Big Ideas, Real Impact.
The Raven Collective Thriving Community Fund
We walk alongside Indigenous leaders to design health systems that are relational, regenerative, and rooted in Indigenous knowledge—now and for future generations.
The Raven Collective Thriving Community Initiative is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to advancing Indigenous health by fostering innovation, storytelling, and Indigenous-led solutions. We create spaces where elders, healers, and thought leaders collaborate to reimagine health systems, challenge structural violence, and embed Indigenous values into care models. Through strategic visioning, advocacy, and generational programming, we ensure that Indigenous wisdom shapes the future of community well-being. Our work is grounded in the belief that health is a collective responsibility, and thriving communities emerge when care is rooted in reciprocity, relationship, and Indigenous ways of knowing.
Each spring, as the days grew longer and the rivers began to rise with snowmelt, the oolichan returned. Shimmering silver in the cold waters, they swam inland in long, glistening ribbons—tiny but mighty, their arrival a lifeline after a long winter.
To Tsimshian, the oolichan is more than just a fish. It is known as the “savior fish,” a bearer of nourishment, medicine, and memory. It fed families, lit lamps, and oiled the hands of elders who passed stories down with every stir of the pot.
My grandmother used to tell me stories of the oolichan harvest—she loved her oolichan grease. “That’s medicine,” she’d say, rubbing it on her hands, spooning it onto dried fish or potatoes. “That’s what kept us alive—and together.”
She said the oolichan taught us not just how to survive, but how to share. Grease trails—ancient trade routes formed by Indigenous nations across the Northwest—carried not just the shimmering oil of this humble fish, but news, kinship, stories, and care. They were arteries of mutual aid, of intertribal connection, of thriving.
Today, as we work to restore balance in our health systems, the oolichan reminds us of what it means to be in relationship: to move upstream even when the currents are strong, to nourish others along the way, and to arrive not just for ourselves—but for the whole community.
At the Thriving Community Fund, we carry this story forward. Like the oolichan, we continually return to what matters most: our relationships, our responsibilities, and our vision of shared thriving.
Relational Leadership
Relational leadership is at the heart of how The Raven Collective works. We believe meaningful and lasting change happens through relationships built on trust, respect, and shared responsibility—not through top-down solutions.
We walk alongside Tribes, Urban Indian organizations, and Indigenous-serving partners as collaborators, listeners, and connectors. Our role is often to help hold space across community, clinical, public health, and policy systems—ensuring Indigenous voices, values, and priorities guide decision-making at every step.
What Relational Leadership Looks Like in Practice
Leading with listening.
We begin by listening—to community members, frontline staff, leaders, and Elders—to understand context, history, and existing strengths. Projects are shaped by community-defined priorities rather than externally imposed agendas.
Bridging systems with care.
We support partners in navigating complex systems while keeping relationships and community wellbeing at the center. This includes translating between community knowledge, clinical practice, public health frameworks, and funding or policy requirements without compromising sovereignty or values.
Bridging systems with care.
We support partners in navigating complex systems while keeping relationships and community wellbeing at the center. This includes translating between community knowledge, clinical practice, public health frameworks, and funding or policy requirements without compromising sovereignty or values.
Co-creation and shared leadership.
Our work is designed and carried out collaboratively. We co-develop strategies, research, training, and tools with partners, adapting approaches as needs and realities evolve. Leadership is shared, and expertise is recognized in lived experience as well as formal roles.
Centering trust and accountability.
Relational leadership means being accountable to people, not just deliverables. We prioritize transparency, follow-through, and the return of knowledge and resources to communities in meaningful and usable ways.
Uplifting Indigenous knowledge and leadership.
We intentionally create space for Indigenous practitioners, community health workers, and leaders to be visible, supported, and resourced—recognizing that Indigenous communities already hold the knowledge needed for healing and systems transformation.
Staying present for the long term.
We understand that systems change is ongoing and often non-linear. Relational leadership means staying engaged through uncertainty, transitions, and shifting funding landscapes, and continuing to support partners beyond short-term projects.
Our Commitment
For The Raven Collective, relational leadership is not a strategy—it is a responsibility. We approach every partnership with humility, reciprocity, and care, honoring the relationships that make collective healing, innovation, and wellbeing possible.
WHAT WE DO
Community health Aide Programming
The Raven Collective Thriving Community Initiative brings a deeply experienced, Indigenous-led approach to Community Health Aide Program (CHAP) implementation, grounded in more than 50 years of combined experience across our core team and collaborators. Our partners have worked extensively within tribal communities, directly implementing CHAP and supporting tribal health and education systems, with a shared commitment to advancing CHAP as a comprehensive, community-rooted system rather than a standalone workforce solution. Our work is guided by Indigenous leadership, honoring Tribal sovereignty, cultural values, and community-driven priorities through direct engagement with tribal governments, health programs, health professionals, and community members.
Once a shared vision and goals are established, we build deliberate and meticulous foundational infrastructure, supported by rigorous documentation to ensure sustainability, continuity of care, prevention, and long-term program growth.
2SLGBTQ+ Health Equity
We are committed to advancing health equity for Two-Spirit, transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive relatives across Indigenous communities. We recognize that gender diversity has always existed in our cultures and that healing includes honoring the full identities of all our people.
Our work supports the development of affirming, culturally grounded, and trauma-informed care through workforce training, technical assistance, systems change, research, and evaluation. We partner with communities to uplift Indigenous-led models of care, reduce stigma, and expand access to gender-affirming services that reflect the sacredness and sovereignty of every person.
