The First Nations Development Institute in Longmont, Colorado, has announced a $1.5 million grant from the Colorado Health Foundation in support of efforts to build health equity across the state.

The matching grant will be used to develop the Native American Fund for Health Equity, a pooled fund that will provide support to Native nations and Native-led organizations working to advance health equity on their own terms. The fund also will work to build relationships between Colorado-based philanthropic institutions and Native organizations and tribes.

“Native communities across the state are doing amazing work to promote health equity, including perpetuating Native languages and cultural practices,” said Raymond Foxworth, First Nations’ vice president of grantmaking, development, and communications. “Sadly, this work is largely invisible and unsupported by philanthropic organizations in Colorado. We hope this fund generates greater attention leading to more investment in Native community innovation and resiliency. We commend the Colorado Health Foundation for not only recognizing this inequity in investment, but also leading the philanthropy community in addressing the inequity in funding.”

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