Collaborative Strategies for Partnering with Native American Workforce Programs

00:02:44.000 –> 00:02:50.000

just as many Navajo off the reservation than were being served on the reservation so

00:02:50.000 –> 00:02:57.000

us being able to facilitate that collaboration was a strategic opportunity

00:02:57.000 –> 00:03:03.000

for the Navajo Workforce Department, as well as that workforce board that we’re serving Navajo

00:03:03.000 –> 00:03:09.000

off the reservation. And I’ll talk a little bit about just some of the strategies and opportunities and

00:03:09.000 –> 00:03:14.000

how we can work with some of our native participants as well.

00:03:14.000 –> 00:03:21.000

So just to get going here. So I’ll just give an overview, just some background and

00:03:21.000 –> 00:03:27.000

And then I’ll just talk about just some of the ways that we can partner, some of the challenges and some of the strategies

00:03:27.000 –> 00:03:35.000

And I’ll just talk about a couple examples that another member of our team actually shared in a presentation recently.

00:03:35.000 –> 00:03:42.000

about some of our grantees. We provide grants to workforce development organizations

00:03:42.000 –> 00:03:47.000

And then just some opportunity for us to discuss.

00:03:47.000 –> 00:03:53.000

So the first thing, you know, really, you know, when we’re dealing with tribal communities

00:03:53.000 –> 00:03:58.000

you know we’re often we’re dealing with nations within a nation you know

00:03:58.000 –> 00:04:03.000

And this includes the treatment of these nations in this country

00:04:03.000 –> 00:04:10.000

You know, just presenting unique challenges. And many of those challenges are based on the history

00:04:10.000 –> 00:04:12.000

in the context of how

00:04:12.000 –> 00:04:17.000

you know how we this country has interacted with Native Americans throughout this country.

00:04:17.000 –> 00:04:24.000

And the biggest thing to understand, you know, we have tribes which have tribal governments and

00:04:24.000 –> 00:04:30.000

And they are sovereign. They’re their own nations. They have their own governments, boards and

00:04:30.000 –> 00:04:32.000

processes and structures

00:04:32.000 –> 00:04:38.000

But we also have native nonprofits and we also have something that we call

00:04:38.000 –> 00:04:42.000

consortia and that’s like some of these tribes are small

00:04:42.000 –> 00:04:46.000

But they want to serve their communities, but they may not

00:04:46.000 –> 00:04:56.000

you know have enough either members or regional representation to really apply for

00:04:56.000 –> 00:05:03.000

some of the federal programs or even some of the grants that are out there. So they bind together in these consortia

00:05:03.000 –> 00:05:08.000

And are able to apply for different things.

00:05:08.000 –> 00:05:12.000

But really, you know, when we’re dealing with

00:05:12.000 –> 00:05:15.000

unique individuals. And within those unique individuals

00:05:15.000 –> 00:05:22.000

They are unique nations. So one, you know, Navajo is not the same as Chickasaw is not the same.

00:05:22.000 –> 00:05:26.000

As any other nation.

00:05:26.000 –> 00:05:30.000

So there are 574

00:05:30.000 –> 00:05:34.000

federally recognized tribes in our country

00:05:34.000 –> 00:05:37.000

And approximately 229 of those are located

00:05:37.000 –> 00:05:39.000

In Alaska alone.

00:05:39.000 –> 00:05:44.000

And 345 of those are in 35 other states.

00:05:44.000 –> 00:05:51.000

But the idea is that these are sovereign entities and we must also understand that the traditions in each of these entities are unique.

00:05:51.000 –> 00:05:58.000

to the people of each individual nation.

00:05:58.000 –> 00:06:05.000

So there are additionally, there are 63 state recognized tribes located in 11 states.

00:06:05.000 –> 00:06:10.000

And so there’s a distinct difference between a state recognized tribe and a

00:06:10.000 –> 00:06:12.000

federally recognized tribe

00:06:12.000 –> 00:06:19.000

And I bring that to head here in this discussion basically because

00:06:19.000 –> 00:06:22.000

Many of those

00:06:22.000 –> 00:06:25.000

differences as far as designation

00:06:25.000 –> 00:06:30.000

allows these organizations to apply for different funding streams.

00:06:30.000 –> 00:06:35.000

So federally recognized tribes are a lot of are eligible for a unique set of

00:06:35.000 –> 00:06:43.000

federal funding and state records, many state recognized tribes may also be eligible for federal funding.

00:06:43.000 –> 00:06:48.000

But in many of our cases, we’re serving participants

00:06:48.000 –> 00:06:51.000

So, you know, that’s really kind of unique.

00:06:51.000 –> 00:06:53.000

And, um.

00:06:53.000 –> 00:06:59.000

unique in the fact that if we’re providing direct services to

00:06:59.000 –> 00:07:02.000

a Native American

00:07:02.000 –> 00:07:09.000

They can qualify for, I saw some folks have grants from HHS and I saw some child support, which HHS does a lot of things.

00:07:09.000 –> 00:07:13.000

But the point is, is that those participants

00:07:13.000 –> 00:07:20.000

We can serve them because they are American citizens, but we can also serve them because

00:07:20.000 –> 00:07:27.000

They’re native and perhaps there’s some opportunities for reaching out to some of these tribal organizations

00:07:27.000 –> 00:07:33.000

And it may not be the tribal organization that that participant may be associated with. So you may be serving

00:07:33.000 –> 00:07:39.000

You know, a tribal member of an Alaska tribe

00:07:39.000 –> 00:07:42.000

but they’re in Arizona.

00:07:42.000 –> 00:07:50.000

So maybe you don’t have to go to Alaska to see one of those Alaska tribes will help you support this participant.

00:07:50.000 –> 00:07:54.000

There may be an opportunity to reach out to a dozen or so

00:07:54.000 –> 00:08:03.000

Native American organizations that are already in that area. So, you know, and providing more support. But I’ll talk a little bit about that.

00:08:03.000 –> 00:08:08.000

But just this quote here from one of our previous presidents that, you know.

00:08:08.000 –> 00:08:09.000

there’s there’s a poverty rate, unemployment rate

00:08:09.000 –> 00:08:12.000

Maybe the program.

00:08:12.000 –> 00:08:16.000

I’m sorry, on some of our reservations that are

00:08:16.000 –> 00:08:21.000

that are well elevated. And this is a challenge that many of our

00:08:21.000 –> 00:08:26.000

tribal-based organizations are dealing with.

00:08:26.000 –> 00:08:31.000

You know, when you just look at just some of the jobless and unemployment rates for Native Americans.

00:08:31.000 –> 00:08:34.000

You know, just taking the pandemic you know

00:08:34.000 –> 00:08:39.000

the Native American unemployment rate peaked at 28% in April.

00:08:39.000 –> 00:08:47.000

of 2020. And that was pretty much double, double any other national average that we have

00:08:47.000 –> 00:08:56.000

And these were not just on reservations, but perhaps off reservations as well.

