10/18/2009 Strive to Thrive

Host: Laura Waterman-Wittstock,
Guests: Joe Selvaggio David Nicholson

Joe Selvaggio leads MicroLoans/Grants:http://www.microgrants.net, a local organization with global potential. Joe finds industrious lower-income people with an idea or opportunity for improving their lives. He evaluates their one-page plans and makes a judgment about their abilities to carry it out. With a reasonable chance of success, he grants them $1,000 for implementation. Typical grants go for computers for home-based businesses, construction tools, office equipment and supplies, books, job training, tuition, licenses for day care or cleaning businesses, insurance, down payments on cars and even working capital.

David Nicholson is program director at the Headwaters Foundation for Justice:http://www.headwatersfoundation.org
David will discuss the Fund of the Sacred Circle and give some examples of current grantees. The Fund of the Sacred Circle (FSC) supports Native leadership working to ensure that indigenous cultures are honored, American Indians are treated with fairness and equity, and that the sovereignty and self-determination of Native people is secure. The fund is Native-led, supporting projects that address systemic injustice affecting American Indian communities. The fund is a partnership of Native activists and donors of all backgrounds, supported by Headwaters Foundation for Justice and the Wisconsin Community Fund.