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Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Tribal Connectivity Program Deadline

This is an important reminder that the deadline for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) is coming up tomorrow, September 1 at 11:59 PM PDT. This is a statutory deadline and cannot be modified. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) held a TBCP webinar on August 24, 2021, in which they highlighted the following points:

  • Make sure that applications uploaded to grants.gov are submitted. You must go into the system and hit the submit button.

  • There may be a possibility for other forms of submission, but you must contact NTIA ASAP.

  • Applications that may not be perfect but still contain all of the required information should still be submitted. Applications can

    • ...
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Thursday, August 12, 2021

ILA: Mentorship Matters

The Indigenous Leadership Academy (ILA)  is excited to announce the hiring of Dr. Denise Bates, PhD as the ILA Curriculum Writer! You can read more about Dr. Bates here. 

Have you ever been given a responsibility that you felt was out of your depth? Did you apply to a program and thought, “now what?” as you waited to hear back from the program? Did you ever wish you had an extra set of eyes and someone to bounce next step ideas off of and gain their insights? If you answered “yes” to any of the above mentioned questions, mentorship is the answer. Mentorship is a wonderful tool to...

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Wednesday, August 4, 2021

A Weekend at Tribal Wireless Bootcamp

Image Credit: Christopher Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, for the Internet Society

Knowing how technology works on the ground is key to successful broadband policy and research. To increase my own knowledge to better serve Tribal Nations through AIPI’s work, I spent the July 4th weekend at the Tribal Wireless Bootcamp at Rantanen Ranch in Southern California. The bootcamp was a chance to learn firsthand how Tribes can deploy their own wireless internet networks.

The Tribal Wireless Bootcamp was funded by the Internet Society, and my role was to determine the replicability of the bootcamp. To gather more information and insight, AIPI is surveying...

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Saturday, July 10, 2021

Eight Years of Leadership

July is upon us and it is my work anniversary at ASU. I’m now starting my eighth year at AIPI and ASU. As I reflect on the last seven years, I’m astounded at the changes in our lives, at the university, and at AIPI, all while being thankful for all the folks who’ve helped and supported my vision along the way.  I’m also excited about what’s to come as we’re hitting our stride with more growth on the horizon.

First, I have to convey my gratitude. There are some colleagues at ASU that made it possible for me to do what I’ve envisioned including Jacob Moore, Bryan Brayboy, Karen Mossberger, former Dean...

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Monday, June 14, 2021

Emergency Broadband Benefit Program Update

On Monday, June 7, 2021, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) under the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the launch of a new data dashboard which tracks the progress of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB). The EBB Data Dashboard was established to monitor the number of claims made to the EBB Program and sorts the claims into categories by state and Tribes. The dashboard will also provide information on the amount of money spent throughout the duration of the EBB program. 

As of June 6, 2021, the dashboard shows 61,442 claims made from households on Tribal Lands. Unfortunately, the data does not specify which areas these claims...

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Thursday, June 10, 2021

The Intersection of Activism and Academia

This past weekend (June 5th - 7th) I went to the White Earth Nation in Northern Minnesota to witness the Treaty People Gathering on Treaty rights and Tribal sovereignty. This event brought together more than 1,000 people from across the country to learn about Tribal sovereignty, Treaty rights, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) surrounding the Line 3 Pipeline. 

Line 3 is a pipeline that runs through North Dakota and Minnesota through to Wisconsin. It is called a replacement pipeline project because it takes an older pipeline out of commission and replaces it with a new pipeline. This replacement project, however, runs along a new route, which crosses over 200...

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Monday, June 7, 2021

Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program

Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, and Secretary Gina Raimondo announced the launch of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. The program consists of $1 billion in grants from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and will be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration(NTIA). Grants under this program can be used for broadband deployment, digital inclusion, workforce development, telehealth and distance learning.

  • .Applications are due September 1, 2021 at 11:59pm PDT.

  • Eligible entities must submit a single application by the application deadline to be eligible for program funding.

  • The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is not a formula or block grant program and a single application for

    • ...
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Saturday, June 5, 2021

Empowering the Next Set of Native Leaders

As AIPI grows, I think a lot about building the next generation of leaders. I think about who will replace me and my colleagues, as well as who will do the hard work on behalf of Tribal Nations in 10 years. I think a lot about not only building on this foundation, but also scaling it. I feel a great responsibility to create a pipeline of learning and mentorship. I am grateful to ASU leadership for their support of this vision, including President Michael Crow, Vice President Bryan Brayboy; Asst. Vice President Jacob Moore; Dean Koppell, and Dean Lietz. I am grateful for funders who also support this vision including...

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Friday, May 28, 2021

What Rutherford Falls Taught Me About Being a Native Young Professional

Like the rest of Indian Country, I was excited when I saw the trailer for Rutherford Falls. What initially stood out to me is that the show takes place in the present day. This represented a welcome change from the way I’m used to seeing Native Americans represented in mass media. Unlike other forms of Native representation, Rutherford Falls illustrates the modern Native American experience in all its complexity. By developing a wide range of characters, the show works to diminish the one-dimensional way Native Americans are generally portrayed: either in Western films and TV shows, or as people who are only defined by our historical trauma.

 Just when I...

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Thursday, May 13, 2021

U.S. Treasury Announces Distribution of American Rescue Plan Funds

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) granted a total of $31.2 billion to Indian Country, including the agencies that serve Tribal nations. The bill was signed on March 11, 2021 and directed the U.S. Treasury to distribute $20 billion directly to Tribal governments through the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund. The legislation gave broad discretion to the Treasury by stating that, “(i) $1 billion is to be allocated equally among eligible Tribal governments and (ii) $19 billion is to be allocated to Tribal governments in a manner determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.”

The Treasury held five Tribal consultations on the distribution of ARP funding throughout March and...

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