00:08:56.000 –> 00:09:02.000

you know they so it’s a challenge for them to get integrated into the workforce.

00:09:02.000 –> 00:09:08.000

And even if we drill down into those numbers, we can see just from a ratio, a demographic

00:09:08.000 –> 00:09:14.000

perspective that, you know, our tribal organizations, our Native American workforce participants

00:09:14.000 –> 00:09:17.000

are experiencing that black line there

00:09:17.000 –> 00:09:19.000

a significant

00:09:19.000 –> 00:09:24.000

elevated unemployment rate and compared to all other races.

00:09:24.000 –> 00:09:28.000

And that’s an alarming thing to see.

00:09:28.000 –> 00:09:30.000

So we’re really dealing with

00:09:30.000 –> 00:09:34.000

the most impacted demographic in this country

00:09:34.000 –> 00:09:38.000

And I’m just showing the unemployment rates, but there’s also health

00:09:38.000 –> 00:09:42.000

Substance abuse, homelessness, mental health.

00:09:42.000 –> 00:09:44.000

All of these…

00:09:44.000 –> 00:09:50.000

factors are well elevated into the native communities.

00:09:50.000 –> 00:09:54.000

And I talk about just like some of the um

00:09:54.000 –> 00:09:56.000

opportunities for

00:09:56.000 –> 00:10:02.000

understanding these demographics in the context that there are a lot of

00:10:02.000 –> 00:10:06.000

opportunities for partnering with other organizations.

00:10:06.000 –> 00:10:12.000

Now here, I’m just listing that there’s this program, and I’ll talk a little bit about it

00:10:12.000 –> 00:10:15.000

It’s called the Public Law 477 program

00:10:15.000 –> 00:10:20.000

And there are 12 different federal agencies that allow

00:10:20.000 –> 00:10:22.000

federally recognized tribes

00:10:22.000 –> 00:10:29.000

to actually pull their money over from, say, HHS or

00:10:29.000 –> 00:10:39.000

or Department of Transportation or Veteran Affairs, they can get a grant from these organizations and carry their money over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs

00:10:39.000 –> 00:10:43.000

And put all that money in one bucket and actually

00:10:43.000 –> 00:10:50.000

When they put the money in that bucket, it eliminates the color of that money, including many of the restrictions for using those funds.

00:10:50.000 –> 00:10:55.000

So this slide just shows this one program and lists the federal agencies

00:10:55.000 –> 00:10:58.000

participating in that program

00:10:58.000 –> 00:11:05.000

With about 315 million in funding between these federal agencies that are distributed to these

00:11:05.000 –> 00:11:07.000

federally recognized tribes that participate

00:11:07.000 –> 00:11:13.000

in this funding program. And these funds are to support workforce development, not just

00:11:13.000 –> 00:11:19.000

a training program or getting a welder certificate or a CDL license

00:11:19.000 –> 00:11:22.000

It’s really a holistic opportunity

00:11:22.000 –> 00:11:25.000

to support these workforce participants

00:11:25.000 –> 00:11:28.000

from childcare to

00:11:28.000 –> 00:11:36.000

transportation to, I’ll give an example later, one example I didn’t include in this slide deck, as again, we were at the Navajo

00:11:36.000 –> 00:11:43.000

reservation and one of their center managers just discussed a participant

00:11:43.000 –> 00:11:48.000

who was homeless, staying with a relative or friend

00:11:48.000 –> 00:11:52.000

And walking four or five miles to a work site.

00:11:52.000 –> 00:11:58.000

Every day, showing up on time. And the center manager actually took his own funds

00:11:58.000 –> 00:12:03.000

and purchase that person a bicycle to ride his bike to work.

00:12:03.000 –> 00:12:09.000

And the person didn’t know he could have used the funds that we provide

00:12:09.000 –> 00:12:13.000

to purchase that bike because it’s a transportation to get to the work site.

00:12:13.000 –> 00:12:18.000

And so there’s some of these flexibilities that we all may not be aware of.

00:12:18.000 –> 00:12:20.000

that we can take advantage of.

00:12:20.000 –> 00:12:26.000

But just on this slide, you see some of those bars representing funding amounts you know and

00:12:26.000 –> 00:12:28.000

And it’s really just showing you the scale

00:12:28.000 –> 00:12:39.000

And over on the left, the smallest one is actually for this program is the funding that our team at DOL provides in this program.

00:12:39.000 –> 00:12:48.000

And you can see we’re just a small amount in that program, but that biggest bar is HHS who provides just a lot of funding to tribes.

00:12:48.000 –> 00:12:54.000

But this is an opportunity for us to partner and seeing these federal agencies just gives us a cue

00:12:54.000 –> 00:12:58.000

on where we can look to facilitate some of those partnerships.

00:12:58.000 –> 00:13:02.000

with bringing more diversity to what we’re doing.

00:13:02.000 –> 00:13:08.000

So just as far as my team, we are the division of Indian and Native American programs.

00:13:08.000 –> 00:13:14.000

And we’re eight participants on our team.

00:13:14.000 –> 00:13:18.000

And the majority of our team, seven of those eight, well, six of those eight

00:13:18.000 –> 00:13:25.000

And we’re actually filling a position right now. Six of those eight are enrolled tribal members. So these are folks that

00:13:25.000 –> 00:13:29.000

Our team actually grew up on a reservation, participated in this

00:13:29.000 –> 00:13:36.000

program per se, worked at a grantee organization that serves Native Americans.

00:13:36.000 –> 00:13:41.000

you know, our team is really a resource that you can reach out to if you have questions about

00:13:41.000 –> 00:13:47.000

how to integrate and where to look and how to bring this type of diversity to some of your efforts.

00:13:47.000 –> 00:13:54.000

But we do serve as federal project officers. So we’re actually in the field overseeing these grants.

00:13:54.000 –> 00:14:03.000

We do, you know, we measure performance outcomes from our grantees. We distribute the funding. We help

00:14:03.000 –> 00:14:08.000

implement or give advice to different parties on

00:14:08.000 –> 00:14:14.000

how to improve the law, which is the workforce innovation opportunity act as well

00:14:14.000 –> 00:14:20.000

setting a national policy and the code of federal regulations, which actually codifies the law into

00:14:20.000 –> 00:14:22.000

things that we can implement.

00:14:22.000 –> 00:14:29.000

But we also, our team manages a federal advisory committee. And if you’re not familiar with a federal advisory committee.

00:14:29.000 –> 00:14:33.000

This is a group of folks in law

00:14:33.000 –> 00:14:37.000

that have been commissioned to come together to actually

00:14:37.000 –> 00:14:41.000

strategize and develop workforce

00:14:41.000 –> 00:14:49.000

strategies to help the native workforce. And we convened Native American Employment Training Council at least twice a year

00:14:49.000 –> 00:14:55.000

And they actually provide recommendations to the Department of Labor secretary

00:14:55.000 –> 00:14:57.000

on how to improve the program

00:14:57.000 –> 00:15:01.000

And they’ve also been called on in different situations to

00:15:01.000 –> 00:15:08.000

to provide some advice as far as how to support the native workforce better.

