Alliance Webinar on Applying Learning to Practice: Reflection, Case Studies, and Action Planning

This webinar is the eighth and final session in the Alliance for Early Success Native Communities Learning Project: We Are Still Here. Access recordings of past webinars here. 

Reflections from the Advisory Committee

Members were asked: what is one thing you wish every well-meaning partner understood before they reached out, and one thing you’d encourage them to actually do?

Chelsea Bellon (Inhanktonwan Dakota Oyate (Yankton Sioux)) of the National Indian Health Board was unable to attend but shared written remarks: “Understanding the historical trauma of Native people matters, and understanding it for the region-specific tribal nations you’re working with is key. Go in with historical and foundational information, but never assume you know everything — competency is not humility. Learn from people and elders about context and stories that won’t be found in books or a website search. Partners can’t go back in time to change what happened, but they can work to disrupt current systems to show reparation and respect for the betterment of Native children and families.”

Callie Parr (Little Shell Chippewa Tribe of Montana descendent) of Zero to Five Montana named readiness as the starting point. It isn’t a question of whether tribal communities are ready to partner with you; it’s whether you are ready to partner with tribal communities. That takes intentional learning, intentional listening, and intentional reflection. Before seeking partnership, ask whether you are committed to the time it takes to understand the histories, examine your own beliefs and practices, and build relationships rooted in respect, reciprocity, and accountability — not what you can gain, but what you can gain from each other.

Emma Bigheart (Osage Nation) of Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness returned to a phrase from an earlier session: move at the speed of trust. Ask yourself whether you are ready to be curious and ready to ask questions in a curious, respectful way. She also flagged a common assumption in early childhood: don’t assume a Tribe doesn’t have a service. Many tribal systems are robust enough that families can receive wraparound services and never leave the Tribe.

What it looks like when it’s working. Callie described long-term partnership as something that stops looking like partnership and becomes a true relationship — a friendship where hard conversations are possible. Emma described two organizations with a shared passion for keeping children and families safe, using everyone’s expertise and lived experience along the way. Relationship building, she noted, is a never-ending task. In early childhood, “we are building the plane as we’re flying it,” so patience with each organization’s policies, procedures, funding streams, and timelines is part of the work.

Humility. Emma paired humility with authenticity: humility is knowing there are things you don’t know, and authenticity is showing up with real purpose rather than an extraction agenda. “We’re not selling cars.” This is emotional work that takes patience, kindness, and a passion for children. Callie described humility as walking into every space knowing she has something to learn, and not needing to have all the answers — only the willingness to listen. She cited a group norm from the Early Childhood Tribal Coalition that has become a personal one: lean into discomfort. If she’s uncomfortable, there is probably something to learn. Trust and humility are not built on what we know, but on how we continue to show up.

Structural and budget considerations. Callie spoke to geography in Montana, where reservations and tribal territories are separated by significant distance. Technology is a barrier, as is internet access, printing, and computer access. Organizations need dedicated time and dedicated funding to travel into communities and meet people where they are; technology alone does not meet community needs. Emma started with funding — without funding, there is no work — and named funding and organizational capacity as the two things most likely to look different from what partners are used to. Tribes may have many departments, funding streams, policies, and procedures. She encouraged connecting across the early childhood system (home visiting, child welfare, foster care, child care) and considering a partnership within a partnership when one organization doesn’t have capacity to carry a piece alone.

Timing. Facilitator Tara McLain Manthey (Osage Nation) added a note that policy windows can open fast, and advocacy organizations are geared to move at that speed. Not having a relationship already does not mean the window is closed. Be transparent about the timeline, let the partner decide whether they want to be involved, and ask what resources, space, or values they need to participate in a good way. Don’t assume a Tribe wouldn’t be interested in moving quickly if it benefits their people, and don’t assume they have the capacity, resources, and time to contribute for free.

