Every year, the Administration for Native Americans holds a grantee conference for those who have been awarded an ANA federal grant. The 2015 Grantee Conference was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico during the first week of February with about 180 different programs and organizations attending. Lilian Sparks Robinson, Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans, stated that “Over the course of our meeting, we will celebrate how far we have come, discuss strategies for success, and share lessons learned to overcome future obstacles.”

Workshops were held with topics of finance, data collection, management systems, and starting a non-profit. Others focused on more specific topics including “Keeping Tradition in a Modern World (Healthy Living)” and “Food Security: How to Achieve Food Sovereignty While Improving Public Health and Economic Development in Native Communities.” Farm to Table Guam was invited to speak on “Grants and Financial Management: Effective Management and Compliance.” Most, if not all, of the presenters had been awarded an ANA grant and speak from personal experience. Members of Farm to Table Guam expressed that being able to learn from them is extremely motivating, getting an idea of what works best and what doesn’t.

Says Community Awareness Assistant Cassie Brady, “It is overwhelming realizing just how much knowledge we gained in a short three days.”

“We were also able to network with other organizations from the same program area as ours, Sustaining Employment and Economic Development Strategies. We discussed our project mission, program strengths and challenges.”

One of the highlights of the conference was that each organization had the opportunity to share their questions, concerns, comments, or requests to Lilian Sparks Robinson and Mark Greenberg, Acting Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families, who report to The White House, representing President Obama.

Keynote speakers for the opening and closing ceremonies included  LaDonna Harris, Founder and President of Americans for Indian Opportunity, and Gyasi Ross, Essayist, Writer, Poet, Speaker, Lawyer, and activist.

 2015 ANA Conference Materials for Download

Fellow Organizations from Guam

With over 180 different organizations from regions all over the country including Eastern, Western, South Pacific, and Alaska, it was heart warming to see other grantees from our small island of Guam.  Pa’a Taotao Tano, reinstates traditional Chamorro cultural practices including dance, music and weaving by setting up an academy for local residents to learn cultural practices in hopes of revitalizing local culture.  Guam Unique Merchandise Art (GUMA) provides entrepreneurial indigenous cultural artisans with the business training, mentoring, and development support to establish and operate self-sustaining small businesses from their products.  The University of Guam develops standardized post secondary language curriculum and evaluation methods to advance Chamorro fluency levels in college students.

Fun Findings

While the staff of Farm to Table Guam was visiting downtown Santa Fe, they came across a sign that read “Farm to Table” — Farm to Table New Mexico, that is. The group shared information about its projects.

Photo Source: hilton.com