Background

Over the past three years, American Indian community leaders have been working to strategically transform the American Indian community for the 21st century.

NACDI was created because leaders in the American Indian community realized that the knowledge economy, coupled with a younger American Indian community on average, increased private surrounding development and opening global markets, presented an opportunity to develop significant economic growth and take advantage of other community improvement opportunities.

The Indian community thus created NACDI to take a new direction toward innovative community development approaches that broker cross-sector partnerships and alliances and mobilize investment. American Indian nonprofits are ready for change, but need an innovative intermediary to re-direct them to asset development through greater entrepreneurial activity. The work needs the energy and alignment of the group and not the solo process to succeed.

NACDI grew out of the work of the Hennepin County American Indian Families Project (AIFP), a partnership project between Hennepin County and the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors organization. Through this community-driven initiative, the idea of focusing on American Indian community through community economic development came about. The result was the formation of the NACDI Taskforce, a coalition of more than 60 individuals — including representatives from American Indian nonprofits, American Indian businesses, Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, Minneapolis Public Schools, as well as community-based and philanthropic organizations. A strategic plan for NACDI was completed in October 2006 after a 10-month, community-engaged, strategic-planning process. At the heart of this strategic plan is a community commitment to work together.

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