Programs Overview

Who and what are Citizen Leaders?

Citizen leaders are members of the community to whom others naturally turn for help. Different terms have been used to describe these individuals, including local community leaders, involved citizens, and active community volunteers. There is a growing recognition of the importance of citizen leaders in underserved communities, many which are home to ethnic and racial minority groups–people who have been historically marginalized from institutionalized education, leadership roles, and cultural, environmental, and health care systems. Learn more

  • Indigenous Scholars of Promise is a college preparation program that provides Native American and Latino high school juniors and seniors in Montana with training, mentoring, and support services to help them prepare to apply to the colleges/universities of their choice. ISP scholars have a 3.0 GPA or above and are considering applying to colleges or universities.

  • Scholars of Promise is a college preparation program that provides Montana's current and former foster care teens, homeless teens, teens in kinship care with training, mentoring, and support services to help them prepare to apply to the colleges of their choice. A former foster care teen in college may also apply.

  • The Medical Mentorship Program provides minority undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in the field of medicine with mentorship support. The Medical Mentorship Program is offered in partnership with the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WWAMI) Regional Medical Education Program.

  • Hopa Mountain, Salish Kootenai College, and Blackfeet Community College cooperatively offer an innovative Native Science Fellows program for Native American undergraduate and graduate students to participate in community-based science organizations in an effort to increase their engagement in higher education and geosciences careers.

  • Strengthening the Circle, a partnership of Seventh Generation Fund, Generations Indigenous Ways, WolfStar PR, and Artemisia Associates aims to build the capacities of experienced and emerging Native-led nonprofit organizations that are working to improve economic development, education, and social services on or near reservations. This Native Nonprofit Leadership Program consists of a four-day workshop for forty executive directors and Board members with follow-up training and technical assistance. 

  • Local Food for Local Families is an innovative network organized by Hopa Mountain, Mission West Community Development Partners, Local Food Marketplace, Livingston Food Resource Center, Community Food and Agriculture Coalition (CFAC), Western Montana Growers Cooperative, Great Northern Development Corporation (GNDC), and the Montana Food Bank Network that is supporting the development, coordination, and expansion of rural and tribal food hubs to increase access to Montana produced agricultural products.

  • These workshops can be scheduled for your community or staff and board:

    • Strategic Planning Workshop.

    • Creating Boards that Lead: A Discourse on Nonprofit Board Development, Board Operations and Responsibilities.

    • An Introduction to 501c3s & Good Grand Writing.

    • An Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry.

    • An Introduction to LC3 Companies as Tools for Social Change.