00:15:08.000 –> 00:15:17.000

Now, within that workforce innovation and Opportunity Act, our section is Section 166 and it’s called the Indian and Native American Program.

00:15:17.000 –> 00:15:20.000

And it’s really focused on

00:15:20.000 –> 00:15:24.000

targeting funding to support organizations to

00:15:24.000 –> 00:15:29.000

develop native participants. So we provide funding to the organizations

00:15:29.000 –> 00:15:32.000

who actually implement on the ground

00:15:32.000 –> 00:15:35.000

the support needs of those participants.

00:15:35.000 –> 00:15:37.000

And…

00:15:37.000 –> 00:15:43.000

We do this, let’s see on this slide, we’ve

00:15:43.000 –> 00:15:46.000

All of our grantees are

00:15:46.000 –> 00:15:52.000

either American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian organizations.

00:15:52.000 –> 00:15:55.000

who are intimate and understanding

00:15:55.000 –> 00:15:57.000

the challenges of their participants.

00:15:57.000 –> 00:16:03.000

And they’re doing their work in a culturally appropriate manner. And that means something.

00:16:03.000 –> 00:16:09.000

And we all work with diverse workforces and perhaps we’ve never worked with a native workforce but

00:16:09.000 –> 00:16:16.000

I’ll talk a little bit about some of those challenges and barriers there, but it really takes some skill and understanding and how to

00:16:16.000 –> 00:16:23.000

support many of these participants who are dealing with unique challenges. Some of the challenges aren’t unique, substance abuse, homelessness.

00:16:23.000 –> 00:16:28.000

childcare needs, but then there’s some culturally sensitive items that really

00:16:28.000 –> 00:16:30.000

that really sets challenges.

00:16:30.000 –> 00:16:38.000

But in the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, our goals are to increase employment, increase occupational skill attainment, improve the quality of the workforce.

00:16:38.000 –> 00:16:41.000

Reduce dependency on public assistance.

00:16:41.000 –> 00:16:44.000

and enhance productivity and competitiveness

00:16:44.000 –> 00:16:48.000

And the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, which many of you

00:16:48.000 –> 00:16:52.000

are receiving funds in different programs

00:16:52.000 –> 00:16:58.000

you may know that it has these performance measures, which are these accountability

00:16:58.000 –> 00:17:01.000

strategies to figure out whether things are working.

00:17:01.000 –> 00:17:08.000

And I’ll talk a little bit in a second about our program. We actually have two sets of

00:17:08.000 –> 00:17:15.000

pots of funding and one, and I’ll talk about it, but one is applicable to this first set on the left side where you see the five

00:17:15.000 –> 00:17:17.000

We owe performance measures

00:17:17.000 –> 00:17:24.000

Which include educational training and how are people being employed and

00:17:24.000 –> 00:17:30.000

how long they’re being employed, whether they’re getting credentials or whether there’s just a measurable

00:17:30.000 –> 00:17:33.000

change in their skills.

00:17:33.000 –> 00:17:41.000

And then our program has under that federal advisory committee called the Native American Employment Training Council.

00:17:41.000 –> 00:17:44.000

They’ve actually identified some additional measures that

00:17:44.000 –> 00:17:50.000

that perhaps are good for identifying whether or not investments in

00:17:50.000 –> 00:17:56.000

and native youth are successful. And you see those there on this slide.

00:17:56.000 –> 00:18:01.000

So we have our team, the Division of Indian and Native American Programs, we actually

00:18:01.000 –> 00:18:05.000

provide grants to about 166

00:18:05.000 –> 00:18:07.000

organizations across the country.

00:18:07.000 –> 00:18:12.000

And you see there on the map, you know, just some dots that show

00:18:12.000 –> 00:18:15.000

where many of our organizations are.

00:18:15.000 –> 00:18:19.000

And we distribute our funding

00:18:19.000 –> 00:18:25.000

on a four-year cycle. So every four years we put out a funding opportunity announcement for these

00:18:25.000 –> 00:18:29.000

these indian organizations native

00:18:29.000 –> 00:18:33.000

Alaska organization or Hawaiian organizations to apply for these funding.

00:18:33.000 –> 00:18:36.000

And then we distribute those

00:18:36.000 –> 00:18:39.000

the amounts that they are awarded on an annual basis.

00:18:39.000 –> 00:18:42.000

And so, um.

00:18:42.000 –> 00:18:45.000

as I talked earlier about that public law 477

00:18:45.000 –> 00:18:49.000

71 of our grantees are actually

00:18:49.000 –> 00:18:56.000

taking the money that we award them over to BIA and putting it into that pot and getting some

00:18:56.000 –> 00:18:59.000

some very unique results that may not be accessible to non

00:18:59.000 –> 00:19:09.000

to programs that don’t participate in that because of some of the restrictions, as well as the administrative oversight. So many of those tribes, now that their funding is with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

00:19:09.000 –> 00:19:15.000

they report to the Bureau of Indian Affairs rather than the 15 different agencies

00:19:15.000 –> 00:19:20.000

that they would have had to report to if they were getting funding from all those agencies.

00:19:20.000 –> 00:19:31.000

So it’s a strategic opportunity for them to participate in that program. So I mentioned that we award a funding announcement every four years, but we also put out sort of some guidance on

00:19:31.000 –> 00:19:35.000

how to implement the program annually, which we call our

00:19:35.000 –> 00:19:42.000

training, advisory, guidance letters, and many of you are familiar with that with some of the other programs that you participate in, such as the

00:19:42.000 –> 00:19:49.000

national farm workers or the other programs that fall under the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act.

00:19:49.000 –> 00:19:54.000

But just some of the snapshot of some of the outcomes that from our program.

00:19:54.000 –> 00:19:59.000

We award about 60 million a year. Some of those funds are transferred over to BIA.

00:19:59.000 –> 00:20:04.000

But about 45 million is what we’re tracking as far as our performance outcomes.

00:20:04.000 –> 00:20:11.000

And on this slide, just showing you that we have about a 98, what we call our comprehensive services program, which

00:20:11.000 –> 00:20:13.000

can serve adults and youth.

00:20:13.000 –> 00:20:17.000

And the average size of our grants are about 230,000.

00:20:17.000 –> 00:20:26.000

And as you can see on that slide on the lower left, that 50% of our grantees are tribes and 39% of nonprofit organizations that are

00:20:26.000 –> 00:20:30.000

run by an enrolled tribal person.

