If you are passionate about leading your nonprofit organization to fulfill the mission and serve the community, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofit’s Performance Management Leadership Institute is for you. Join the 2012 Institute to gain skills and tools to become a more effective leader and to create a more dynamic organization. At its core, the 9-month Performance Management Leadership Institute intertwines principles of nonprofit organizational management and leadership development into a training program that guides participants toward implementing a performance management system. The Institute tuition is $2,250, but participants will be enrolled for free due to MCN’s generous funding partners. The 9-month Institute is open to nonprofit staff or board members working in Northern or Central Minnesota. The Institute will meet in the Brainerd/Little Falls area for monthly training and networking sessions, January through September, 2012.
 
Come learn more about the 2012 Performance Management Leadership Institute at one of seven statewide informational sessions or via webinar. Decide if this is a good fit for you and your organization. Informational meetings / webinars will take place at the following times and locations (click link to register and to find specific location of each session):

Duluth, Monday, September 12, 2-3 p.m.
Grand Rapids, Tuesday, September 13, 9-10 a.m.
Bemidji, Tuesday, September 13, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Brainerd, Wednesday, September 14, 10-11 a.m.
Alexandria, Wednesday, September 14, 2-3 p.m.
Willmar, Thursday, September 15, 9-10 a.m.
St. Cloud, Thursday, September 15, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Webinar, Friday, September 16, 9-10 a.m.
Webinar, Monday, October 17, 1-2 p.m.

Sign up now to see if the Performance Management Leadership Institute is right for you! Learn about the Institute’s time commitment, curriculum and application process (application deadline is October 27, 2011). The informational sessions are free; RSVP required. Or contact Paul Masiarchin at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, (651) 757-3087 or pmasiarchin@minnesotanonprofits.org.
 
First Peoples Fund depends on grant support for much of the work that we do.  We are humbled and honored to have been the recipients of several recent grants.

Thanks to The Kresge Foundation, LINC (Leveraging Investments in Creativity) and the Nathan Cummings Foundation which together will to help us expand our training and technical assistance to Native artists in Minnesota (along with support from the McKnight Foundation), Wisconsin and Maine in partnership with Native Community Development Financial Institutions (NCDFIs) and partners.

A two-year grant from the Ford Foundation will help FPF facilitate Native artists to create, exhibit and produce new works outside of specific Native arts markets and venues through exchanges, exhibitions, performances, residencies and distant learning.

We are also grateful for other recent 2011 supporters of our work, including: Bush Foundation, Administration for Native Americans, Northwest Area Foundation, HRK Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Open Society Foundations, and the Wylie Foundation.
New FPF Board Member
 
Ron MartinezRonald Martinez Looking Elk (Isleta/Taos Pueblo) joined the FPF board earlier this year. Ron is Director of Indigenous Leadership Initiatives at Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) in Albuquerque, NM, where he has facilitated and helped create Indigenous networks throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Ron also works to develop curriculum and planning in AIOs American Indian Ambassadors Program, a national initiative designed to help early to mid-career Native American/Alaskan Native/Hawaiian Native professionals strengthen- within an Indigenous cultural context- their ability to improve the well being and growth of their communities.

Ron is a traditional Pueblo potter and international award winning artist. His work has been featured in over 18 countries and is included in many national collections in Korea, Germany, and New Zealand and at the Smithsonian and Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in the U.S. We're pleased to welcome Ron to the FPF board.