{"id":39222,"date":"2025-09-11T19:45:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T00:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/ndn-collective-cuts-40-percent-of-employees-after-funding-losses\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T19:45:59","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T00:45:59","slug":"ndn-collective-cuts-40-percent-of-employees-after-funding-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/ndn-collective-cuts-40-percent-of-employees-after-funding-losses\/","title":{"rendered":"NDN Collective cuts 40 percent of employees after funding losses"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Credit:<\/a><\/p>\n

Credit: (Photo: NDN Collective)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

RAPID CITY \u2013 Like many other nonprofit organizations across Indian Country, the Rapid City-based NDN Collective has taken a major blow in funding. Despite these setbacks, it isn\u2019t going anywhere, said founder Nick Tilsen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the powers that be would love for an NDN Collective to go away,\u201d Tilsen said. \u201cBut we\u2019re not going anywhere. \u2026 We have a role, and we\u2019re gonna live out that role, and we\u2019re gonna be here for a long time to come in this formation because it\u2019s required for us, and we see that, and we are stepping into that responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

At its peak, NDN Collective\u2019s assets surpassed $50 million, according to the organization\u2019s leaders. This year, its assets declined to roughly $25 million. The significant funding loss, coupled with fewer returning funders, prompted the organization to lay off 40 staff members, accounting for roughly 40 percent of its staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a real grieving for us to have to let go of a significant amount of our comrades, our relatives, the people who have worked alongside us for years,\u201d said Gaby Strong, NDN Collective\u2019s vice president. \u201cWe\u2019re impacted by this preemptive compliance on behalf of philanthropy. Corporations are going to placate and acquiesce to this administration and the narratives that are being pushed right now where DEI has been completely dismantled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many funders worry they will be seen as supporting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion by giving money to organizations like NDN Collective, Strong said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a turbulent time,\u201d said Strong, who is Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota. \u201cSo the pivot was necessary. \u2026 We absolutely needed to do this. The intention is to remain strong and come out stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

This disruption also significantly impacted the grants that NDN Collective disperses annually. In 2024, the organization said it distributed $26.9 million in grants to 315 grantees and $9 million in loans.<\/p>\n

NDN Collective core leaders discussed and announced these changes on August 27 in the most recent episode of the Land-Back For the People Podcast, later clarifying changes in an interview with ICT.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one big thing is it\u2019s not lost on us that we\u2019re in a moment in history in this country and in the world where there is democratic backsliding and the rise of authoritarianism,\u201d Tilsen said. \u201cIt\u2019s a direct threat to tribal sovereignty and Indigenous self-determination.<\/p>\n

Therefore, it\u2019s a direct threat to everything NDN Collective stands for and fights for in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The changes did not affect ongoing disbursements for grants in 2025, including funding for the Collective Abundance Grant, Community Self-Determination Grant and Community Action Fund.<\/p>\n

Nick Tilsen speaks at a rally in Rapid City, South Dakota. (Credit: ICT file photo). Credit: (Photo: Willi White for NDN Collective)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis wasn\u2019t just a response to the political, legal and financial landscape that the country is in,\u201d Tilsen said. \u201cThis is seven years as an organization at NDN Collective and that part of our culture is to reflect at seven years. \u2026 At the same time, there were all these shifts happening: funding was decreasing, federal funding was locked up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moving forward, the organization will have more of a local focus on the Rapid City community, but that doesn\u2019t mean the organization won\u2019t continue to fund the rest of Indian Country and beyond. Core work, including grant making, lending and advocacy, will continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cNDN Collective is continuing to do that work,\u201d Tilsen said. \u201cWe\u2019re just continuing to do that in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Work in the Black Hills region will include efforts to block and prevent mining operations in the Black Hills specifically around Pe\u2019 Sla, support for the He Sapa Restoration Act, the development of a 70-acre affordable housing and community center project in Rapid City and the Bison Homelands Initiative.<\/p>\n

The Bison Homelands Initiative is new, said Wizipan Little Elk Garriot, NDN Collective president. The project would involve creating what could be the single largest buffalo range in North America by working with tribes and individual ranches.<\/p>\n

\u201cNDN has already made investments in buffalo over the past several years and this is a natural outgrowth of that,\u201d said Garriot, Sicangu Lakota. \u201cIt\u2019s a way to really live into all of these initiatives. Very similar work is happening amongst our network all over the country. \u2026 People are talking about food sovereignty and language and housing and development. And so this is the reflection of the larger network here in this part of the country for this region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside of the Black Hills, NDN Collective will launch the Land Back Action Network, which will serve as NDN\u2019s main function for grant making and resourcing. The previous open call method for lending will be phased out, aside from the Collective Abundance Grant, which is open to Oceti Sakowin (Dakota, Lakota and Nakoda) people in South Dakota, Minnesota and North Dakota. It will also serve as a way to connect NDN\u2019s nearly 1,500 community partners, which include tribes, artists and nonprofits across North America.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doubling down and continuing to do place-based work but we\u2019re being very intentional,\u201d Tilsen said. \u201cOur grant making will continue to be national and international as well as local.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post NDN Collective cuts 40 percent of employees after funding losses<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Credit: (Photo: NDN Collective) RAPID CITY \u2013 Like many other nonprofit organizations across Indian Country, the Rapid City-based NDN Collective has taken a major blow in funding. Despite these setbacks, it isn\u2019t going anywhere, said founder Nick Tilsen. \u201cI think that the powers that be would love for an NDN <\/p>\n

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