00:20:30.000 –> 00:20:40.000

And then we have about 11% of tribal consortia. And under our program in the last year, we served about 10,000. Our grantees served about 10,000

00:20:40.000 –> 00:20:47.000

participants and then there’s just a little demographic about the enrollment you can see that

00:20:47.000 –> 00:20:50.000

Most of the participants in these programs are 25

00:20:50.000 –> 00:20:56.000

to 54 years of age. But then there’s, you know, we serve a lot of youth in the program as well.

00:20:56.000 –> 00:21:02.000

And these funds, you know, they’re just regarding the youth is year-round activities

00:21:02.000 –> 00:21:05.000

And one thing I want to point out there is that

00:21:05.000 –> 00:21:09.000

Here’s a 10,000 member workforce.

00:21:09.000 –> 00:21:12.000

that has had investments over the past year

00:21:12.000 –> 00:21:15.000

that are ready to serve in different programs.

00:21:15.000 –> 00:21:19.000

And that’s a tremendous opportunity. I was speaking with Kim earlier that

00:21:19.000 –> 00:21:23.000

You know, they’re like highway projects on a reservation.

00:21:23.000 –> 00:21:28.000

And so if there’s a highway project within the nation of

00:21:28.000 –> 00:21:31.000

of a sovereign organization

00:21:31.000 –> 00:21:35.000

then their workforce participants that are standing ready

00:21:35.000 –> 00:21:39.000

to participate in that construction project and that workforce.

00:21:39.000 –> 00:21:41.000

And so is that happening?

00:21:41.000 –> 00:21:43.000

Maybe some of you are some of you

00:21:43.000 –> 00:21:48.000

aware of projects, you know, in Oregon or Denver you know that so

00:21:48.000 –> 00:21:56.000

Was it South Dakota or New Mexico, perhaps, you know, there isn’t participation on those workforce that’s available.

00:21:56.000 –> 00:22:04.000

And perhaps some of these contractors are reaching out to your organizations looking to bring some diversity under some of the

00:22:04.000 –> 00:22:08.000

requirements of some of their contracts. And here’s an opportunity for you

00:22:08.000 –> 00:22:15.000

to collaborate and support some of these workforce participants to engage in those activities.

00:22:15.000 –> 00:22:19.000

But just further on that last slide.

00:22:19.000 –> 00:22:21.000

We’re serving about

00:22:21.000 –> 00:22:25.000

10,000 participants there.

00:22:25.000 –> 00:22:30.000

And then just some demographics on our youth program.

00:22:30.000 –> 00:22:43.000

So just more on our comprehensive services program, about 19,000 services, total services provided, and these can range from career services to training services.

00:22:43.000 –> 00:22:48.000

to supportive services, as I mentioned, our funds that support workforce development

00:22:48.000 –> 00:22:56.000

They can support anything from meals for those folks to eat while they’re at work, equipment that they need to

00:22:56.000 –> 00:23:02.000

purchase to be a welder, boots and shields or even transportation, you know.

00:23:02.000 –> 00:23:06.000

give money cards so that they can give money

00:23:06.000 –> 00:23:09.000

you know, catch Uber, you know, things of those nature.

00:23:09.000 –> 00:23:12.000

So 6,000 of those participants actually

00:23:12.000 –> 00:23:17.000

went through an entire cycle of supportive services from our grantees

00:23:17.000 –> 00:23:23.000

And 65% of those ended up getting jobs and kept jobs within the second

00:23:23.000 –> 00:23:27.000

quarter after exit. So, you know, almost six months, they retained the job.

00:23:27.000 –> 00:23:33.000

And then the median earnings, then this is monthly, was about $6,000.

00:23:33.000 –> 00:23:38.000

And then further in the fourth quarter after exit.

00:23:38.000 –> 00:23:45.000

And this is kind of, you know, of the 65% that were employed in the second quarter that were still employed after second quarter.

00:23:45.000 –> 00:23:50.000

After exiting the program from our grantees, 68% of those were still employed.

00:23:50.000 –> 00:23:53.000

And there was a 45%.

00:23:53.000 –> 00:23:59.000

attainment of a credential. And this could be a high school diploma, it could be a welding certificate or

00:23:59.000 –> 00:24:03.000

or even a CDL license. So some type of credential.

00:24:03.000 –> 00:24:10.000

And then just a little peek at our supplemental youth services program. So there’s additional pot of funding, about 14 million that we receive.

00:24:10.000 –> 00:24:12.000

And about…

00:24:12.000 –> 00:24:18.000

Six million of that goes over to the BIA under those federally recognized tribes who are able

00:24:18.000 –> 00:24:22.000

co-mingle their funding in that pot and use it

00:24:22.000 –> 00:24:26.000

to any purposes that they see fit to support their support support their

00:24:26.000 –> 00:24:30.000

their national interests and their tribal organizations

00:24:30.000 –> 00:24:39.000

But those 65 grantees actually receive our supplemental youth funding and receive that funding, you have to be a federally recognized tribe just

00:24:39.000 –> 00:24:42.000

point that out. 45

00:24:42.000 –> 00:24:45.000

$1,000 is the medium grant for the supplemental youth funding.

00:24:45.000 –> 00:24:47.000

And about 5,000

00:24:47.000 –> 00:24:54.000

youth were actually served under those funds. And you can see some demographics on who they were

00:24:54.000 –> 00:24:57.000

mainly high school, pre-high school participants

00:24:57.000 –> 00:25:00.000

And so…

00:25:00.000 –> 00:25:08.000

And let me skip that slide. So just some of the services that were provided to some of our youth that I showed you on that last slide.

00:25:08.000 –> 00:25:11.000

These funds, in addition to actually

00:25:11.000 –> 00:25:16.000

servicing these folks for mental health or childcare.

00:25:16.000 –> 00:25:21.000

Our funds can actually be used to sponsor these participants

00:25:21.000 –> 00:25:27.000

and a work experience that we call WIC. So we can actually pay their salary for them to go out to a work site

00:25:27.000 –> 00:25:29.000

So an employer doesn’t have the burden

00:25:29.000 –> 00:25:34.000

take on that burden of funding, you know, a work a worker

00:25:34.000 –> 00:25:41.000

In a temporary basis where they where they’re looking to explore whether or not they should actually hire this person.

00:25:41.000 –> 00:25:46.000

So some of these funds, most of our youth funds were in this WEX program.

00:25:46.000 –> 00:25:51.000

career readiness, helping them develop a plan or strategy, counseling

00:25:51.000 –> 00:25:54.000

Supportive services, as I mentioned, like food or

00:25:54.000 –> 00:25:57.000

or helping them in different ways.

00:25:57.000 –> 00:26:03.000

So this is transportation, leadership development, and financial literacy. There’s some of the areas

00:26:03.000 –> 00:26:10.000

Now, digging into the data even further, just looking at where have many of the participants that I showed you been

00:26:10.000 –> 00:26:13.000

steer towards or where’s their interest been?

00:26:13.000 –> 00:26:19.000

And the majority, and this isn’t a lot of the labor market information data that many of you may be viewing.

