Nonprofit Series | AIBL

Summary: Learn about AIBL and the work they're doing to advance the lives of Indigenous Americans!

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Transcript:

Andy - WeHero: Thank you everybody for taking the time to watch this really excited to talk to Prairie today about the work that she's doing. We've worked with her organization in the past and had such a positive experience and so excited to share what she's doing with, you know, all of our clients around the world. And so with that welcome, excited to have you.

Prairie Blount: Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me. It's really been a joy, a pleasure working with we hero and your team. I will just start out by a quick introduction. My name's Prairie blunt. I am an enrolled member of the Fort pick Sue tribe which is one of the tribes in Montana. I grew up on the Northern Cheyenne reservation, which is a different tribe in Montana. And I went to school in Montana and then I went to Washington DC to do some work right at the beginning of my career. Absolutely fell in love with the city and the work that I was doing there. I spent 10 years, I think, in Washington, DC. And I got to do a lot of community development and it really helped me I guess really kind of open my eyes and see native communities on a larger scale.

Prairie Blount: All the, we we've native indigenous communities all over the world. And I was able to work with communities from Alaska all the way down to the Pacific basin. And it was really amazing for me growing up on a, honestly a small, small reservation Montana, like 4,200 people were in our, our whole community on our reservation. And it was amazing for me to see the similarities and then also the differences in the community that I grew up in and then the communities that I was in all over the globe. And I think that that's something that people may not know about native Americans is that there are over 500 tribes here in the United States that were originally a part of this land and a part of this place. And they have, we have our own distinct tribal groups, which means we have our own languages.

Prairie Blount: We have our own cultural norms, our own ways of doing things our own religion in a lot of different communities. And so when you're talking about native Americans, it's easy to put us all into like one bucket. Yeah. We know you know, we've seen a Western or we watch PKA hunts on Disney, so we understand what they're about. And I think it's an important reminder to, to realize that there's over 500 tribes and they're all so different and unique in really beautiful ways. So when I worked in DC, I was able to kind of zoom out and, and see the different in our communities. And I really got a heart and a passion for helping our communities with the struggles that we have. And one of the things that had actually kind of catapulted my career was a nonprofit organization called American Indian business leaders. I was a part of this organization back when I was in college and even through grad school. And I can say looking back that it was of the things that really was a backbone of support for me. When I went to school, I knew nothing about going to school. I, I knew nothing about the university systems about scholarships, about financial aid and the people and the organization of, of of able really helped me walk to through that process. So before

Andy - WeHero: We get into able, can I ask a few more

Prairie Blount: Questions? Sure, sure.

Andy - WeHero: Cuz I know we'll talk a lot about able, I would love to hear about your experience, obviously growing up in a small community. Sure. And then, you know, transitioning to DC, which is a very diverse community, but very different than Montana. And I'd love to hear about your personal experience with that shift. And then I'd also love to hear you mentioned just the diverse communities.

Prairie Blount: Yep.

Andy - WeHero: And you were trying to represent all of them and support all of them, you know, while they all had very different traditions. Did they have similar goals that you were trying to help them with and how did you bring all those communities together?

Prairie Blount: Yeah, sure. So I'll start with, I guess I'll start with the first part growing up in a small community in Montana and then going to a big city like Washington DC was it was, it was a huge, huge cultural shock to me. And looking back, honestly, I don't know that I would've had the courage to do it. Looking back. I was young, I was young and I thought this'll be fun. Let's try it. And I just really jumped into it and I found an amazing network of native women in DC that really embraced me and showed me around let me hang out at their house. And I it's like, I just instantly had a, a, a native family community in DC and that made all the difference. But I, I will tell you was an absolute shock. Like I, I look back and I just think I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going.

Prairie Blount: And I just, you know, when you're young, you wanna do you wanna have some good fun experiences and that's kind of what I looked at it as for me. And it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life because I made some really amazing connections while I was in DC relationships. Sisterhoods that I still hold your or to my heart, you know, 20 years later. And if I would not have taken that chance, if I would not have taken that risk to move I would not have those relationships and I don't know what my life would be like without those relationships, honestly. So it was

Andy - WeHero: Good to not know sometimes, I guess.

