Thriving Women
Thriving Women addresses gender oppression by focusing on Native Women-led work that responds to, prevents, and remedies issues of violence against Native Women and Girls.
Thriving Women supports Indigenous women-led, community-based projects that empower Native Peoples to address gender violence and restore wellness for the individual, family, and community. The program recognizes the inherent link between violence against Native Women, Girls and Two-Spirit relatives, and the wellbeing of the Earth. Overall, the program nurtures healthy and thriving Native communities, with the vision of reclaiming a world without violence against Native Peoples.
As an overarching intended impact, Thriving Women aims to reclaim Indigenous lifeways and co-build community models that centralize relational accountability, collective wellness, spirituality, tradition, and Earth-consciousness by supporting Native Women-led projects through the following pathways:
- A World Without Violence Against Women – Projects under this pathway include leadership development, emergency shelter, crisis support services, issue advocacy, educational workshops, and traditional approaches to healing and protection.
- Birthkeeping, Motherhood, and Kinship – Projects under this pathway centralize traditional birthing systems, motherhood, and kinship-building, such as midwifery, prenatal community education, and sisterhood convenings/groups.
- Cultural Continuity – Projects under this pathway support Native Identity development and cultural education, such as on ancestral languages, traditional foods, and lands, coming-of-age ceremonies.
The critical need to respond to and support the work of Thriving Women continues to grow.