00:26:19.000 –> 00:26:22.000

The medical field, nursing.

00:26:22.000 –> 00:26:27.000

Truck drivers, medical assistants, so that’s the primary areas here shown here

00:26:27.000 –> 00:26:32.000

where many of our Native American participants are going into the fields.

00:26:32.000 –> 00:26:38.000

And this is not a restriction. This is just what we found and what we’ve tracked.

00:26:38.000 –> 00:26:41.000

And of course, there are other areas

00:26:41.000 –> 00:26:44.000

You know, the Navajo Nation has a

00:26:44.000 –> 00:26:50.000

has their own utility company that actually has an apprenticeship program. So they have folks going through

00:26:50.000 –> 00:26:53.000

multiple areas, you know, financial.

00:26:53.000 –> 00:26:56.000

You know, different types of uh with the um

00:26:56.000 –> 00:27:01.000

solar panels and different things like that so so

00:27:01.000 –> 00:27:08.000

The items on this slide aren’t a restriction, but just what we saw as some of the primary areas.

00:27:08.000 –> 00:27:15.000

So when we talk about our native communities, participants, and even our grantees, they all have diverse needs and

00:27:15.000 –> 00:27:18.000

in context that

00:27:18.000 –> 00:27:21.000

Deepening on whether they are in

00:27:21.000 –> 00:27:25.000

Depending on whether they are an urban or a reservation

00:27:25.000 –> 00:27:31.000

base settings. And this is a unique challenge because like our team, we serve nonprofits as well as

00:27:31.000 –> 00:27:37.000

you know, governmental organizations within these tribal nations. So, you know, in urban areas

00:27:37.000 –> 00:27:40.000

You know, Native Americans are often navigating

00:27:40.000 –> 00:27:51.000

the challenge of maintaining their cultural identity while integrating into the mainstream society. And although they may have better access to resources like education and healthcare.

00:27:51.000 –> 00:27:56.000

Often they still face significant disparities.

00:27:56.000 –> 00:28:02.000

And that could range from just discrimination or, you know, just some of the modalities that they’re bringing from

00:28:02.000 –> 00:28:12.000

perhaps where they weren’t in the past and just meetings, you know, understanding some of those demographics that are impacting Native communities from

00:28:12.000 –> 00:28:15.000

you know, substance abuse or mental health and things like that.

00:28:15.000 –> 00:28:26.000

But community centers and organizations such as the ones that I showed you on the previous screen that received some of our grant funding, they do play a very significant role in helping

00:28:26.000 –> 00:28:30.000

many of these urban native participants

00:28:30.000 –> 00:28:36.000

Stay connected to the heritage, as well as providing support services.

00:28:36.000 –> 00:28:40.000

What about one of our team

00:28:40.000 –> 00:28:46.000

Kayla Oliveira, she actually worked at a Southern California

00:28:46.000 –> 00:28:50.000

tribal grantee called the

00:28:50.000 –> 00:28:58.000

I’m sorry, I just drew a blank, but they have cultural activities for their participants

00:28:58.000 –> 00:29:05.000

And they really have that intimate understanding of some of the challenges that are being experienced by their participants.

00:29:05.000 –> 00:29:11.000

And I’ll share some details about a few of these centers later and just some case examples.

00:29:11.000 –> 00:29:19.000

But when you think about a reservation-based organization, workforce development organization, or even participants living

00:29:19.000 –> 00:29:22.000

on a reservation, many of these reservations are

00:29:22.000 –> 00:29:27.000

geographically isolated, you know, which can limit their access to jobs or even services.

00:29:27.000 –> 00:29:34.000

And these are what contribute to these high rates of poverty on reservations and unemployment. The jobs just aren’t there.

00:29:34.000 –> 00:29:41.000

And despite these challenges, reservations, I mean, they’re instrumental in preserving these

00:29:41.000 –> 00:29:49.000

cultural traditions, you know, 574 different federal tribes, each having different languages, spiritual beliefs

00:29:49.000 –> 00:29:54.000

But many reservations do struggle with issues like housing and basic utilities, which further complement

00:29:54.000 –> 00:29:57.000

complicate their

00:29:57.000 –> 00:30:00.000

pursuit.

00:30:00.000 –> 00:30:06.000

So just reflecting on the history of Native experience, it’s no surprise that it’s essential to build trust and respect

00:30:06.000 –> 00:30:10.000

When we seek to strengthen our relationship with these organizations.

00:30:10.000 –> 00:30:16.000

You know, the trust is the foundation that I’ve found since I’ve been in my position for almost two years now.

00:30:16.000 –> 00:30:22.000

And these strong relationship is crucial. I mean, they’re crucial. I didn’t talk about my background, but

00:30:22.000 –> 00:30:27.000

I was an economist doing a transportation economist so i

00:30:27.000 –> 00:30:29.000

work with some tribal organizations to develop their

00:30:29.000 –> 00:30:36.000

their grant applications, which had to include these economic impact analyses. And they were really

00:30:36.000 –> 00:30:39.000

You know, it was a challenge to get

00:30:39.000 –> 00:30:44.000

to communicate, to get dialogue.

00:30:44.000 –> 00:30:50.000

Because there is this reservation based on history and we have to be proactive when we’re

00:30:50.000 –> 00:30:52.000

trying to build these relationships.

00:30:52.000 –> 00:31:00.000

And we have to approach each one of them in a unique way with respect to the different differences in their history and the cultural and their values.

00:31:00.000 –> 00:31:02.000

And that’s important to understand.

00:31:02.000 –> 00:31:06.000

that these cultural nuances between these native communities

00:31:06.000 –> 00:31:14.000

is really unique. Each nation has their own traditions and social structures

00:31:14.000 –> 00:31:18.000

And it takes time to learn and appreciate these cultural aspects.

00:31:18.000 –> 00:31:25.000

And they could greatly enhance our efforts when we do put the time into understanding

00:31:25.000 –> 00:31:29.000

But one of the things is that community leaders, they actually play a big role.

00:31:29.000 –> 00:31:32.000

and bridging the gap between workforce programs and

00:31:32.000 –> 00:31:40.000

in the communities that they serve. So really reaching out to community leaders and understanding how to integrate with them and who they are.

00:31:40.000 –> 00:31:47.000

And within many of our grantee organizations, I work for our native workforce development organizations.

00:31:47.000 –> 00:31:51.000

There’s a lot of turnover. The grantees that are on

00:31:51.000 –> 00:31:55.000

tribal or tribal tribal lands or under tribal government

00:31:55.000 –> 00:32:04.000

structures, they have elections, they have presidents that change, they have, you know, Congresses, they have their all their infrastructure and

00:32:04.000 –> 00:32:06.000

leadership structures that really

00:32:06.000 –> 00:32:10.000

change, you know, as well as the organization.

00:32:10.000 –> 00:32:18.000

I’ll talk in a second about just maintaining that contact is important because players change routinely.