Prairie Blount: Right. No, it was, it was it was, it was, yeah, it was fun. And it was ex it was exciting. And I, I honestly, I embraced the moment. I just, I had no idea it was going on. I had no, no idea how to do what I was trying to do, but I just went with it. I rolled with the punches. I tried to learn everything that I could kind of on the fly. And DC is a place that's the work ethic in DC is so much more fast paced than what I had anticipated especially growing up in a small town the work ethic and just the culture that I was immersed in, in DC was it's a whole, it was a whole new ballgame and I, I, I rolled with it and I I reached out to people for support if I didn't know what I needed to be doing or, or, or what I should be doing.

Prairie Blount: And I'm thankful that I'm thankful for every moment that I spent there. It was an amazing time. I have amazing memories and friendships that came out of that. So I'm very thankful for that. But it was, it was a shock. I will tell you that I didn't even, I didn't know anything about politics moving to DC and oh, wow. One of my first jobs was working directly for a political appointee. So it was like, I had to really pick it up quickly. But it was, it was good. It was a good thing. And I'm thankful for it.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. I can imagine a lot of those experiences have formed kind of how you lead your organization now. And so it's great learnings probably looking back.

Prairie Blount: Yeah, definitely. Thank God. We didn't have social media, sometimes my friends and I talk and we're like, can you imagine if we had social media back then? Like we just, we had, we had a really great time and we bonded over some really, you know, just like amazing experiences that we were all really just thrusted to because a lot of my friends were from small reservations in other, you know, throughout Indian country and we're are figuring this out on the fly and together. And it was, it was a, it was a really, really exciting time and just happy there wasn't social media at that point.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah, exactly. It probably made it special. Yeah. Then I'd love to hear, I'd love to hear just as a follow up to that sounds like you were kind of thrust into these friendships with people from different in communities. What did you learn from that? And, and I guess, how have you taken that kind of through your experiences on how to work with other, other native communities?

Prairie Blount: Yeah, I think like you said, I was the only one from from LA beer, from Northern Cheyenne. That was in my friend, my, my small circle of friends. And I think what I really took from that is the differences, but also the similarities. So we all came from different places, you know, at, from all over the United States, different different communities. And the differences were, were apparent, but also the similarities were really apparent too. I think one of the, I think, I think one of the really amazing things that holds Indian country together is this notion and this idea of tribal sovereignty. So to tribes are different than just a small little community in the United States because tribes are individually set up and I guess respected as sovereign nations. So when you go to a reservation, when you cross over into reservation territory you're actually in a, a smaller, a smaller country, let's say within the United States.

Prairie Blount: And people don't know that they don't recognize that the laws are different. The cultural norms are different, the languages are different. What's okay on the res versus what's not okay off the res everything's different. And I think that's one of the things that I noticed right off the bat was all of our, all of my friends, all the people that I hung out with had this really deep sense of pride and this really strong understanding that that we're, we're coming from different places. We're coming from sovereign nations and it's our responsibility and it's our due to represent our people and our communities. Well, so that puts a lot of pressure on you as a person. But it also gives you a lot of freedom to think about ways that you can really lead in a really strong and, and a meaningful capacity.

Prairie Blount: I know most of my friends that I met we're on the same track. We, we want to see changes within our community. I grew I'll speak for, from my community. I grew up in a small community where there was a lot of really honestly disparaging statistics, really, really high unemployment really high diabetic and just really disparaging health statistics. Like our, our average lifespan for native Americans within our community was like 10 or 15 years less than the average American that lived right off the, off the reservation. So really just growing up in these, in in this community where things were so different it, it made me really alert and, and it, it made me curious, like why, why is it that, you know, my lifespan is 10 years less than my neighbor who lives like 15 minutes away.

Prairie Blount: Why is that? What, what, what is it? So it made me really, really curious to, to figure out first of all, why, and then second of all, how do we how do we fix this problem? Because it is a problem. And a lot of that a lot of that, and a lot of those questions were common threads in my discussions with my friends when I was in DC, how do we, how do we, how do we make things better back home? We always talked about back home. It, there was not a day that didn't go by that we didn't talk about you know, the communities that we had come from, all of us had friends and relative of moms, dads, uncles grandparents that lived still back home in our communities. And so we always talked about how, how can we make things better for people back home?

