At New Mexico Community Foundation (NMCF), we are creating a new vision for the future of New Mexico’s Native American communities.

This vision focuses on engaging and educating Native Americans and others about the promise of philanthropy and entrepreneurship as a means of sustaining Native communities today and tomorrow.

In this cutting-edge, community-inspired model of giving and gaining, we use philanthropy as a tool to weave connections and build sustainability in Native communities statewide. We encourage creative entrepreneurship to find solutions to community issues that are rooted in Native values and traditions.

Understanding Tribal Lifeways and History

Our deep understanding of tribal lifeways, history and structures, as well as our experience in cultivating strong internal community relationships, allow us to begin conversations at a local level that empower Native communities to define their own needs, discover the strength of their own resources, and determine what they want their Native legacy to be. We will keep those conversations going so that vital community issues, partnerships and strategies remain at the forefront of our work with Native communities.

NMCF proposes to tap the community’s vision and fill the need in projects large and small, from leadership and education to entrepreneurship and economic development. Whether it’s creating an endowment for tribal education or partnering with an individual or organization that cares about Native prosperity, we engage in strategic problem-solving that advances a community’s unique goals. Our work may look different in every community we serve.

Hard Work, Good Will, Accomplishment

Central to NMCF’s work is a goal to encourage communities to share in the hard work, good will and great feeling of accomplishment that philanthropy inspires.

By raising funds among fellow tribal members and businesses, involving parents in their children’s education and other creative community methods, NMCF sets high expectations that lead to great rewards.

We employ four guiding principles to our work with Native communities: Respect, Honor, Honesty and Optimism. We also keep our eye on the big picture in Native America, building philanthropic support networks with such successful national Native development organizations as Native Americans in Philanthropy, First Nations Development Institute and The Hopi Foundation.

Supporting Our State’s Native Peoples

With your support of NMCF, we will broaden and sustain this groundbreaking work in New Mexico to support our state’s Native peoples.

For more information, please contact Renee Villarreal, Director of Program and Community Outreach, at 505.802-6860 ext. 20 or reneev@nmcf.org.