Feel Good Friday - Indian Land Tenure Foundation

Native American Heritage Month is off to a great start with recent elections of Deb Haaland as the nation's first Native American woman governor and Peggy Flanagan as the first Native American woman Senator. Let’s keep the good news rolling with a spotlight on Indian Land Tenure Foundation.

Founded in 2002 and based in Little Canada, Minnesota, Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) “is a national, community-based organization serving American Indian nations and people in the recovery and control of their rightful homelands.” Their motto says it simply: Indian Lands in Indian Hands.

ILTF has a variety of programs that “promote education, increase cultural awareness, create economic opportunity, and reform the legal and administrative systems that prevent Indian people from owning and controlling reservation lands.”

Their Land Internship Program funds paid summer internships for high school students in tribal land offices, where they learn how land is managed and protected. The Indian Land Capital Company, a certified community development financial institution, finances tribal land purchases. The Beyond Land Acknowledgement Fund invites people to go a step past a statement and help tribal nations buy land back. Lessons of Our Land is a Pre-K through grade 12 curriculum that educators can bring into local schools. Their Native Youth GIS Project  taught 19 Native high school students to map their own histories and relationships to land, and they work to help reverse the effects of the Dawes Act, the federal law that broke up tribal lands.

The impact is significant. ILTF highlights the 2022 restoration of 28,089 acres to the Bois Forte Band, which they describe as the largest private land restoration project in U.S. and Indian Country history based on available data. This year they granted more than $180,000 to 18 tribal land offices for summer internships, and their first Native Land Conference in March drew 300 attendees. They are also partnering with the Brookings Institution and the American Indian College Fund on a Meriam Report centennial initiative planned for release in 2028.

Ready to help put Indian lands back into Indian hands? You can make a donation, find ways to take action, and follow ILTF on Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Happy Native American Heritage Month! 

Feel Good Friday - Fair Elections Center

With so much at stake in the 2026 midterms, and Election Day this Tuesday, November 3rd, I'm spotlighting another voting-related organization. Time to learn more about Fair Elections Center.

Founded in 2006 as the Fair Elections Legal Network and headquartered in Washington, D.C., Fair Elections Center is "a non-partisan organization dedicated to safeguarding the future of our democracy through innovative efforts focused on voting rights and civic engagement." Their vision is "a civic ecosystem where all people can easily and freely participate in our democracy and where this participation is actively supported and valued by our local communities, institutions and government."

Their work happens through three programs. The Voting Rights Project uncovers under-the-radar violations of the right to vote, sues to enforce federal and state law, and pushes for court orders that stop election officials from treating similar eligible voters differently. Campus Vote Project partners with colleges, faculty, students and election officials to reduce barriers to student voting, including through the Voter Friendly Campus designation. The Work Elections Project gathers poll worker requirements, pay rates and applications for thousands of jurisdictions in one place, making it easier to serve at the polls.

The reach is big. Campus Vote Project now includes more than 360 colleges and universities across 41 states, serving over 4.6 million students. In 2020 alone, Power the Polls, co-founded by Fair Elections Center, helped 700,000 people apply to be poll workers!

With Tuesday around the corner, their 2026 Election Survival Guide, which they update regularly, is a great place to start. It covers how to make a plan to vote, know your rights at the polls and make sure your mail-in ballot counts. Their state voter guides lay out the rules where you live.

The best way to support Fair Elections Center and the work they do is to vote. You can also make a donation, shop Campus Vote Project merchandise and/or sign up to be a poll worker. Don’t forget to amplify their message on social media. Follow Fair Elections Center on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn and share their election resources with your network.

Happy voting! 

Feel Good Friday - U.S. Vote Foundation

Election Day is November 3, just 11 days away, so this week I'm featuring U.S. Vote Foundation.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, the mission of U.S. Vote Foundation (US Vote) is "Every Citizen is a Voter." The goal is open access to voter information so every citizen can easily take part in democracy. It began as Overseas Vote, helping Americans abroad cast ballots, and now serves domestic, overseas and military voters alike.

Voting rules differ across all 50 states and more than 7,900 local election offices, resulting in many people who want to vote feeling unsure how, where or when to do it.

US Vote's free, nonpartisan website clears up that confusion. The Am I Registered? tool sends you straight to your official state lookup. The site also produces state-specific absentee ballot request forms and lists your local election office and key dates and deadlines. The Voter Journey Map turns your situation into a personalized how-to-vote checklist and the Voter Help Desk answers individual voting questions. Overseas Vote offers the same help to citizens abroad and military families.

US Vote has had a big impact. In 2024, 5.6 million voters were welcomed on its websites, nearly double the number in 2020! Through five presidential elections, US Vote and Overseas Vote have helped tens of millions of voters figure out the how, where and when of voting. Its civic data is also licensed to more than 50 organizations, including the League of Women Voters and the U.S. Postal Service.

With Election Day close, here's how US Vote can help. If you're voting by mail, check the Ballot Return Options chart for your state, then track your ballot with Where's My Ballot?. If you're heading to the polls, use the Polling Place Finder and review your state's voter ID rules.

Sharing these tools with a friend who has questions is one way you can support US Vote, and there are many others. You can make a donation, become a monthly Foundation Member, and amplify their message on social media. Follow US Vote on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or YouTube and share their voter tools with your network.

Happy voting!