Prairie Blount: And that was really something that I feel like it bound us together because we had a common mission and we had an understanding that, Hey, we come from crazy different places, you know, Montana, South Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, different in so many ways, but we still at the heart of it had concerns that were, that were the same. The concern was how do we make things better for our people? How do we make sure that this world, this earth that we leave behind is better for our children? You know, how make sure that our, our, our kids, my kids how do I make sure my daughter can live to her full potential and her life isn't cut short by 10 years just because she grew up on a reservation in Montana. So how do we change those things? And that was a huge, that was almost like a driving force for us, because we're so passionate about it, you know, and it, and I feel like you know, there's fate involved and, you know, there's a reason that we all take the path that we have and there's purpose behind each of our lives.

Prairie Blount: And I feel like you know, if you are native America, I feel like you feel that really strongly. Like how do we, how do we make things better for our, for gender to come? And that, and that can take the, the, that can take many different turns could be environmentally. It could be economically. It could be you know, just, even in your own personal mental health and wellbeing, how do I, how do I live to my full capacity and how do I you know, possibly heal from generational trauma that has been passed down, you know, so there's a lot of different aspects to being a leader and creating change within your community. And everyone's journey is different and it takes on different components. And I think that when you get a group of natives together, that's one of the things that comes up is you talk about generational trauma.

Prairie Blount: A lot of things have happened to native Americans that you're not taught in school people, don't people don't talk about, you know, the history and even the origins of reservations. Like why do we have reservations in the United States? It seems weird when you, when you think about it and you think, why would we need sovereign nations within the United States? You know, why would we, why what's the purpose? And, and what's the, what's the creation story behind that. So I think that once we start digging into those things and, and trying to really figure out why and, and what our purpose is, I think, you know, we, we unpack a lot of different things that we that help us along our path. And, and I know you don't want me to talk about able yet, but able was one of the things that helped me and able was, is one of the things that helps indigenous students with creating change that they wanna see, because it hasn't changed Andy, like, I'm, I've been outta school for, I'm not gonna date myself, but I've been outta school for a while.

Prairie Blount: And students that I meet and students that work with my organization, they have the same passion for change within our community. So how do we enable them? How do we empower them? I don't, I don't like to say enable because these students are, they're so brilliant and their ideas that they have are they're, they're magic. I mean, like, it, it's, it's crazy because I, I, I listen to them and I, I meet them and I, I hear their idea is, and the ways that they wanna create change and I'm like, it's amazing. It's absolutely inspiring. So how do I help them? How do I use able to help them and make sure they can get the results you know, to create that, that change?

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. Well, we'll get into able in one second, I just, what you said resonated so much with me because you know what, I think your community bonded over the native community in the us, just from hearing your story, you bond over, you know, what I think of as almost basic human rights in, in this age and it's, and, you know, I think groups come together when there's similar problems they face. And it's just, it's sad that those problem and still exist. But the thing that gets me really excited, you know, seeing this from the outside, I'm obviously not a native person, is that your community is focused on improving itself and reinvesting in itself, which when we work with other nonprofits, typically the executive directors have never faced that issue. And so they don't have, they've obviously experienced, stood and supported it, but they've never had the same visceral feeling of what you're trying to change as what it sounds like you and your community has. And so I think obviously one of the reasons we love working with you and, and the way that you attack the problem is so creative, but that's what just stood out for me as you kind of shared that I, I wanted to double click on it.

Prairie Blount: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I'm, I'm here. I, I'm literally sitting on the re right now. And we, you know, it's personal for me. It it's personal, I've got, I've got children and family and, you know, people that I love in, in, in Indian country. And so this is not just something that pays the bills. This is something that I'm passionate about. And, and I hope I hope and pray that that comes through in the work that I do. And yeah, I'm, I'm glad you mentioned that because it's definitely true. Yeah.

Andy - WeHero: All right. Let's jump into Abel. I know you've been holding yourself back and the people wanna know if you can just share a little bit about Abel. Obviously you mentioned that you actually took part in the programs when you were in high school. And so I'd love to hear, you know, obviously the overview of able as well as your experience within the organization.

Prairie Blount: Sure. So I'll just give you give a really quick overview of able able is an acronym, obviously it's American Indian or American indigenous business leaders. So it's AI, B L and the, really the heart and the soul of able is to empower students to create the tools so that they can have careers and lives that they love able, believes that passionate communities healthy, I'm sorry, able, believes that healthy communities are made up of passionate people that are doing things and contributing in ways that they find meaningful and ways that they love. So, one of the examples that I like to talk about with our students is that the goal for, for people in general should be to have work, that they are passionate about to have work, that they wanna jump out of bed every morning and be like, I can't wait.

Prairie Blount: I get to talk to Andy today at we hero. It's gonna be amazing. I get to meet with some students later, you know, something that you're passionate about. You're excited about a lot of times, the ways to do that is to get education. College is a great is a great starting point. If, if you're not sure about what you wanna do, college is a great starting point. So able encourages and supports students all the way from high school to tribal college through university and tribal college is just it's kind of like a community college that's run on tribal lands and has a lot of input and influence from the local tribal community. And so able operates in all three of those arenas and the way that we encourage and support students are we can boil 'em down into a, a few different buck.

Prairie Blount: One of them is scholarships. So tribal college and universities, we have scholarships for students so that they can get their education. We also do leadership development. We believe strongly that if you want to live a good life leadership development is key because our students are getting edge education and they will be placed into really key leadership roles. And so we want to prepare them so that they can handle that pressure and that they can lead well. And then the third way that we support students is by offering internships. So we do paid internships. We have a lot, lot of corporate partners that we work with and through to place our students. I like to, I, I like to talk about our students with our corporate partners in a way that lets corporations understand that natives bring a very, very unique perspective to the table.

Prairie Blount: So when you're talking about diversity and you're talking about, you know, a difference of opinion and a difference of life experience native Americans are like probably one of the most diverse people, groups you're gonna come across. You know, we have, like, we talked about tribal nations here within the United States. So when our community, when our students grow up in these smaller communities, then they join the bigger workforce. They're bringing a entirely different perspective to the table. And the value in diversity and inclusion is a new perspective, right? That's what, how we get new solutions. That's how we think about things differently in corporate America. And that's the, really, the diversity of indigenous students is that uniqueness and students, if they, if they are steered in the wrong direction, could think of that as a bad thing. I came from a, a small town.

Prairie Blount: I, I don't know what's going on. I, I don't wanna say anything because, you know, my perspective might not be important. And one of the things that we encourage at able is that, that perspective and that difference of opinion, that difference life life experience is key. And so really lean into that and own it. And don't be afraid to, you know, let your experience be known because that's really what, that's, what the value that you're bringing to the table as an indigenous student. So we, we offer an internship, paid internship program with some of our partners, tribal and corporate partners. And really, like I mentioned, and right at the beginning, the, the goal of able, able was started back in the nineties. The back in the nineties sounds like I'm talking about the seventies. It was started in the nineties.

Prairie Blount: A group of tribal leaders got together and they said, Hey, we we're noticing trend. We're seeing our students and our youth go off to school, go off to universities in bigger cities. And then they come home and they have an education, but they don't have experience. And as we know leadership theory, education, and real life experience is key. You can have a, all the head knowledge in the world I'm gonna, until you try it out, you know, it might not make sense to you. So, yeah, so the original goal of able was a directive from our elders that said our students are going to get their education. Let's continue supporting them in that, but let's take it up a notch and let's give them the experience that they need so that when they come home, they can bring like a one to punch.

Prairie Blount: They've got an education and they've got experience and they can help create lasting and meaningful change within our, within our tribal communities. So that was really the underlying original goal still to this day. The goal of able is to create change and to help empower students to, to do that in their own special, in their own unique ways. You know, like we, we don't, we don't dictate. We don't say what that should look like in your community, because we believe in tribal sovereignty. And we believe that the people, people who live in their community in those communities are the ones that know how it should change and they know how best to implement that change. So how do we empower those people? How do we empower those leaders to make those lasting impacts?