00:32:18.000 –> 00:32:20.000

a lot of turnover.

00:32:20.000 –> 00:32:24.000

But involving those community leaders is important.

00:32:24.000 –> 00:32:34.000

And particularly involving them in planning and decision making, because this ensures that our programs are relevant and effective, and it gives them a sense of ownership to these programs.

00:32:34.000 –> 00:32:41.000

Working with Native communities to design and implement workforce programs ensures that the programs

00:32:41.000 –> 00:32:45.000

meet their specific needs and goals. This collaborative approach fosters

00:32:45.000 –> 00:32:53.000

a sense of ownership, as I mentioned, to those folks on those native organizations that are collaborating with you.

00:32:53.000 –> 00:32:58.000

And it also builds trust and respect. So regular communication and feedback are important.

00:32:58.000 –> 00:33:03.000

And our role here at the Department of Labor and the Division of Indian and Native American Programs

00:33:03.000 –> 00:33:09.000

It’s hard for us to really reach some of our grantees because many times they’re

00:33:09.000 –> 00:33:15.000

They’re wearing multiple hats. I mean, some of our grantees are two-person organizations serving like 50 people.

00:33:15.000 –> 00:33:22.000

And they’re acting as a finance manager, as a director, a counselor.

00:33:22.000 –> 00:33:28.000

You know, they’re driving participants. I mean, our grantees actually form

00:33:28.000 –> 00:33:32.000

an organization called the National Indian and Native American

00:33:32.000 –> 00:33:38.000

National Indian and Native American Employment and Training Conference

00:33:38.000 –> 00:33:42.000

And Kim has been to several of those conferences

00:33:42.000 –> 00:33:47.000

And during one of our ceremonies, we actually highlight some of the activities of many of these

00:33:47.000 –> 00:33:51.000

grantees and it’s a tearjerker i mean just

00:33:51.000 –> 00:33:59.000

just understanding the plight of the participants and the passion of the workforce development programs

00:33:59.000 –> 00:34:06.000

employees, it’s just it’s overwhelming and it’s encouraging to see that there are folks out there that are

00:34:06.000 –> 00:34:10.000

that are so ingrained in supporting the plight of their communities.

00:34:10.000 –> 00:34:18.000

But as I said, many of these programs are overwhelmed with serving their community members.

00:34:18.000 –> 00:34:23.000

they’re experiencing multiple barriers. Demands of the funding organizations

00:34:23.000 –> 00:34:27.000

I mean, just the organization that are serving the participants

00:34:27.000 –> 00:34:32.000

have demands. And I just showed you a slide with 15 different federal agencies. So if you imagine

00:34:32.000 –> 00:34:37.000

One grantee receiving grants from even five of those

00:34:37.000 –> 00:34:52.000

Each of those have these different reporting structures, reporting systems. And imagine if you, you know, right now we have to do our taxes for the state and federal, and that’s a challenge. So imagine if you had to report financials to five different federal agencies using five different set of

00:34:52.000 –> 00:34:58.000

financial parameters. It could be overwhelming

00:34:58.000 –> 00:35:02.000

And it’s coming from all of those

00:35:02.000 –> 00:35:04.000

federal agencies at the same time

00:35:04.000 –> 00:35:10.000

And so these organizations are dealing with those demands as well as, as I said, just some of the

00:35:10.000 –> 00:35:14.000

the barriers that their participants are experiencing, which are the most

00:35:14.000 –> 00:35:16.000

impacted

00:35:16.000 –> 00:35:18.000

demographic in this country.

00:35:18.000 –> 00:35:24.000

I mean, we talk about different areas and demographics in different areas or different races.

00:35:24.000 –> 00:35:26.000

But the Native American community

00:35:26.000 –> 00:35:33.000

their modalities, their impacts are more than any other of those that we could think about.

00:35:33.000 –> 00:35:36.000

So just being proactive and

00:35:36.000 –> 00:35:40.000

engaging with those organizations is the key.

00:35:40.000 –> 00:35:47.000

And sometimes, as I said, some of these, so if there’s an Alaska participant in Florida

00:35:47.000 –> 00:35:52.000

You know, and rather than reaching out to Alaska, or you could reach out to an Alaska tribe and

00:35:52.000 –> 00:35:58.000

using technology to say, you know, hey, we have this person that’s a member of your tribe and they’re here in Florida and we

00:35:58.000 –> 00:36:04.000

We’re wondering if you’d like to collaborate to support them. And I’m pretty sure

00:36:04.000 –> 00:36:06.000

they would be happy to do that.

00:36:06.000 –> 00:36:09.000

But one part of that interaction is really

00:36:09.000 –> 00:36:14.000

collaborating to share success stories. And that’s important.

00:36:14.000 –> 00:36:17.000

Because, you know.

00:36:17.000 –> 00:36:23.000

Moving to change and chains of success, moving them down the field and actually acknowledging that

00:36:23.000 –> 00:36:29.000

that there was a win is important for all folks involved.

00:36:29.000 –> 00:36:34.000

So just a couple examples. So one of our grantees, the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma.

00:36:34.000 –> 00:36:38.000

They’ve developed a partnership with the casino that’s on their reservation

00:36:38.000 –> 00:36:43.000

I’m sorry, before that, just this co-enrollment so

00:36:43.000 –> 00:36:47.000

Just an example I just gave you about the Alaska person in Florida.

00:36:47.000 –> 00:36:50.000

And many of you

00:36:50.000 –> 00:36:56.000

The grants that you receive, you have to actually report on outcomes for your programs as well.

00:36:56.000 –> 00:36:59.000

So this opportunity for this opportunity

00:36:59.000 –> 00:37:03.000

having multiple organizations support this one participant

00:37:03.000 –> 00:37:07.000

It improves your numbers. It improves the

00:37:07.000 –> 00:37:11.000

performance outcomes of those organizations because you both get to count that person as a participant.

00:37:11.000 –> 00:37:19.000

Because you’re supporting them and you’re supporting them under the parameters of your grant. And whatever the grant says, you’re able to count them.

00:37:19.000 –> 00:37:21.000

So just keep that in mind.

00:37:21.000 –> 00:37:28.000

And so, as I was mentioning, this Kiowa tribe has developed a partnership with a casino on their reservation

00:37:28.000 –> 00:37:34.000

And, you know, they’re limited employment opportunities on that reservation but

00:37:34.000 –> 00:37:41.000

They’ve partnered with the casinos partnered with the tribal, the workforce program under the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act.

00:37:41.000 –> 00:37:43.000

then they provided several

00:37:43.000 –> 00:37:50.000

the employment opportunities for participants, one of the participants started off as a server in the casino cafe

00:37:50.000 –> 00:37:55.000

But that person now works in the human resources department, which is uh

00:37:55.000 –> 00:38:00.000

you know if you think about that, having that steady job on a reservation is a tremendous opportunity.

