About

Decolonizing Wealth Project is an Indigenous-led racial justice organization that envisions a world where racial equity has become a societal norm – where new systems ensure everyone can live their best lives, thrive in their cultures, and heal from generations of colonial trauma. Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) was established in 2018 to disrupt the existing systems of moving and controlling capital by offering truth, reconciliation, and healing from the ails of colonization through education, radical reparative giving, and narrative change.

The California Truth & Healing Council (the “Council” or “CTHC”), created by Executive Order N-15-19, bears witness to, records, examines existing documentation of, and receives California Native American narratives regarding the historical relationship between the State of California and California Native Americans in order to clarify the historical record of such relationship in the spirit of truth and healing. The Council’s mission is facilitated by the Governor’s Tribal Advisor and includes representatives from California Native American tribes, relevant state and local agencies, and other relevant non-governmental stakeholders. The Council works in consultation with California Native American tribes to shape the overarching focus and develop the work of the Council and will endeavor to accurately represent the diversity of experience of California Native Americans within the State of California.

To support this process, Liberated Capital, a fund of Decolonizing Wealth Project, is launching a new multi-year grantmaking initiative, the California Truth and Healing Fund, to support the engagement of California Native American families, communities, tribes and organizations in the healing opportunities presented in this process and advance the broader objectives of the Council, including to galvanize philanthropy to support the recommendations from the Council’s report.  Funding decisions will be guided by an advisory board of CA Native Americans.

CURRENT ELIGIBILITY & CRITERIA:

• California Native American tribes  (Note: non-federally recognized tribes are eligible to apply through a 501(c)(3) or be fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3))
• California Native-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, coalitions or projects fiscally-sponsored by a 501(c)(3) based in California.
  • Native-led defined: the organization’s Board of Directors and Executive leadership must be majority California Native-led, and must primarily service California Natives.
  • California Native-led organizations, coalitions or projects must name and provide Letters of Support from the CA tribe(s) they propose to engage, or tribally-affiliated references.
• Individuals are not eligible at this time.
• Funding must be used for charitable purposes (no lobbying).
• Funding cannot be used for efforts in opposition to other tribes or tribal entities.
• Grant amounts will range from $5,000 to $50,000.

Funding priorities of the California Truth and Healing Fund are listed below in order of priority and will shift over time as the work progresses. Current funding priorities should include activities that directly support the goals of engagement with the Truth and Healing process, such as:

• Efforts to spread awareness and increase community engagement of CA Native Americans in the Truth and Healing process of the Council.  The fund will prioritize statewide and regional organizations and coalitions that can provide awareness, community engagement and logistical or capacity support to engage with the Council.
• Logistical or capacity support to attend and engage in the Council meetings and hearings.  These activities may include:
  • Funding for transportation, lodging, childcare, meeting space and other supports that address potential barriers to CA Native participation in the statewide process.
  • To Find a schedule of the CA Truth & Healing Council meetings and hearings, visit: https://tribalaffairs.ca.gov/cthc/meetings/
• Efforts to bring together California Native Americans intra or inter-tribally to discuss, plan or otherwise prepare for engaging in the Council process or to engage in independent truth and healing work with and among tribes.
• Tribal history, research and narrative work that supports the goals of the Council process, such as the digitization  of tribal history, research, narratives, documentation of land loss, cultural items, or archival material, etc.  This may include:
  • Efforts to record first-hand accounts and first person narratives that captures oral history, clarifies and corrects the historical record, addresses grievances, and/or promotes truth-telling.
• Support for traditional healing programs or efforts connected to tribal or intra-tribal Truth & Healing processes
• Capacity-building for Tribes, like research and planning, to support California Native land-back efforts. This can include resources for legal support, capacity-building for land back claims, retrieving historical documentation, engaging anthropological or scientific support to support claims, capacity building for how to create tribal land trusts, capacity building regarding tribal co-management, and/or other tribal planning needs. This does not include resources to purchase land.
  • Please note again: Funding cannot be used for land-back efforts or land-back claims that are in opposition to other tribes or tribal entities.

Key Dates

• Proposal Deadline: November 15, 2022 at 5:00 PM Pacific Time.
• Decision Announced: December 8, 2022

How to Apply

Application

JustFund offers a common proposal model designed to save organizations time. For questions about how to submit your proposal, please refer to JustFund’s Help Center or contact [email protected].

JustFund's Common Proposal Narrative Questions (Required)

• Proposal Summary (max 140 characters): Think of this like a tweet. Please tell us about the mission of this proposal in a couple of sentences.
• Proposal Description (recommended 2500 - 3500 characters): Tell us about your proposal. Please be sure to include information about the community your proposal will serve.
• Team Description (recommended 1250 - 2500 characters): Tell us about who comprises the team. (Please remember that the proposing organization’s Board of Directors and Executive leadership must be majority California Native-led, and must primarily service California Natives.)
• Financial Need (recommended 1250 - 2500 characters): Please describe what you will use the funding for.

Supplemental Questions (Required)

• The mission of the California Truth & Healing Council is to bear witness to, record, examine existing documentation of, and receive California Native American narratives regarding the historical relationship between the State of California and California Native Americans in order to clarify the historical record of such relationship in the spirit of truth and healing. How does your work propose to address or advance any or all of these goals and how do you plan to engage community members in this work?
• Other than financial, what barriers are you facing to fully participate in this truth and healing process? What strategies are you considering to overcome them?

Attachments

• Leadership and Team Bios (Please remember that the proposing organization’s Board of Directors and Executive leadership must be majority California Native-led, and must primarily service California Natives.) (Required)
•  Program Budget & Work Plan (Required)
•  Letters of Support from CA tribe(s) or tribally-affiliated references (Required for CA Native-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, coalitions or projects fiscally-sponsored by a 501(c)(3) based in CA - Not Required for CA Tribes)

Contact Us

For questions, or if you need assistance with submitting your application, please reach out to our team at [email protected], subject line: CA Truth and Healing Fund.

For technical assistance with the JustFund platform, contact [email protected].