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. I, I mean, what you do is obviously is such a holistic program and you're touching people at different and stages of their development, whether it's, you know, high school, tribal college university, and then the leadership development, how do you measure the impact of what you do to make sure that you're hitting kind of these aggressive goals that you have?

Prairie Blount: Yeah, definitely. I think different components of our program are easier to measure. It's so easy to follow our interns because we have a cohort every year, you know, of designated interns. It's so easy to keep up with them. It's so easy to see like where they started versus where they are now.

Andy - WeHero: How many interns do you have by the way in the, in the most recent cohort?

Prairie Blount: Yeah. So our most recent cohort we're actually developing the cohort, you know, as we speak, but last, you know, what last year was such a bad year, we, because of, because of COVID you know, 20, 20 and last year was a, I wouldn't say a good year. Let's talk about 2019. That's started normal. That was a great, let's go to the normal world pre COVID. We had about 25, I think we had 20 of 30 students that we had. We really go through a, a whole program with them. We talk, we talk with them about things that they don't learn in school. In school, you learn about economics, you learn about accounting, you learn about marketing theory. You learn about all these things in school, but what you don't talk about is, Hey, what if I, I get, what if I have conflict at the job?

Prairie Blount: What if I don't get along with my coworkers? What if I, last year we had a student who said, I have a coworker who was asking me to go out to lunch with her every day. Do I have to do it? You know, like they didn't know. Yeah. You know? And so, so we offer direct leadership and direct support for them so they can ask those questions, you know, so that they can know, like if you're not getting along with someone or you don't wanna go to lunch with them every day, like here's a good way to maybe appro approach that conversation without, you know, while being appropriate.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. It's like modern day street smarts

Prairie Blount: In a way. Yes, definitely. And out of our students, this is their first this is their first job. This is their first internship, all the different corporations that we work with have a different cultural norm within their company. So we do, we do the upfront work with the corporations and we talk with them like, what's it like to work at? We hero. Do you guys do casual Fridays? You know, like, is there like a specific thing that you're looking for in your students? So we do the upfront work so that we can have a good understanding about what our students need to do so that they can thrive at work. We really want our students to shine when they get there. So we try to take care of everything that they need up front. And that, I, I also like to say that that's for us, it's quality over quantity.

Prairie Blount: So when we first started the program, we were running really large cohorts, like ver very large cohorts cohorts. And we saw from the beginning and ending feedback from our students was that we're stretching ourselves a little too thin. And in order to get the quality of experience for our interns, we had to scale it back a little bit. And we had to really go through and filter through the best applicants for the program. You know, juniors and seniors. We used to do, we used to have cohorts with high schoolers and oh, really, you know, we used to have a whole different approach. And we really had to scale back and we had to focus on the students that were getting really, really close to being done with school and really serious about figuring out what they wanted to do with their careers, because they were getting the most out of it.

Prairie Blount: They were the ones that were just, you know, eating up the, the experience and really making those life connections with their with their summer intern supervisors and coworkers. And so we kind of, we we've been shifting the program as we, as we speak. And it is it, it has been easy to track those numbers and easy to see the progress. Cuz we talked to them at the beginning, we talked to them in the middle. We talked to them at the end. We even follow them like years after they're done with the program and we'll ask them to come back and mentor within the program. And we've got a lot of student that are, that are doing that and that are really really successful. We have three years ago we had a really amazing cohort. And I think we have three nonprofits, three native nonprofits that have started out of that cohort.

Prairie Blount: Wow. and, and yeah, doing amazing work, doing environmental work, doing work with homeless populations within an Indian country. And, and really just doing like passion projects. And that's the goal. Like it's easy to do work when you're passionate about it, you know that and if you're starting a business and if you're wanting to be, you know, if you're wanting to have a path, a, a job that you're passionate about, like tap into the, that, why, what do you care about, why do you do what you do? And so we're so happy that, you know, some of our students have done that and that are, they're literally making jobs and, and a life out of you know, the, the change, the passion that they'd like to see within other students. So it's easy to track them. It's, it's a little bit different, difficult the further out we get from that intern cohort.