00:38:00.000 –> 00:38:06.000

But looking at an urban area, like in Kansas City, the American Indian Center.

00:38:06.000 –> 00:38:12.000

In Missouri, they had a long working relationship with many of you aware of these

00:38:12.000 –> 00:38:20.000

of our one-stop centers, our American job centers, but they established a memorandum of understanding with the center to provide the office space

00:38:20.000 –> 00:38:23.000

to members of that organization

00:38:23.000 –> 00:38:28.000

And they’re serving folks in different areas across that area.

00:38:28.000 –> 00:38:36.000

So I’m not sure how many of you on the call actually are located within an American Job Center, but if you think about it, how many

00:38:36.000 –> 00:38:43.000

how many tribal organizations are actually participating in that center? And it could be unique because participating in these American job centers

00:38:43.000 –> 00:38:47.000

Well, these one-stop centers, there’s a cost associated with it.

00:38:47.000 –> 00:38:57.000

And many of our program, this Section 166 of the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, many of them are small tribe, they just don’t have the funding to actually

00:38:57.000 –> 00:39:02.000

fully participate in funding one of those centers. But a lot of those centers are actually

00:39:02.000 –> 00:39:10.000

providing some workarounds where, okay, if these tribal members of this organization come and you know

00:39:10.000 –> 00:39:12.000

participate in supporting native

00:39:12.000 –> 00:39:27.000

native participants, they’re waiving some of the fees. But then the intertribal Council of Michigan provides services to four federally recognized tribes in that area. So I told you some of these tribes are smaller, so they come together to try to

00:39:27.000 –> 00:39:29.000

pull their their efforts

00:39:29.000 –> 00:39:34.000

But they provide support to participants who was one participant was attending

00:39:34.000 –> 00:39:39.000

a welding program, significant distance from where they lived. And so they

00:39:39.000 –> 00:39:43.000

you know and those support services, they were able to provide gift cards and

00:39:43.000 –> 00:39:45.000

other support services to help that participant

00:39:45.000 –> 00:39:49.000

And that person is now employed as a welder.

00:39:49.000 –> 00:39:52.000

Just one more slide here, but…

00:39:52.000 –> 00:39:56.000

You know, during the White House, the White House has an annual tribal nation summit

00:39:56.000 –> 00:40:00.000

And last December, President Biden signed a

00:40:00.000 –> 00:40:08.000

an executive order called reforming Federal Funding and Support for Tribal Nations to better embrace their trust responsibilities and promote the next era

00:40:08.000 –> 00:40:10.000

a tribal self-determination.

00:40:10.000 –> 00:40:16.000

So, but this executive order directs all federal agencies to reform their federal funding programs to support

00:40:16.000 –> 00:40:23.000

tribes better. And so here at DOL, you know, we actually, you know, we took a look at many of our funding programs to

00:40:23.000 –> 00:40:28.000

to make them better accessible to many of our tribal organizations.

00:40:28.000 –> 00:40:34.000

And we also extended, you know, did different things with our grants to make sure that

00:40:34.000 –> 00:40:37.000

that tribal participants, like I said, it could be a

00:40:37.000 –> 00:40:40.000

two-person

00:40:40.000 –> 00:40:42.000

organizations that serving 50 people

00:40:42.000 –> 00:40:45.000

And to think that they have time

00:40:45.000 –> 00:40:49.000

you know to really develop a full grant application

00:40:49.000 –> 00:40:55.000

within many of the restrictions that we have, you know, it’s a challenge for them. So really trying to

00:40:55.000 –> 00:40:58.000

apply equity into our programs.

00:40:58.000 –> 00:41:04.000

And so just in closing, partnering with the Native workforce offers unique opportunities to enhance

00:41:04.000 –> 00:41:10.000

diversity and inclusion in a lot of what we’re doing and to serve diverse communities and strengthen economic development

00:41:10.000 –> 00:41:16.000

There’s a workforce that’s poised and ready to participate out there.

00:41:16.000 –> 00:41:19.000

And collaborating with the organizations that are

00:41:19.000 –> 00:41:26.000

that I have sort of an intimate relationship with those workers is a true opportunity to not only help those communities, but

00:41:26.000 –> 00:41:32.000

to help yourselves and your organizations improve your metrics and your measures.

00:41:32.000 –> 00:41:43.000

But in that pursuit of collaboration, building trust and understanding cultural nuances and engaging with community leaders, those are important success strategies.

00:41:43.000 –> 00:41:49.000

And of course, as I mentioned, there’s a lot of overturned turnover in these organizations so

00:41:49.000 –> 00:41:55.000

keeping that consistent contact, making a regular check-in, whether it be monthly, quarterly.

00:41:55.000 –> 00:42:01.000

You know, staying abreast of those organizations is really important to maintain those open channels.

00:42:01.000 –> 00:42:07.000

And like I said, you know, co-enrolling participants, it’s a win-win for everyone.

00:42:07.000 –> 00:42:13.000

You know, implementing some of the technological opportunities to reach those rural

00:42:13.000 –> 00:42:17.000

You know, these geographically isolated

00:42:17.000 –> 00:42:20.000

workforce participants is an opportunity

00:42:20.000 –> 00:42:24.000

And then I showed you a slide that just has 15 different agencies that are

00:42:24.000 –> 00:42:30.000

funding or supporting Native communities and leveraging those available resources

00:42:30.000 –> 00:42:33.000

and providing targeted training, support, and advancing

00:42:33.000 –> 00:42:38.000

the different goals of these organizations is a true opportunity.

00:42:38.000 –> 00:42:44.000

And our team, the Division of Indian and Native American Programs at the Department of Labor, we definitely

00:42:44.000 –> 00:42:49.000

Would love to hear from many of you. I know that many of you participate in these coaching

00:42:49.000 –> 00:42:53.000

there were these coaching activities across the country

00:42:53.000 –> 00:42:57.000

And I sat in on many of those and I posed that question, how many of you

00:42:57.000 –> 00:43:00.000

are serving native participants and how many of you have actually

00:43:00.000 –> 00:43:04.000

sought out to collaborate with native workforce development organizations.

00:43:04.000 –> 00:43:06.000

And it was few and far between.

00:43:06.000 –> 00:43:13.000

So I encourage you to reach out to our department, the Division of Indian Native American programs or any of those other

00:43:13.000 –> 00:43:15.000

programs that are actually targeting

00:43:15.000 –> 00:43:19.000

the native workforce. And I appreciate the opportunity to share

00:43:19.000 –> 00:43:22.000

Thank you. I’ll turn it back to you, Ken.

00:43:22.000 –> 00:43:23.000

Yeah, we had just…

00:43:23.000 –> 00:43:30.000

Thank you, Nathaniel. That was a lot of great information. I took so many notes and I will definitely be going back to review this.

