The Tipi Raisers
Working towards reconciliation - one relationship at a time.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Gen7 Youth Leadership
GEN7 MISSION:To convene, mobilize and empower Native and non-Native young leaders; building relationships, bridging cultural gaps and providing the tools and resources necessary to bring awareness to pressing issues and make genuine change in the world around them.
GEN7 DESCRIPTION:
*Gen7 Youth- both Native and non-Native- come together two - three times/year. Rooted in indigenous wisdom and the belief that youth both crave and need genuine contact with one another, each Gen7 Meetup includes Four Elements:
I. Cultural Bridge Building
II. Leadership Skill Building
III. Community Service
IV. Recreation
With access to professional mentors, Gen7 youth ultimately work together to advance solutions for complex issues facing their generation.
*Ages 15 - Young Adult
Nagi (Sprit)Circle
Increasingly, the Tipi Raisers is called on from families across Pine Ridge, as well as from tribal leaders, to assist with urgent needs on the reservation. With an expanding network of friends and supporters who are eager to answer the call, we have established the Urgent Response Network as a mechanism to mobilize a response to the reservation's most pressing needs. Basic provisions such as space heaters, firewood, fans, diapers, food, stoves and mattresses are often desperately needed on Pine Ridge.
With multiple generations living under the same roof, it is not uncommon for babies and elders to be sleeping on the floor. There is a constant shortage of propane and firewood in the harsh South Dakota winters. And in the scorching summers, fans and air conditioners are in short supply. Food insecurity on Pine Ridge is widespread with government subsidized food programs only going so far - often leaving families hungry, diabetic and malnourished. The Tipi Raisers- with the support of our network- has coordinated over 60 deliveries of firewood, new (or gently used) mattresses, appliances, food and miscellaneous material donations to the people of Pine Ridge.
We field far more requests each year than we are able to fulfill but reach out to our Nagi Circle members when we are made aware of urgent needs on the Pine Ridge and respond as capacity allows to many of these requests.
Tipi Raisers
Our mission is to be a multi-cultural and cross- generational community who works together to alleviate poverty, honor indigenous wisdom and begin to reconcile the tragic history of the Lakota People on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
We believe that the wisdom, culture and traditions of the Lakota People can inform and benefit the Modern World at the same time that the Modern World can assist and support the Lakota People in creating more prosperous and humane living conditions on the reservation. Many of our activities aim to provide sustainable employment as well as quality and safe housing for the Lakota People.
At the Tipi Raisers we strive to build alliances and strengthen communities across cultures. Our volunteers work alongside the Lakota People on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota to ease conditions of poverty, ride horses together, reconcile the past and learn about one another’s cultures. Our Lakota friends travel to Colorado - and sometimes nationally - with the Tipi Raisers to share their wisdom and traditions at schools and organizations.
We also provide ongoing humanitarian aid on Pine Ridge and facilitate the Gen7 Youth Leadership program to empower and activate our younger generations to create authentic community and work toward meaningful social change.
Where we work
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Our Sustainable Development Goals
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
There are four central pillars of our mission which are woven throughout everything we do; alleviating conditions of poverty, amplifying Indigenous voices and wisdom, empowering youth, and facilitating reconciliation dialogue in direct partnership with those we serve in Native communities across the west and southwest region. Additionally, our multi-cultural programs integrate volunteers from across the country. Inevitably, courageous conversations emerge, leading to mutual understanding and an organic evolution of reconciliation.
The needs in the Native communities we serve are seemingly endless and we have an 11-year track record of listening to the community, and working in partnership with them, as we engage our volunteers in meeting those needs. Other nonprofit organizations tend to focus solely on alleviating conditions of poverty and we, too, have a strong emphasis on this. Examples include, but are not limited to:
• Planting and providing ongoing support for over 25 gardens on the Navajo, Hopi and Pine Ridge reservations.
• Providing improvements to the Community Center in Wounded Knee, SD.
• Partnering with local community cleanup organizations in the ancient Hopi village of Walpi in Arizona.
• Running a year-round firewood bank on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
• Supporting the efforts of multiple Indigenous organizations across the Denver metro area.
• Providing multiple, ongoing, wage-earning opportunities for Tribal members.
• Distributing food and hygiene supplies monthly.
• Roof and flooring repairs on 17th century homes of Hopi elders.
• Supporting families with food and supplies for funerals.
• Repairing and winterizing hundreds of homes with windows, siding and roofs on Pine Ridge following a tornado.
• Building a shed to shelter sheep on whom a community relies for cultural and physical nourishment on the Navajo Nation.
However, our responsiveness to the community and the diversity of work projects isn’t the most substantive aspect that sets us apart from other organizations. As we see it, the most important gap that we address happens when the relationships are forged, and lasting friendships evolve across cultures and generations. This is where trust begins to take shape, and reconciliation happens.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Gen 7 Youth – We engage Native and non-Native youth throughout all our activities and programs, facilitating opportunities for them to bridge cultural gaps, be in service, participate in paid internships and gain the experience necessary to understand - and bring forth - their inherent gifts.
Volunteer Service Trips – Gen7 and volunteers from across the country travel to the Hopi and Diné reservations four times a year to address conditions of poverty in partnership with our Hopi and Diné friends.
Addressing Food Insecurity – We provide regular distributions of food and supplies on Pine Ridge and work with local farms to establish gardens for Native families in Arizona and South Dakota.
Firewood Bank – We fund a year-round wood bank that our Tribal partners earn wages to oversee and distribute to homes across Pine Ridge.
Bison Reintroduction – In collaboration with Colorado State University, our Gen7 youth work to restore and relocate herds of the American Bison that descended from the original 82 animals left following the near extermination of the species.
Lakota Language Preservation - This bi-monthly class covers Lakota language fundamentals with an end-goal that students will be equipped to one day read, write and speak the language.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
The Tipi Raisers
Board of directorsas of 09/01/2023
Matt Graham
Leavitt Partners
Term: 2022 - 2025
Kelli Brandl
Early Education
David Cook
Klancke & Cook
Natalie Burton
Healthcare Consultant
Dorothy Wynn
Self Employed
Rob Jansen
Self Employed
Miguel Garza
Military
Adrienne McNees
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as: