The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (The National Center) was recently awarded a $75,000 grant from the UPS Foundation. The National Center will use the grant to further develop and promote the Native Edge portal – the organization’s innovative online platform that connects Native job seekers with employers, provides interactive educational business content and trainings as well as procurement opportunities to its users. It is also using the financial support to continue the Native Edge Institutes, which are one-day training events designed to provide the latest information and insights into government and small business contracting and procurement. The UPS Foundation has supported the National Center for many years, including sponsorship of the upcoming 2020 Reservation Economic Summit. The Foundation drives global corporate citizenship and philanthropic programs for UPS (NYSE:UPS).
“The National Center is honored to have the continued support of The UPS Foundation as we further develop the Native Edge portal and Native Edge Institutes,” said Chris James, National Center President and CEO. “UPS and The UPS Foundation have been tremendous partners with our organization through the years and have shown incredible corporate leadership. The National Center looks forward to strengthening this partnership as we continue our important economic development work.”
The Native Edge portal is an online community designed to be a one-stop-shop for doing business in Indian Country. It has four distinct components:
The Hire Edge, which helps Native American business owners find employees, and job seekers to find potential employers. It also helps Corporate Diversity Recruiters exceed their diversity goals by matching them with Native American workforce.The Native to Native (N2N) Edge community allows businesses and entrepreneurs to network with each other and initiate new relationships.The Training Edge, which provides business owners and their employees with interactive tools and training sessions to help in their professional development.The Procurement Edge, which is a database for both federal and corporate procurement opportunities, and also allows for Native-owned businesses to partner and team with each other.
The Native Edge Institutes seek to provide much of the content and expertise found in the Native Edge portal through one-day training events. The first was held in 2018, and have taken place across the country – from Alaska to Florida and New Mexico to Maine.
Established in 1951 and based in Atlanta, GA, The UPS Foundation identifies specific areas where its backing clearly impacts social issues. In support of this strategic approach, The UPS Foundation has identified the following focus areas for giving: volunteerism, diversity, community safety and the environment. The UPS Foundation can be found on the web at UPS.com/foundation. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.
