Invisibility is a modern manifestation of systemic racism and one of the greatest threats to Native lives and livelihoods. Americans see such outdated stories about Native Americans that 78 percent know little to nothing about native peoples.
IllumiNative is a national, Native woman-led racial and social justice organization dedicated to disrupting this profound erasure. IllumiNative was founded in 2018 to activate the findings of the Reclaiming Native Truth (RNT) project, the largest public opinion research and strategy-setting project ever conducted by, for, and about Native peoples. Since then, they have worked to increase Native representation across key sectors, galvanized support among national audiences, and built power for Native peoples to author their own narrative and future.
IllumiNative utilizes research, narrative and culture change strategies, movement-building, and organizing to disrupt the invisibility of Native peoples, re-educate Americans, and mobilize public support for key Native issues. IllumiNative has played leading roles in nation-wide advocacy campaigns, with impacts ranging from changing racist names of national sports franchises to the appointment of the first Native American Cabinet Secretary.
American society is in an “Indigenous renaissance” created in large part by the efforts of IllumiNative and other Native partners. In 2024, IllumiNative will launch the Natives Vote 24 Campaign, a research-informed model to empower a wave of Native civic engagement across key electoral states. IllumiNative is creating a multi-million-dollar fund to invest in diverse artists and storytellers and uplift contemporary Native voices, stories, and issues.
https://illuminative.org/
Visit the IllumiNative profile page on Skoll.org: https://skoll.wf/49ah7Wt
Crystal Echo Hawk (Pawnee) is the founder and CEO of IllumiNative, the first and only national, Native-led organization focused on changing the narrative about Native peoples on a mass scale. Among IllumiNative’s most noted accomplishments are its leading role helping to achieve the Washington Football Team name change in 2020, advancing contemporary Native representation in TV and film, and organizing a collaborative strategy to support the confirmation of the first Native Cabinet Secretary and Secretary of Interior, Deb Haaland.
Crystal is known nationally as a thought leader, innovator, acclaimed speaker, and skilled executive who builds meaningful collaborations. In leading IllumiNative, she has built partnerships with industry leaders, including Nielsen, Netflix, NBC Universal, Amazon, Disney, Marvel, CAA, and Warner Media. Crystal serves as a member of Nielsen’s External Advisory Council and the Comcast Diversity Council. She was featured in People magazine as one of the “2021 Women Changing the World” and she was profiled in Lifetime’s “Women Making History” hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris, which aired in 2021. In 2022, she was awarded the Evolutionary Award by Pop Culture Collaborative and CAA. In 2023, she was awarded The Elevate Prize.
Michael Johnson (Nuxbaaga/Sahnish/Anishinaabe) is a citizen of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Michael graduated with distinction from University of Colorado Denver majoring in Political Science. Over the last 14 years, Michael has worked to grow and strengthen the educational, health, economic, land conservation, policy, litigation, impact investing and lending, organizing, and power building nonprofit sectors serving Indian Country to create lasting relationships built on respect, reciprocity, impact, and success with communities and allies alike.
An active member of the Just Economy Institute, an integrated capital thinker, and current Treasurer at The Kindle Project, Michael has advocated for Native people on local, national and international platforms, while also representing Tribal communities and working to educate and help philanthropists and investors find value aligned projects throughout Indian Country. A champion of Tribal self-determination and trust-based philanthropy, and a colonial systems disruptor, Michael has supported Native led nonprofits to significantly increase partnerships and revenues, with more than $210 million in grants and $15 million of investments secured to date.
Video Credits
Director: Gabriel Diamond
Editor: Matthew Beighley
Executive Producer: Phil Collis
Camera: Gabriel Diamond, Tekpatl Kuauhtzin, Matthew Beighley
Story Advisors: Jimmie Briggs, Norma Rodriguez
About the Skoll Awards For Social Innovation
The Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Innovation each year to a select group of social innovators whose work targets the root causes of societal problems that are ripe for transformational social change.