00:43:30.000 –> 00:43:41.000

Again, we will send that recording out to everybody who was not able to join us live. But thank you for just giving us not only that information, but also ways to

00:43:41.000 –> 00:43:49.000

be able to reach out to you all to partner. So I do want to open it up for questions. We do have some time here. So if anybody has any questions.

00:43:49.000 –> 00:43:56.000

Feel free to take yourself off of mute or you can type it into the chat box and we will

00:43:56.000 –> 00:44:02.000

we will take any questions. And also I see that Kayla has put in information

00:44:02.000 –> 00:44:06.000

On an additional webinar that will be available on next week.

00:44:06.000 –> 00:44:12.000

So there’s a link there if you want more information about that particular webinar that’s going to be offered

00:44:12.000 –> 00:44:17.000

on November the 20th. So thank you, Kayla, for putting that in there.

00:44:17.000 –> 00:44:18.000

Yes.

00:44:18.000 –> 00:44:20.000

So again, if we have any questions

00:44:20.000 –> 00:44:25.000

or any comments, definitely feel free to put it into the chat box or take yourself off of mute.

00:44:25.000 –> 00:44:30.000

There was a comment by um julie.

00:44:30.000 –> 00:44:34.000

about offering digital self-paced courses for tribes

00:44:34.000 –> 00:44:37.000

Did you want to come off mute and talk about that, Julie?

00:44:37.000 –> 00:44:41.000

That sounds like a great opportunity.

00:44:41.000 –> 00:44:43.000

yeah um i

00:44:43.000 –> 00:44:50.000

I haven’t really planned it all out in my head yet, but I was just thinking because you were talking about how rural

00:44:50.000 –> 00:44:54.000

many of the people in these communities are

00:44:54.000 –> 00:44:57.000

it’s probably hard for them to access.

00:44:57.000 –> 00:44:59.000

planning and services like that so

00:44:59.000 –> 00:45:05.000

Which is something that I am developing. I am a brand new company that I am developing

00:45:05.000 –> 00:45:08.000

portion for

00:45:08.000 –> 00:45:13.000

I call them workforce empowerment courses, basically the soft skills training.

00:45:13.000 –> 00:45:19.000

And I was just thinking it might be something that

00:45:19.000 –> 00:45:24.000

Yeah, yeah, we found, you know, just with our programs that we managed during the pandemic.

00:45:24.000 –> 00:45:28.000

Many of our grantees weren’t prepared to serve their participants in a remote environment.

00:45:28.000 –> 00:45:32.000

And that has been

00:45:32.000 –> 00:45:37.000

Many of those gaps have been closed by different grantees. They’re establishing an online presence.

00:45:37.000 –> 00:45:43.000

sort of an intake process that can be accomplished through a website and

00:45:43.000 –> 00:45:48.000

There’s one one of our grantees out in California actually has like a

00:45:48.000 –> 00:45:51.000

has integrated several integrated

00:45:51.000 –> 00:45:54.000

IT tools like

00:45:54.000 –> 00:46:07.000

Was it, I’m sorry, Cash App and some tool like Cash App to actually provide stipends and pay some of the work experience participants and as well as process some of the paperwork.

00:46:07.000 –> 00:46:12.000

that’s involved with intaking a new participant so

00:46:12.000 –> 00:46:17.000

Awesome. I will look at your website.

00:46:17.000 –> 00:46:20.000

where there might be some opportunities.

00:46:20.000 –> 00:46:23.000

Thank you.

00:46:23.000 –> 00:46:26.000

Thank you for that, Julie.

00:46:26.000 –> 00:46:40.000

Nathaniel, can you talk a little bit about, I know we’ve talked about reaching or your partnership with workforce organizations, but can you talk a little bit about how you partner with businesses or what your outreach to businesses look like?

00:46:40.000 –> 00:46:48.000

There’s a lot that Knowledge is doing right now around business engagement and business outreach. We’re actually doing a business services academy

00:46:48.000 –> 00:46:53.000

This upcoming year for workforce professionals who work specifically with businesses.

00:46:53.000 –> 00:46:58.000

So can you talk a little bit about what your business outreach or partnerships look like?

00:46:58.000 –> 00:47:02.000

Yeah, and so far we’ve been

00:47:02.000 –> 00:47:08.000

And, you know, our mission is to provide funding and manage this regulatory structure

00:47:08.000 –> 00:47:15.000

And then make sure that our grantees are actually performing and achieving some goals.

00:47:15.000 –> 00:47:19.000

So we’re not a private focused

00:47:19.000 –> 00:47:22.000

organization here at the department and my team

00:47:22.000 –> 00:47:26.000

But we have encouraged participation from

00:47:26.000 –> 00:47:31.000

Different organizations as some of the outreach events that we’re participating in.

00:47:31.000 –> 00:47:34.000

There are some efforts to increase

00:47:34.000 –> 00:47:40.000

diversity on federally funded contracts that are falling under sort of

00:47:40.000 –> 00:47:48.000

different federal agencies have these regulatory offices that ensure compliance with

00:47:48.000 –> 00:47:53.000

diversity goals on contracts. So like I think I mentioned earlier, you know, if you have a

00:47:53.000 –> 00:48:00.000

project on the Navajo reservation to rehabilitate 100 miles of roadway, including bridges and

00:48:00.000 –> 00:48:05.000

utilities and water structures, why wouldn’t Navajo

00:48:05.000 –> 00:48:08.000

workforce participants

00:48:08.000 –> 00:48:15.000

be employed on that project. So we’re working with some of those contractors

00:48:15.000 –> 00:48:17.000

to make them aware that, hey.

00:48:17.000 –> 00:48:24.000

They’re these organizations where you are that are serving natives that are pursuing

00:48:24.000 –> 00:48:31.000

skills and areas that you are employing in and you can work directly with

00:48:31.000 –> 00:48:34.000

these funded organizations to fund organizations

00:48:34.000 –> 00:48:39.000

to funnel these workforce participants on your job and they’re eager to work and they want to work.

00:48:39.000 –> 00:48:41.000

Mm-hmm.

00:48:41.000 –> 00:48:46.000

Awesome. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that.

00:48:46.000 –> 00:48:59.000

So it looks like we do not have any questions in the chat box, which means you did an amazing job of covering all of the points and you answered everybody’s questions throughout your presentation. So again, Nathaniel, thank you.

00:48:59.000 –> 00:49:11.000

for joining us here today. Thank you to you all for joining us, taking some time out to really learn more about our Indian and Native American programs and what those partnership opportunities look like.

00:49:11.000 –> 00:49:22.000

Again, we will have this link posted on our Not Up YouTube channel over the next couple of days. So feel free to continue to share it with your network. And we look forward to our continued partnership.

00:49:22.000 –> 00:49:23.000

Absolutely.

00:49:23.000 –> 00:49:26.000

So thank you all and enjoy the rest of your Thursday.

00:49:26.000 –> 00:49:31.000

Thank you for the opportunity.