Prairie Blount: So we have a large national conference every year minus and, and so we do track those numbers as well. We do surveys we're very active on social media. And so we throw things out on social media a lot just to keep, make sure that we are relevant with our with our target market, our students. So we, we, we tr we do a lot of data gathering and I am so thankful that I have an amazing woman on my staff. She's an indigenous woman who she loves data and she loves collecting data and she loves putting it together. And she loves telling me what it means, because I can look at the data all day and get a couple things out of it, but she can look at it and she can say, this is what this means, and this is how we can address this need. And so we track data like no other, and, and I'm, it's

Andy - WeHero: Good to have those people on your team. Yes, very good.

Prairie Blount: So good. Every time she sends me something, I'm just like so thankful and so grateful because the datas tell the, the numbers, tell the story, you know, the members really do tell the story and they let us know what our students need. And then we can create programming to support them in ways that are, that is meaningful to our students. And that's the goal, right?

Andy - WeHero: Yeah, no, I mean, I think, yeah, I think having the right data, measuring what you do is, is what's most, and I think you can't look at the data exclusively. You need to combine that with the qualitative experience that you have and kind of what you can see, you know, being boots on the ground and seeing the change you're making in one, one individual's life, or, you know, in the example you gave kind of three new nonprofits, you know, springing out of what you've done, which is just awesome inspiration. Sure. The other question we get from companies a lot about is, you know, how does this organization think about financial transparency? You know, we wanna make a gift. How do you guys handle that? What are your thoughts? What's your philosophy around financial transparency?

Prairie Blount: Yeah. So transparency is important. Transparency is key financial program wise. People need to know what you're doing, right? So we work with I'm sure, you know, GuideStar. Yep. It, it, it's a, basically a third party that kind of puts different levels, different stamps of approval on, on profits. So we work with GuideStar so that we're listed within their registry and as we've grown, as we are growing there's different requirements to be on GuideStar. So as we've been growing we've started out the base level. We've moved up a couple levels and I'm hoping I'm, I'm pretty, fairly certain that we'll move up to the platinum level this year. Which, and, and the goal of GuideStar is to be transparent, the go, you know, you, you list your financials publicly. You know, anyone can go on GuideStar and look, see, you know, where the money has gone, how much has been programmatic versus you know, management or overhead.

Prairie Blount: So program for, for me as a program manager, as the as the director of this nonprofit I'm basically an open book, like, like the money that has been given towards our programs. Yeah, it's not a secret, like what we do with our money. I, I feel like it, I feel like it's almost like a, like a responsibility. People are trusting me when they give me when, when they give able funding, they're trusting me to make the right decisions, to make sure that our students are helped in the most useful way. And so GuideStar is just one of the ways that our board has decided let's get on, let, let's get on board with this organization and let's work with them. So that it's, it's not me sitting here. I could say all day, Hey, yes, everything's good. And everything's fine. But until you have a third party that comes in and validates that that does your account looks over what, you're the decisions that you're making? I feel like it, it means a little bit more when you're doing that. So that's something that's definitely on my board of director's radar, and it's something that they've instructed me, you know, make sure that you keep this a financial transparency a top priority. So yeah,

Andy - WeHero: I feel, I feel like we should be an ad add for GuideStar

Prairie Blount: A certain

Andy - WeHero: Point. It's funny, Ben and I had a conversation a few days ago just about how we at nonprofits and GuideStar does such a good job around the transparency and the fact that you're kind of reaching for that platinum level, just, I think shows how impressive you are. That is a very difficult place to get. And there's a number of transparent nonprofits that are well below that. And so, yeah, GuideStar does a great job with that. And so I'm glad to hear that you guys are, are really leaning into that.

Prairie Blount: Yeah, definitely.

Andy - WeHero: All right. Last two quick questions here. Sure. If you look out at your organization over the next three years, I wanna hear the one thing that scares you and then the one big opportunity you have.

