American Indian College Fund
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Based in Denver, CO, The American Indian College Fund provides scholarships and other support for the nation's 32 tribal colleges and universities. Tribal colleges, the vast majority of which are located on or near reservations, provide opportunity and access to post-secondary education where once there was none. Offering accredited degrees while keeping Indian culture and tradition at the heart of their curricula, tribal colleges are changing the face of Indian education, one graduate at a time.
The Fund disburses approximately 5,000 scholarships annually for American Indian students seeking to better their lives through continued education. As part of its support of the tribal colleges themselves, the Fund also provides support for other needs at the schools ranging from capital support to cultural preservation activities.
For more information visit www.collegefund.org
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[edit] History
In the wake of the civil rights and American Indian self-determination movements of the 1960s, tribal leaders realized they would have to take control of the direction of education in order to reverse centuries of misguided and failed federal education policies.
In 1968, the Navajo Nation created a first-of-its-kind educational institution - a college controlled by the tribe, located on the reservation and established specifically to provide higher education to tribal members. With that monumental event, the tribal college movement was born. Since then, the number of tribal colleges and universities has grown to 32, located in 11 states and serving more than 250 American Indian Nations from every geographic region in the United States.
When the American Indian College Fund was launched, providing scholarship support to the tribal colleges was its primary mission.Tribal colleges are beacons of hope for social and economic change in the communities they serve. These institutions are vital to Native America and beneficial to the country as a whole because they help Native communities in the fight against poverty. At the same time, tribal colleges preserve language and culture by integrating these important elements into their curriculum.
Tribal colleges receive little or no local or state tax support, so corporate, foundation and private donations are crucial. As the success of the tribal colleges grows, so does the need for private-sector support.
Tribal college presidents recognized the need to establish an organization to raise private-sector funds for the colleges and to compliment the efforts of its sister organization, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. As a result, the American Indian College Fund was established in 1989. Originally located in New York City, the Fund's consolidated its headquarters to one Denver, Colorado office in 2002.
[edit] Mission
The American Indian College Fund's mission is to raise scholarship funds for American Indian students at qualified tribal colleges and universities and to generate broad awareness of those institutions and the Fund itself. The organization also raises money and resources for other needs at the schools, including capital projects, operations, endowments or program initiatives, and it will conduct fundraising and related activities for Board-directed initiatives.
[edit] Public Service Campaign
"If I Stay On The Rez"
In 2006, Wieden + Kennedy launched a new PSA campaign for the AICF called "If I Stay on the Rez." A series of five print ads, TV and online creative highlight students who have attended a tribal college and plan to use their education back on the reservation to help their people. The goal of the campaign is to support the AICF’s fundraising efforts, but also to build awareness for the preservation of American culture and history.