https://skoll.org/about/skoll-awards/
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我在印地安国度工作大概25年了 我们的人民和我们的问题显然不为人所注意 我们仍因有害的刻板印象而被误解 是的，他们努力为之奋斗 即使他们是原住民 非原住民不停编造虚假说法 美国文化中没有太多的印第安文化 我们诞生了一个民族 我们理解我们必须改变人们对我们的叙述 早在2015年，我们就开始谈论说 美国公众和主要机构需要改变其对我们的看法 所以我们制定了一个大型研究项目 我们探究了美国公众、主要机构和部门 主要如何叙述印第安人 他们如何看待印第安人 他们为何会有这样的看法 他们如何以不同的方式影响原住民 我们发现近78%的美国人对印第安人知之甚少 美国87％的学校没有教导
1900年以后的印第安人历史 我认为这项研究帮助我们了解 这不仅仅是我们零星几个人的经历 我们的人民在制度上被忽视 过往是这样，这是美国的真相 我想确认一下，因为我们已经加快进度 贯彻落实我们的商业计划 弄清我们的策略是什么 Illuminative代表一种社区时代思潮 旨在解决美国印第安人和土著 缺乏接触主流文化的 叙事机制渠道的问题 激发人们对这项研究的兴趣 因此，Illuminative致力于研究 协调社区成员共同
参与解决问题 从而消除伤害我们社区的比喻和刻板印象 同时提升土著的代表性 开拍 我们的主要部门负责处理 主流文化媒体项目 他们与好莱坞前线合作 好莱坞对我们来说很重要 因为它制作世界上80%的内容 我们在媒体和娱乐行业的代表仅占0.4% 我们明白，如果我们想要打动人心 改变人们对我们的主流说法 媒体和娱乐行业非常重要 在过去的五年里，我们与好莱坞几乎所有 主要的工作室和主播建立关系 将我们的研究成果告知他们 同时我们也竭尽所能地
支持土著创意人员崛起 我们所有人都本色出演 他们想要冒险就会大胆冒险 确实 讲故事的人不必将他们的故事 卖给非土著观众 我们可以吸引观众来观看 土著故事和增加市场份额 而且任何创意人员和这些故事不必作出牺牲 帮助好莱坞理解 你们从此可以在我们的
帮助下讲述我们的故事 今年秋天，我们推出了土著未来调查问卷项目 这是我们仅涉及美国原住民的 最大规模的民意调查 让人们明白这是我们随时了解印第安国度的方式 这是我们自己的人告诉我们的想法 这很重要 我们可以讨论Illuminative 在过去几年里提出的一些棘手问题 比如帮助华盛顿橄榄球队认识到 他们有必要作出改变 因
为他们以字典定义的带种族主义 色彩的术语公然贬损原住民 我们想要什么 正义 我们什么时候需要正义 现在 我看到了国会山的教育水平有所改变 Illuminative发布了改名相关的数据 在那之前，大家各持己见 也许我们得求同存异 但当我们走进会议室说 不，这会影响我们的孩子 这会影响我们的社区 当我们的孩子看见了带种族
主义色彩的吉祥物时会怎么样 我们将呼吁NFL停止种族歧视印第安人 并做一件事，换掉吉祥物 我认为这让我们达到了目的 使众人关注并重视这个问题 现在是时候行动了 为最重要的事情投票 呼吁大家踊跃投票 协调社区成员共同参与解决问题 我们建立了一个让大家前来登记投票的网站 提供许多资源，确保人们觉得自己受到支持 这样他们就没有理由不去投票 我们将关注印第安人选民 如何影响下周的选举 我们目睹土著的投票带来了如此重大的影响 在2020年，印第安人选民以微弱优势 赢得了亚利桑那州 我黛博拉·哈兰德 我黛博拉·哈兰德 郑重宣誓 郑重宣誓 我们的代表人数增多了 哈兰德成为了第一位印第安人内阁部长 2018年，我们有第一批
当选国会议员的原住民女性 我认为我们的想法、实践、盟友 已达到了
临界质量 我们能够为我们的人建设 以前从未有过的基础设施和制度 我认为，对于美国正在发生的原住民复兴 Illuminative扮演重要的角色 借助本土创意内容，IllumiNative的
#TheTimeIsNow活动参与人数达到了7300万人 我们还说服了华盛顿橄榄球队和克利夫兰棒球队
改变了其带种族主义色彩的队名 数百万美元基金将投资于扩大
原住民对主流媒体的接触 扩大原住民的领导力
并支持各艺术家创作有影响力的内容 要消除几十年来的伤害需要几十年的时间 但是，我们值得利用叙事方式 来激励大家和展望美好的未来 我们每天都要有意识地去消除 人们对原住民的种族歧视 并不断提醒美国公众和主要机构 我们不仅存在 我们还不断壮大
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