Native Civic Power Initiative
Building Coordinated Civic Infrastructure Across Indian Country
We’re working together to build civic power across Indian Country
The Native Civic Power Initiative (NCPI) brings together a national, Native-led leadership table committed to strengthening civic participation in Indian Country. Our work grows from longstanding community leadership and supports coordination, communications, and shared infrastructure that help Native communities act with clarity and confidence.
Download our overview to learn more about our approach.
Community Care Strengthens Sovereignty and Civic Power
The Native Civic Power Initiative anchors a coordinated set of activities that rebuild stability, strengthen trusted leadership, and deliver the shared tools Native communities seriously need to protect civic participation. Together we are working to:
Increase coordination across Native civic efforts
so leaders and organizations can align strategy, timing, and resources without duplication and fragmentation
Strengthen trust and shared decision-making
among Native legal advocates, organizers, communications leaders, and policy practitioners working across regions
Raise sufficient funding required
to right-size Native civic work for the threats our communities are facing
A National Bench of Native Civic Leaders
Our work is guided by experienced Native strategists, legal experts, organizers, and national communications leaders who have shaped civic participation across Indian Country for decades.
Ahtza Dawn Chavez
(Diné Nation)
Executive Director, Naeva; power-building strategist who helped pass the New Mexico Voting Rights Act.
Jacqueline De León
(Isleta Pueblo)
Leads the Native voting rights practice at the Native American Rights Fund; advancing litigation, advocacy, research to protect Native voters.
Dawn Knickerbocker
(White Earth Nation, Anishinaabe)
Project Director for NCPI. Dawn brings two decades of experience in philanthropy, civic strategy, and Native-led organizing to the work of building coordinated infrastructure across Indian Country.
Judith LeBlanc
(Caddo Nation)
Executive Director, Native Organizers Alliance; co-led the largest Native Vote effort in history.
Ronnie Jo Horse
(Oglala Lakota Nation; Northern Cheyenne descendant)
Executive Director, Western Native Voice; statewide leader in Native civic engagement.
Alyssa Macy
(Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs)
Policy strategist advancing Native civic participation and environmental justice.
Saundra Mitrovich
(Maidu)
National leader in Native voter education, census, and civic engagement with experience at the National Congress of American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund.
Michelle (Macuar) Sparck
(Qissunamiut Tribe of Chevak, Alaska)
Leader in Native voter education and civic participation with the Alaska Federation of Natives.
Temryss Lane
(Lummi Nation)
Strategist and storyteller dedicated to Indigenous visibility; Executive Vice President, Pyramid Communications.
Together, this leadership table brings deep experience, regional reach, and shared commitment to coordinated civic infrastructure.
Participatory Grantmaking – Coming Soon
We believe funding decisions should reflect the expertise of those closest to the work.
Through a participatory grantmaking model, Native civic leaders help shape funding priorities, review proposals, and guide resource allocation. This model strengthens accountability to the community, increases transparency, and aligns investments with real-time civic conditions. Rather than imposing external frameworks, we build processes that:
- Invite leadership from across the Native civic field
- Reflect lived experience and organizing expertise
- Balance urgency with thoughtful deliberation
- Complement existing Native institutions and networks
Contact Us
If you are organizing, leading, supporting civic participation, or building infrastructure in Indian Country – please connect with us and tell us about your work.
Take Action
Invest in Native-led civic infrastructure. Your support enables relationship-based coordination, shared strategy, and field-ready tools that strengthen participation across Indian Country.
For Donor-Advised Fund Giving: Recommend a grant to Forward Global (EIN: 98-0592591) and designate it to the Native Civic Power Initiative. Your fund’s platform will recognize Forward Global in its system. We are already receiving DAF support and welcome yours.