Our Mission
Advance Native Political Leadership (Advance) is the first and only national Native-led organization working to build a complete ecosystem approach to political power building in Native communities – leadership recruitment and support, civic engagement, data and research, and national coordination. Advance Native Political Leadership Action Fund is our 501(c)(4) project, and is fiscally sponsored by Tides Advocacy.
Our theory of change is that when Native peoples and communities have access to national networks, innovative tools for community organizing, strategies for civic and voter engagement, and pathways to leadership, we inherently advance all of our communities’ health and wellbeing.
Advance Native Political Leadership was founded to address the need for increased Native American representation in elected and appointed office at all levels across the country.
Our Background
In 2015, with funding from the Women Donors Network, we conducted a series of interviews and focus groups to better understand the challenges and barriers to political power and elected leadership for Native Americans, which included:
- Voting rights
- Financial constraints
- Gender issues
- Racism and implicit bias
- Data barriers
- History of relationship with the federal government
- Lack of a national infrastructure
- Lack of research
Advance aims to address these barriers and serve as a political home for Native peoples living on and off tribal lands across the United States.
Read our Report
WHO WE ARE
Advance Native Political Leadership is an Indigenous woman-led organization working to expand equity and representation for Native peoples in U.S. politics. Our team is comprised of staff, co-founders and strategic advisors from across the country.
Meet our Team