Prairie Blount: Okay. So I'll start, they're sort of related, I'll start with the, the big opportunity I see for our students over the next three years is is our internship program. We have had just through our amazing partnerships. We've had some opportunities come up that have, that really, really could change students lives, you know, if they lean into that and if they really own those experiences, I could see them making really lifelong career moves based off of these internship experiences. So I'm super excited about that. We're sort of leveling up the program and we're taking it, we're taking we're, like I said, quantity over quality. So we're really thinking about ways that we can add quality material to the internship program specifically. So I'm really excited about that. I think it's, I think it's something that our students really, really benefit from. And personally, I, I have benefited from just amazing internships that have turned into mentoring relationships with, with a people in my field that have really taken me under their wing and have helped me.

Prairie Blount: So the, the goal of the program is to do kind of mirror that and to do that. And it's a huge challenge, but it's also a huge opportunity and it's amazing to see the changes that these students create there. Like a, I said earlier, they're just absolutely brilliant. And so that is exciting and that's a huge that's, that's a huge plus in the future. The challenge always for nonprofits is how to we get there, how do we pay for this? I have students and I have corporations and I have the, you know, tribal partners that are all ready, willing, and able, but how do we make sure that we can connect the dots and how do we make sure that we can keep the lights on. And I think that's probably a challenge for all nonprofits, especially in 2020 2021, we've seen a major shift in funding sources for us that have always been very stable and almost, you know, these relationships that we've had multi years with different organizations and different foundations.

Prairie Blount: They're, they, they they're pulling back because of, you know, the shift in the market. And it's been an interesting to, it's been a really a coup you know, the last 18 months have been a really defining era, I think and a lot of new partnerships have come out of that. So I'm very thankful, but as the, as the director in the back of my mind is always, how do we make sure that Ables around not, not for this year and next year, but for 10, 15, 20 year in the future, you know, really trying to think ahead and trying to make sure that we can do this work because it's been validated over and over and over again, the, the work that we're doing with our students it's meaningful to them. And a lot of them look, really look forward to interacting with our programs and have gotten lot out of our program. So how do I, how, how do I be a responsible relative and how do I make sure that this organization is set up and can continue after I'm gone? You know, my daughter she's eight years old and she always says she wants to be the director of ail. So how do I make sure that she can, we're

Andy - WeHero: Gonna have some competition in a little bit here.

Prairie Blount: I know.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah, exactly. It's what you said is such a relevant point because we've heard this again and again, from, you know, our nonprofit partners is, you know, the funding sources have really shifted a lot. And I think we understand that from the outside. I think companies understand that individuals understand that, but what is so hard for you sitting in this seat is you can see the impact that you could be making. Yeah. But you need to, it's a delicate balance and it's obviously why your job is so challenging and yeah. And the importance of having good leaders at these, you know, not on profits is so essential. So,

Prairie Blount: Yeah, and I, I, like I said, there has been a shift, but I feel like there's almost been a realignment too. Like the, like partners are coming to us that that really, really understand and really, really wanna support our mission. And for that, I am very grateful and I am thankful because it just for brings an extra amount of understanding and it, it just brings that it really ties you together with a partner when you guys are headed in the same direction. And so I've been, I've been thankful for that, despite all of the challenges and the, the things that have happened in the past you know, year or two, I feel like it's shaking us down to making us really be rock solid. Why are you doing this? What's your purpose here? What, what change and, and what are you trying to contribute to Indian country? So it's calling us to be more clear, and that has also resonated with our partners. So I guess just buckle we're along for the ride on this, but you know, I'm, I'm happy to still be working and I'm happy to still be supporting students in any capacity that we can.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. Yeah. Well, Prairie, thank you for the time today. I know you're very busy and you have a lot to do, but I appreciate you taking the time and excited for, you know, the companies we work with to learn more about what you guys do and, and drive support your way. So thank you again. I really appreciate it. And if anyone has any questions for Prairie, feel free to reach out on their website. We'll have that linked into notes here. As you can tell, she's very inspirational and would probably love to talk to you about the different initiatives that they're pursuing. So thank you again, and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

Prairie Blount: Thank you so much. I appreciate the opportunity.