host fruitful conversations with their elected officials in various community events, panel discussions, and roundtable meetings. Over the next few months, we will see Thriving Cities events happening all around the country, from Portland (OR) to Minneapolis (MN) to Oklahoma City (OK). Each organization will design its event with the community and curate its style, guests, and audience. The series of events will be coordinated under a unified, community-driven Thriving City strategy, which centers urban Native people and asserting their priorities, experiences, and needs into policy decision-making spaces.
We will be seeing Native leaders in Oklahoma City meeting with their Mayor, State Legislators, and County Commissioner to discuss the important issues facing their community. In Oregon, we will be seeing Senators touring affordable housing properties and learning how indigenous values are solving some of the state’s biggest problems. The NUIFC and our partners will be celebrating these events on our social media channels to amplify this inaugural series of civic engagement experiences.
Events will extend through the summer and beyond; the NUIFC will play a supportive and convening role for member organizations by sharing the success and outcomes of the Thriving Cities events. Collectively, NUFIC and project partners are working to ensure that Urban Native people play an integral role in defining a thriving city in the 21st century.
Are you interested in joining Thriving Cities? Looking for more information about it? Please contact the NUIFC’s Civic Engagement Director, Rio Fernandes, at Riof@nuifc.org.
About the National Urban Indian Family Coalition
Founded in 2003, the mission of the NUIFC is to elevate a national voice and sustain Indigenous values and culture through a strong network of urban Indian organizations. The goals of the NUIFC are to build a movement that promotes advocacy, enhances resources, and mobilizes systems to integrate Urban Indian issues in policy discussions and implementation and to sustain indigenous values and culture within urban communities. Learn more by visiting www.nuifc.org.