Colorado Plateau Foundation

The Colorado Plateau Foundation is a place-based funder that combines grantmaking and programming to build Native-led organizational and community capacity on the Plateau to protect water, protect sacred places and endangered landscapes, promote food security, and preservation of Native languages.

The Colorado Plateau Foundation provides capacity building and general support grants, as well as networking and shared learning opportunities that support the excellent work we
know communities are doing to protect the lands, waters, and cultures of the Plateau. CPF directs funding to initiatives working in four areas: Protection of Water, Protecting
Sacred Places and Endangered Landscapes, Preserving Languages, and Food Security through Sustainable Agriculture. These priority areas were developed by listening to Native elders and leaders on the Plateau articulate the most pressing challenges Tribal communities face in the region. CPF values a culturally centered model of giving that meets grantees where they are in their
organizational development. CPF understands that every organization is different. We value honesty, transparency, and relationship building. We see grantmaking as more than just
distributing funds: it is about actively participating in and helping to build a network and community.

Colorado Plateau Foundation was formed as an institution to serve Native peoples of the Plateau and support their long-term sustainability and capacity to address challenges and opportunities in their communities. With the guidance and support of David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Christensen Fund, Jim Enote founded the organization in 2011. Our founder recognized urgent threats to environments and cultures on the Plateau as well as the challenges involved with multiple tribal governance structures, vast distances, and
rapidly evolving needs of community-based organizations to respond to threats on the Plateau. The solution was the Colorado Plateau Foundation, an institution that directs funding from the broader philanthropic community to initiatives led by Native people within the Plateau. With long-term Plateau-based experience, CPF effectively and efficiently
addresses the environmental and cultural threats facing Plateau communities. The CPF staff is deeply informed about the Plateau's Native communities, including their economic,
cultural, social, and political outlooks. We live where we serve and have earned positive standing among the communities we serve.

The Colorado Plateau Foundation believes in a unique theory of change that articulates two primary assumptions:

1. That Native peoples on the Colorado Plateau are capable of accomplishing sophisticated and positive change to protect the Plateau environment and cultures, and

2. Protection of the Plateau's environment and cultures must address asymmetrical power dynamics at all levels of influence and authority.

CPF grants and programming create more durable and influential organizations that become better equipped to prove that both assumptions are valid.

Testimonials

Pueblo of Acoma's Learning Center leveraged funding from CPF to develop a modern technology strategy in the preservation of the Acoma language, by creating a language app for community use.

A grant to Zuni Youth Enrichment Project helped fund a trauma informed, intergenerational learning program, grounded in Zuni history, story telling, language, and traditional agriculture

White Mesa Concerned Community strengthened their leadership capacity, advocacy, and community education outreach, to protect the local Ute community and surrounding areas from threats posed by White Mesa Uranium Mill.

Advancing Communities Foundation strengthened their leadership and management skills to better support their work to protect the Colorado Plateau's water, and specifically protect Hopi community health.

Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture developed a strategic plan, increased financial management, and provided board training, which supported their transition to a stand-alone 501(c)3 that supports community based agriculture for the Hopi reservation.

Utah Diné Bikéyah strengthened their board, developed a strategic plan, and improved communications, which enabled participation in the successful effort to establish the Bears Ears National Monument.