Hozhonigo Institute Boosts $34.5M in Grants for Tribal Communities

The Hozhonigo Institute has announced a significant milestone in its efforts to support Tribal communities, revealing that its flagship initiative, the Tribal Funding Registry (TFR), has tracked over $34.5 million in funding for 2025. As of October 28, this effort has already helped secure $6.38 million in confirmed grants for Native organizations. The institute highlighted that these results reflect the effectiveness of Indigenous-led infrastructure designed to enhance access to essential resources.

The Tribal Funding Registry is a free, searchable online platform created by a Native nonprofit specifically for Tribal governments and Native-serving organizations. It aggregates current grant opportunities from a wide array of sources, including federal, state, corporate, foundation, and Tribal giving programs. With over 1,700 active grants listed, the registry represents more than $34 billion in available funding. More than half of these grants come from non-federal sources, providing Native communities with crucial options beyond federal support.

In addition to grant listings, the platform offers a variety of resources, including recorded webinars, downloadable grant toolkits, step-by-step instructional videos, and live support through virtual office hours held five times a week. Monthly virtual workshops are also available to help users identify grant opportunities tailored to their projects. Since its inception, the registry has attracted over 2,000 users from nearly 500 Tribal governments and Native organizations across the country.

Institute leaders emphasize that the registry is a Native-led initiative aimed at streamlining access to funding that was once dispersed across multiple platforms. Through personalized grant-matching sessions, one-on-one guidance, and educational resources such as "Philanthropy 101," the TFR is equipping Native organizations with the tools to create sustainable strategies for securing funding.

Onawa Haynes (Din/Mescalero Apache), president of the Hozhonigo Institute, expressed the broader goal of the initiative: "This is about correcting generations of funding inequity. In 2024, private philanthropy allocated nearly $600 billion, yet Native communities received less than half a percent of all foundation grants. The Tribal Funding Registry provides the visibility, data, and leverage that we have long been denied. It opens the door to billions in grant opportunities, funding that has the potential to transform Native communities for generations."

For more information, visit tribalfunding.org.

Author: Harper Simmons