Danielle Forward: Empowering Indigenous People Through Tech, Entrepreneurship
Danielle: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! Indigenous people have the highest rates of poverty in the US, the lowest college graduation rates, and the highest rates of “deaths of despair”—meaning deaths from suicide, drug use, and alcohol abuse. Without healing the underlying pain in our communities, these statistics will continue. But to heal the suffering, people need self-sufficiency. They need to be able to pay their bills, and they need good jobs to do that. So that’s where we started: jobs. Natives Rising is a 501c3 nonprofit where we help Indigenous people get good jobs in tech, graduate college with tech degrees, and become entrepreneurs. We offer a holistic approach where we provide emotional support and wellbeing coaching to help heal trauma and self-limiting beliefs.