National Urban Indian Family Coalition

NUIFC has received donations from a number of left-of-center organizations. NUIFC received $75,000 from the left-of-center Marguerite Casey Foundation in 2019. ⁴ NUIFC received $170,000 from the center-left Tides Foundation and $75,000 from the Casey Foundation in 2018. ^{5 6} That same year, the left-of-center NoVo Foundation allocated $150,000 to the Tides Foundation for NUIFC. NUIFC also received a “significant” donation from MacKenzie Scott in 2020. ⁷

NUIFC’s activism includes partnering with Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote, part of the “dark money” Arabella Advisors network, for voter registration efforts prior to the 2020 presidential election⁸ and work with the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), National Congress of American Indians, Urban Indian Health Institute, and the left-of-center Center for Native American Youth on Census-related programs. ⁹

History and Leadership

The National Urban Indian Family Coalition was founded in 2003 in Seattle, Washington. NUIFC claims 45 member organizations in 34 cities across 22 states and claims to represent more than 1.7 million urban American Indians and Alaska Natives. ² Members of the coalition include Americans for Indian Opportunity and the left-of-center Center for Native American Youth, a project of the Aspen Institute. ¹⁰

Janeen Comenote is the founding executive director of NUIFC. Comenote previously worked as a human rights commissioner for the city of Seattle. ¹¹ She is also a board member for left-of-center nonprofit The Praxis Project and sits on the External Diversity and Inclusion Council for Charter Communications. ^{11 12}

Rio Fernandes works as NUIFC’s communications director and is a member of the King County Young Democrats. Amanda Lagrandeur is NUIFC’s administrative coordinator, and Audrey Gray is the director of operations. ¹³

Activities and Funding

NUIFC was granted tax-exempt status in 2017. ¹⁴ Prior to that status, the Native American Youth Family Center worked as a fiscal sponsor for NUIFC, reporting its operations as an expense of $376,027. ¹⁵

In 2017, the center-left Tides Foundation granted $100,000 to the Native American Youth and Family Center to then be allocated to NUIFC. ¹⁶ The Tides Foundation also made two direct grants to NUIFC totaling $170,000 in 2018. ⁵ NUIFC received $150,000 from the NoVo Foundation through the Tides Foundation in 2018. ¹⁷ NUIFC also received $10,000 from the Schott Foundation through a grant to the Native American Youth and Family Center. ¹⁸

The Marguerite Casey Foundation distributed a $75,000 grant to NUIFC and allocated an additional $100,000 for an approved future payment to the group in 2019. ⁴ NUIFC also received a $75,000 grant from the Casey Foundation in 2018. ⁶

In 2018, NUIFC launched the American Indian and Alaska Native Civic Engagement Initiative and expanded its mission to include an “accurate Census count” in 2020 as a part of a “coalition for Census and Civic Engagement.” NUIFC worked in conjunction with the National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH) to operate civic engagement on Census activities. The Native American Rights Fund (NARF), the National Congress of American Indians, Urban Indian Health Institute, and Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) also participated in the program. ⁹ NUIFC disbursed grants of $416,500 to “voter engagement” projects in 2018. ³

NUIFC worked in conjunction with CNAY on several campaigns in 2020. The 2020 Gen-I Census Campaign¹⁹ implemented “community action projects” and distributed micro-grant funding to various groups to “get out the count,” awarding over $58,000 to Native American youth organizations as a part of this campaign. ¹⁹

NUIFC launched the “Democracy is Indigenous” campaign in 2020 with CNAY, as well, creating artwork, videos, and native vote merchandise to increase Native American turnout in the 2020 election. ²⁰ NUIFC’s 2020 election activism included a partnership with former First Lady Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote, part of the “dark money” Arabella Advisors network, prior to the 2020 presidential election. ⁸ NUIFC has 24 national partners as a part of its Native American voter outreach efforts. Partner organizations receive a range of funding from NUIFC and work towards increasing “voter registration, engagement, and turnout.” ¹⁰