Description

Change Labs also just opened a 1400 sq foot building that will serve as their headquarters. They plan to add to this building as they grow.
This grant will provide core support to Change Labs for their diverse programs and operations cost.

Change Labs is a Native woman run business incubator on the Navajo Nation—one of the few Native-run business incubators on Native American lands. They are a pathbreaking organization that s creating new programs to support Native American business startups and entrepreneurs and also creating new economic models for economic development on the Navajo Nation. They are nationally recognized for their supportive programs of Native American business startups and entrepreneurs (that primarily serve Navajo and Hopi communities) and their wrap around services to Native American business startups and that provides counseling and mentorship in additional to technical business skill development. Change Labs has also conducted research in the past that has documented the complex regulatory and bureaucratic issues (at the tribal and federal levels) that Native entrepreneurs face when trying to start businesses on tribal lands. This would be a general operating grant to support their pathbreaking work.   The leaders of Change Labs are also actively sharing what they are learning through their experiences at Change Labs and are sought after national speakers and writers on economic development issues in Indian Country. Some of their public works are below.   ·        Remaking the Economy: Economic Justice in Indian Country: https://nonprofitquarterly.org/remaking-the-economy-economic-justice-in-indian-country/ ·        Operating Business in Two Worlds: How Native Entrepreneurs Define Success: https://nonprofitquarterly.org/operating-business-in-two-worlds-how-native-entrepreneurs-define-success/ ·        Helping Native Business Owners Thrive: How to Build a Supportive Ecosystem: https://nonprofitquarterly.org/helping-native-business-owners-thrive-how-to-build-a-supportive-ecosystem/