MICA Group Inc - Multi-Indigenous Collaborative for Action

THE MICA GROUP CONNECT TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES WITH THE PEOPLE AND RESOURCES THEY NEED TO REACH THEIR GOALS. BY HONORING CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND INDIGENOUS WAYS OF KNOWING, WE SEEK TO CREATE A JUST, HUMANE, AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD.

The MICA Group envisions a world in which Indigenous cultures have a voice, equitable resources, and

Goal One: MICA partners with Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities to reach goals they set for themselves, drawing on a pool of world-class experts to bring new frameworks & resources to Indian Country.

Goal Two: Honor Tribal requests to "move the needle" on language, cultural revitalization, and site protection programs at the Tribal level.

Goal Three: Expand access to high quality broadband internet access to bridge the digital divide in Indian Country.

Executive Director receives ongoing executive coaching and completed fundraising training with Raising Change; management staff was certified in mediation; administrative staff attended Community Law Center training in fiscal sponsorship; Executive Director attended fiscal sponsorship legal training with Venable, Baetjer and Howard.

In response to COVID and its disproportionately negative impacts in Indian country, MICA added a new focus area to our work – Bridging the Digital Divide for K-12 Schools in Indian Country – a project that ultimately supports Native students in their homes and at their schools by helping tribes roll out their own high speed internet networks to ensure that all houses, schools, and government buildings on Tribal lands have reliable internet coverage. In late 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asked us to use our network of Tribal contacts to help facilitate pro bono broadband buildout advice from a cadre of volunteer, retired broadband experts (former high level directors of technology for big tech companies like Cisco, Bell Labs, and Lucent) who had to stepped forward to share expertise. In early 2021, we began vetting the volunteers and providing a series of cultural competency trainings before tribal interactions began. We bolstered our team by recruiting an additional volunteer who managed an Ojibwe Tribe's successful 6-year broadband buildout. In April 2021, we piloted the volunteers with a Minnesota tribe that has moved forward quickly on their plans to provide high speed fiber internet to each home on its reservation. Our program quickly proved very successful, and we have expanded our services to seven other Tribes, offering engineering plans, technical assistance, consulting, troubleshooting, and assistance with grant writing - all at no charge to the tribe. As a result of our work, MICA was the only Native-led organization selected by the USDA for their Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge grant.