Philanthropic Initiatives

The Akiing Onji Foundation is an Indigenous-led charity that was founded to promote and preserve Indigenous languages and cultures through culturally appropriate education activities, programs, training, and workshops for the Indigenous community in Manitoba.

Building on the interest of First Nations child and family services leaders to create a national networking organization, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada (the Caring Society) was developed at the Squamish First Nation in 1998 at a national meeting of First Nations child and family service agencies. Meeting delegates agreed that a national nonprofit organization was required to provide research, policy, professional development and networking to support First Nations child and family service agencies in caring for First Nations children, youth and families. An interim board was elected and the plan was approved at a second national meeting at Kingsclear First Nation in 1999. You can read more about the Caring Society and some of their programs in their entry under Foundations of Reconciliation.

Indspire is a national Indigenous registered charity that invests in the education of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people for the long term benefit of these individuals, their families and communities, and Canada. Our vision is to enrich Canada through Indigenous education and by inspiring achievement. In partnership with Indigenous, private and public sector stakeholders, Indspire educates, connects and invests in First Nations, Inuit and Métis people so they will achieve their highest potential.

The NIB Trust Fund was established as a trust in 1975 and in the same year obtained charitable status. Today, the NIB Trust Fund supports education programs aimed at healing, reconciliation, and knowledge building. The goal of the NIB Trust Fund is to help First Nations and Métis people, organizations, and communities address the long-lasting impacts of the Indian residential schools system and to support education programs aimed at healing and reconciliation over many years. All NIB Trust funding is accessed through a competitive application process. To date, the NIB Trust Fund has awarded $49M to 604 Group Beneficiaries to provide language and cultural revitalization programs, back to the land programs, teaching circles, youth camps, traditional kinship connections, student support, certified training, and scholarship programs. In addition, it has awarded $30.1M in funding for 7,131 First Nation and Métis individuals engaged in cultural learning, post-secondary, or training and certification.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is a national Indigenous organization representing political voices of Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit, Transgender, and Gender-Diverse+ (WG2STGD+) People in Canada. NWAC is inclusive of First Nations—on- and off-reserve, status, non-status, and disenfranchised—Inuit, and Métis. An aggregate of Indigenous women’s organizations from across the country, NWAC was founded on a collective goal to enhance, promote, and foster social, economic, cultural, and political well-being of IndigenousWG2STGD+ People in their respective communities and Canadian societies.

The Circle on Philanthropy (The Circle) transforms philanthropy and contributes to positive change between Philanthropy and Indigenous communities by creating spaces of learning, innovation, relationship-building, co-creation, and activation. The Circle works alongside Indigenous-led organizations, Indigenous informed organizations, organizations with Indigenous beneficiaries, our members and philanthropic signatories of The Declaration of Action to encourage individuals and organizations to learn, acknowledge, and understand more about reconciliation and the decolonization of wealth.

True North Aid is dedicated to serving and supporting northern and remote Indigenous communities in Canada through practical humanitarian support. With more than 45% of Indigenous children living below the poverty line, there is much work to be done. The issue facing Indigenous communities in Canada are complex. True North Aid believes that self-governance and self-determination is the key to closing the poverty gap. As a Canadian registered charity, our mandate is to provide practical humanitarian assistance through our core programs. These programs are built upon self-determination efforts and community champions who seek ways to enrich and empower their communities.