Native Americans and Board Representation on America’s Largest Foundations

This research report finds that Native Americans continue to be underrepresented on the boards of directors of America’s largest foundations.

The report analyzes demographic data collected on the boards of directors of 158 large U.S. foundations and finds that only 7% of America’s largest foundations have Native American board representation and Native Americans make up only 4/5th of 1% (.8%) of foundation board of director members.

The report notes that 93% of America’s largest foundations do not have any Native American representation on their board of directors.

With this report, First Nations calls for foundations across the U.S. to actively take steps to increase Native American representation on their boards of directors. The report notes that having greater Native representation on foundation boards is imperative to helping foundations learn about Native communities and reminding foundation boards and staff­ that the inclusion of Native communities must be central to any foundation strategy.