Coming up. Emma highlighted the OPSR transition summit in September, hosted with the Oklahoma Head Start Collaboration Office and the State Department of Education, where tribal partners will present on how their nations handle transition services and referrals. Callie pointed to monthly coalition meetings as the foundation that makes bigger moments possible, and to Have a Heart for Kids, held every other year during legislative session. She first participated as a parent advocate; last session she brought tribal families to the state capitol to share their stories with legislators and the governor.

Applied learning: case studies

Participants chose between two tracks working fictional scenarios.

Track A — Getting started. An early childhood learning collaborative with a funding opportunity for historically underrepresented communities. Staff had floated inviting tribal leaders to calls, forming an advisory committee, and creating a legislative agenda. No staff had experience with or existing relationships with tribal nations, and the organization hoped to build a coalition within the year. Discussion highlights:

• Guards go up, and for good reason — this is years and centuries of broken trust. Building relationships takes time.
• Start with intentionality. Understand why you want this partnership, and pair authenticity with genuine intention toward the people you’re serving.
• Check the assumptions. Are you asking tribal communities to adapt to your systems rather than being flexible yourself? Avoid cookie-cutter approaches and learn each community’s nuances. Don’t pursue grant dollars for the sake of the dollars.
• Assume work is already happening in the community. Rather than inviting people into your structure, find ways to support the efforts already underway.
• Communities remember consistency. Take the first year to build relationships across all parts of the community.
• Success after one year is the relationship itself. It may also mean re-envisioning the plan, or building flexibility into programming as priorities shift.
• The single best piece of advice: be ready for a different perspective on your programming and willing to receive feedback. Any response is a gift and should be treated as such.
• Callie added that the whole organization has to be on board, not one department. The willingness to learn starts internally.
• It was suggested that organizations new to this work reach out to peers who already have relationships to ask how they did it, or for a warm handoff — but not for the tribal context itself. That belongs to the Tribe.

A tribal participant shared the advice that you are dealing with a sovereign nation, not an agency or a department. The relationship is akin to working with the federal government, and tribal leaders and council will expect a corresponding level of respect. Council meetings are not like other meetings — leaders may be seated above you, and they will come with questions you should be prepared to answer. Getting this wrong closes the door before you’re through it.

Track B — Deepening practice. A policy coalition that had been engaging with tribal and Native communities for several years, facing a significant opportunity on a tight timeline. Discussion highlights:

• Determining whether a tribal partnership is appropriate at all. Advisory Committee member Cheryl Kary (Hunkuotawin (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe), of Sacred Pipe Resource Center, noted that some issues are not governmental functions — they may sit with community organizations or nonprofits, just as a county or city would say a matter isn’t theirs. But don’t make that determination for them.
• The Tribe will tell you if they are interested, and silence is not consent. Do the due diligence — call, text, use the relationship you’ve built over six years. Don’t send a Dear Tribal Leader letter into the void and consider it outreach.
• Tribal elections. On a multi-year effort, leadership may turn over entirely. Some Tribes hold the same leadership for decades; others turn over annually. Build a structure that doesn’t collapse when people or priorities change.
• Shared leadership. Coalitions in Montana, South Dakota, and Oklahoma have been built around adaptability and enough relationship that people can fill in where needed and ask for help. Shared leadership may mean inviting tribal or community leaders to serve as spokespeople, and creating as many pathways to contribute as possible — surveys, offline conversations, evening meetings. Standard community engagement practice applies here.
• When a partner says the opportunity isn’t their priority, there’s no right answer. Ideally the coalition would have known that going in. A mismatch may be a red flag about the grant or the funder’s motives. Build infrastructure that lets community-driven priorities lead the search for opportunities.
• Balancing legislative timelines with relationship-centered decision-making. Emma: legislative advocacy is 365 days a year, and relationship building is 365 days a year. You can’t turn it on a month before bill drafting.
• Emma also offered that change begins with communities. It is okay to think at the community level — your family is your first community. A small idea can make a significant difference in the early childhood system, and brave ideas are worth encouraging.