U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Native Youth Initiative for Leadership, Empowerment, and Development (I-LEAD)

The Native Youth Initiative for Leadership, Empowerment, and Development (I-LEAD) program supports community-based projects that empower Native youth to address priorities identified by such youth as well as to develop models, approaches, and strategies to foster resiliency and build upon Native youth’s inherent capacities to thrive.

The purpose of Native Youth I-LEAD is to support local community projects that foster Native youth resiliency, and to empower Native youth across four broad domains of activity:

• Native youth leading tied to governance: leadership development
• Native youth connecting: building positive identity, community connection, and social-emotional health
• Native youth learning: educational success
• Native youth working tied to economic development: workforce readiness

These domains, combined with promotion of the role of supportive adults, form a framework for inter-related strategies that support capacity building, inter-generational engagement and understandings, and the empowerment and self-development of Native youth. Because Native youth are central to the solutions within their own communities Native Youth I-LEAD projects are intended to be youth centered and demonstrably youth driven. Youth are defined as young people 14-24 years old.

While Native Youth I-LEAD projects are community driven and expected to be designed to address local needs and priorities, possible project ideas for this funding include, but are not limited to, the following: peer role model development; community building; policy development; inter-generational engagement; traditional culture as resiliency models; strengths-based training curricula; Living in Two Worlds projects; and business development and workforce training. Other examples are available in the funding opportunity announcement.

As part of the grant award, funded projects are anticipated to participate in a cohort with recipients of FY 2016 I-LEAD cooperative agreement awards.

Amount: A total of $2,000,000 is available to make up to seven grants ranging from $100,000-$300,000 per year for three years. A 20% cost share is required.

Eligibility: Federally recognized Indian tribes, as recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs; incorporated non-federally recognized tribes; incorporated state-recognized Indian tribes; consortia of Indian tribes; incorporated nonprofit multi-purpose community-based Indian organizations; urban Indian centers; Alaska Native villages as defined in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and/or nonprofit village consortia; nonprofit native organizations in Alaska with village-specific projects; incorporated nonprofit Alaska Native multipurpose, community-based organizations; nonprofit Alaska Native Regional Corporations/Associations in Alaska with village-specific projects; nonprofit Alaska Native community entities or tribal governing bodies (Indian Reorganization Act or Traditional Councils) as recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs; public and nonprofit private agencies serving Native Hawaiians; national or regional incorporated non-profit Native American organizations with Native American community-specific objectives; public and nonprofit private agencies serving native peoples from Guam, American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; tribal colleges and universities, and colleges and universities located in Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands that serve Native American Pacific Islanders.

Link: https://ami.grantsolutions.gov/HHS-2017-ACF-ANA-NC-1263

Note: Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a letter of intent by June 29, 2017.

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