What does it mean to put self-determination and innovation into practice in workforce programs built by and for Native nations and communities? On June 30, Workforce Matters hosted the second webinar in our 2026 Workforce Grantmaking in Native Nations and Communities (WGNNC) series, and asked practitioners whose organizations are doing this work to share their stories.
Joining us were:
- Kelly Drummer, President, MIGIZI
- Lana Chanda, Director of Employment and Training, Gila River Indian Community
- Ian Record, Consultant, WGNNC, and lead author of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Tribal Workforce Development Toolkit (2.0)
Below are some key takeaways.
Culturally Responsive Career Pathway Trainings Nurture Self-Confidence
Kelly Drummer shared the story of MIGIZI, founded in the mid-1970s and home to the longest-running national Native radio programming. Drummer described how the organization’s original youth programming targeted 18–24-year-olds, but outcomes were modest. When the team shifted to serving younger youth, outcomes improved, and investment followed. Today, MIGIZI’s Indigenous Pathways program offers Native youth ages 14–17 paid, cohort-based career exploration in two tracks: Green Energy and First Persons Productions, a media and journalism track. MIGIZI’s programs now boast 70 percent completion and skills attainment rate; youth-led projects shared publicly with the broader community; and strong community interest in the program, with roughly 80 applicants for 40 slots each cycle. Drummer shared the importance of helping youth start career exploration early and combining career and education goals, paying training wages, developing culturally responsive and relevant programming, and providing young people with opportunities to engage in leadership opportunities and meet with local employers and industry professionals. She also emphasized that success did not come overnight and required patient capital from funders as MIGIZI experimented and grew the program. MIGIZI’s success helped the organization attract new investment from the Minnesota Department of Economic Development, an encouraging example of how states can invest in Native youth workforce programming at scale.
An Employer-Led Model Built From the Inside
Lana Chanda walked attendees through how the Gila River Indian Community became the first Tribal Nation to receive a federal Department of Labor Career Pathways grant in 2012, launching five industry sector pathways at once: medical occupations, hospitality, construction, government, and small business. Chanda explained that Gila River’s enterprises, including its hospitals, casinos, resorts, and industrial parks, had long struggled to fill open positions from within the community, despite a close-knit culture and strong Tribal scholarship support. The career pathways model addressed many of the challenges in the workforce and education systems by bringing together disjointed training efforts, colleges, and employers to work together on education, training, and employment in key sectors. Employers led work with colleges to create curriculum leading to industry-specific credentials, while Chanda’s department served as convener and connector. Gila River’s targeted hiring policy gives program graduates preferential consideration for jobs with Tribal enterprises, closing the loop between training and employment and directly addressing current hiring and skill needs. Over the years, the department has launched career pathway programs and credentials in different sectors as needs have evolved, always with the leadership of employers and active partnership from organizations in the workforce ecosystem.
A Practitioner-Built Toolkit for Assessing True Self-Determination
Ian Record introduced NCAI’s newly updated Tribal Workforce Development Toolkit 2.0, developed with input from roughly 20 practitioners doing this work daily across Indian Country. The toolkit includes 15 strategic considerations, dozens of ask-yourself questions and policy tips, and 30 Native success stories, including MIGIZI’s and Gila River’s highlighted work. Record framed the toolkit’s purpose as a mirror rather than a checklist: it is meant to help Tribal leaders, practitioners, and funders honestly assess whether their workforce efforts are truly self-determined or structured to satisfy external grant requirements. He also emphasized that workforce development cannot sit in a silo. It must be woven into a Tribal Nation’s broader strategic and economic planning. For philanthropy, the toolkit is a reminder to philanthropy to defer to the Native community-driven solutions already at work, rather than importing standardized models from elsewhere. Tribal Nations know their communities best and are best equipped to design and administer workforce development initiatives tailored to the distinct needs and goals of those they serve.
What’s Needed to Move Forward
Effective and sustainable workforce development in Native communities is self-determined, culturally grounded, and built through genuine partnership with employers and community institutions, not imposed from the outside. It also takes intention and investment over time to develop. Workforce Matters has granted over $800,000 to support Native-led workforce programs to date through the WGNNC Initiative, and a future funding round to support Native coalitions working to shape and defend workforce policy.
We are grateful to Kelly, Lana, and Ian for sharing their expertise, and to our members for continuing to invest in this work. We encourage funders to download the NCAI Tribal Workforce Development Toolkit 2.0 and Workforce Matters’ Supporting Native Workforce Development: A Guide for Funders to deepen their understanding and support of Native-led workforce solutions.
View the June 30 recording and download webinar slides from Workforce Matters’ video library
