First Peoples Fund
First Peoples Fund is a 1999-founded Rapid City, South Dakota nonprofit that supports American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian artists and culture bearers through fellowships, grants, awards, and physical arts facilities on Pine Ridge Reservation.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersRapid City, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What First Peoples Fund does
First Peoples Fund is a 501(c)-equivalent nonprofit organization founded in 1999 and headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota. It supports American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian artists and culture bearers through a portfolio of fellowships (Artist in Business Leadership, Cultural Capital, Native Performing Arts), grants (Yéigo Action Grant, Native Arts Ecology Building Grant), the Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award, and physical facilities including the Oglala Lakota Artspace on the Pine Ridge Reservation and the Wicahpi Olowan Music Program. The organization has built what it calls an "Indigenous Arts Ecology"—a relationship-based, collective system grounded in ancestral knowledge that serves thousands of Native artists and culture bearers through annual fellowship cohorts, convenings, an artist directory, and ecosystem-level research.
Its technology footprint is modest: a website (firstpeoplesfund.org) hosting program information and the artist directory, donation processing via Classy.org, a podcast (Collective Spirit), email newsletter, and active social media channels. There is no proprietary software product, API, or AI capability. Research outputs—Measuring What Matters and Brightening the Spotlight, produced with NORC at the University of Chicago—constitute primary knowledge assets and influence external arts-funding frameworks.
First Peoples Fund operates on a donation-and-grant revenue model, drawing on individual contributions, corporate sponsorships, and foundation grants from entities including the Wallace Foundation and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. It does not sell products or services; instead, it disburses funds (e.g., $10,000 one-year fellowships, $150,000 annual NPA Fellowship cohort, $120,000 first-year NPA Live Production Grants). Distribution is community-led via direct applications, the artist directory, in-person convenings, and partner organizations such as Artspace, Lakota Funds, Sealaska Heritage Institute, and Perseverance Theatre.
First Peoples Fund firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- First Peoples Fund
- Legal name
- First Peoples Fund
- Website
- https://firstpeoplesfund.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- First Peoples Fund is a 1999-founded Rapid City, South Dakota nonprofit that supports American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian artists and culture bearers through fellowships, grants, awards, and physical arts facilities on Pine Ridge Reservation.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
First Peoples Fund industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Nonprofit Arts and Culture Support
- NAICS
- Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Indigenous, Ethnic & Folk Arts/Heritage Organizations (BPAGAHAI), Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)
Keywords
Where First Peoples Fund is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Rapid City
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
First Peoples Fund business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Donations and Charitable Contributions: First Peoples Fund generates revenue through individual donations, corporate sponsorships, and charitable contributions from supporters. They accept donations through their website via Classy.org platform.
- Foundation Grants: The organization receives funding from foundations including the Wallace Foundation and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for research and program delivery. These grants support fellowships, research initiatives, and operational costs.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
First Peoples Fund product offering
Product offeringCore offering
First Peoples Fund is a nonprofit grantmaking and program-delivery organization that supports Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian artists and culture bearers. It provides fellowships (Artist in Business Leadership, Cultural Capital, Native Performing Arts), grants (Yéigo Action Grant, Native Arts Ecology Building Grant), the Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award, and physical infrastructure such as the Oglala Lakota Artspace. Programs combine financial support, professional development, mentorship, and convenings to help Native artists build sustainable careers and preserve ancestral knowledge.
Product overview
First Peoples Fund is a nonprofit organization offering a comprehensive portfolio of programs to support Native artists, culture bearers, and communities. The organization provides fellowships (Artist in Business Leadership, Cultural Capital, and Native Performing Arts), grants (Yéigo Action Grant, Native Arts Ecology Building Grant), awards (Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award), and physical facilities (Oglala Lakota Artspace, Wicahpi Olowan Music Program). Additional offerings include the Intercultural Leadership Institute, Rooted Pathways, and an Artists Directory. The portfolio is designed to address the full spectrum of artist needs from emergency financial assistance to long-term professional development and cultural preservation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Fellowships (Artist in Business Leadership, Cultural Capital, Native Performing Arts) Year-long fellowship programs providing financial grants ($10,000) and technical support to Native artists and culture bearers, including the Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship for entrepreneur-artists, the Cultural Capital Fellowship for practitioners of ancestral knowledge, and the Native Performing Arts Fellowship for performers.
- Native Performing Arts Program Comprehensive program supporting Native performing artists through fellowships, live production grants, professional development training, mentorship, and annual fellowship convenings to help build sustainable careers in theater, music, dance, and other performing arts.
- Yéigo Action Grant Quick-turn financial assistance grants for individual Native artists and culture bearers to cover artistic opportunities, emergency situations, or sudden unanticipated expenses related to their art practice or business.
- Oglala Lakota Artspace (OLA) Arts facility on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Kyle, South Dakota, administered by Oglala Lakota Artspace LLC in partnership with Artspace, Lakota Funds, and First Peoples Fund, providing studio space and creative infrastructure for Native artists.
- Wicahpi Olowan Music Program Music program based in Kyle, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, supporting Indigenous artists through free workshops, concerts, jam sessions, and other musical opportunities.
- Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award Nomination-only award given to practicing Native artists of any medium, including music, dance, clothing design, basket weaving, beading, storytelling, and more, in both traditional and contemporary forms.
- Native Arts Ecology Building Grant Grant program supporting the development and strengthening of Indigenous arts ecosystems in Native communities through ecosystem-level investments.
- Intercultural Leadership Institute Program providing leadership development and intercultural collaboration opportunities for participants across Indigenous and allied communities.
- Rooted Pathways Program supporting Native artists in developing their professional paths within Indigenous creative practice.
- OLA Artist-in-Residence Program Residency program at the Oglala Lakota Artspace providing studio space and creative support for Native artists working on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
- Native Artist Professional Development Professional development opportunities for Native artists including training, mentorship, and skill-building workshops.
- Artists Directory Online directory featuring thousands of Native artists and culture bearers from across the country practicing in a variety of creative mediums.
Quantifiable outcome
- 79% of home-based enterprises on Pine Ridge Reservation consist of traditional arts, supporting economic development in Native communities
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use First Peoples Fund
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
First Peoples Fund technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
First Peoples Fund partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- ArtspacecoreArtspace partnered with First Peoples Fund and Lakota Funds to create the Oglala Lakota Artspace (OLA), an arts facility on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation completed in 2021. OLA is administered by Oglala Lakota Artspace LLC, a partnership between Artspace, Lakota Funds, and First Peoples Fund.
- Lakota FundscoreLakota Funds partnered with First Peoples Fund and Artspace to create the Oglala Lakota Artspace (OLA), an arts facility on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation completed in 2021.
- NORC at the University of ChicagocoreNORC at the University of Chicago partnered with First Peoples Fund on the Measuring What Matters research report, interviewing 78 Native creators and experts. Also partnered on Brightening the Spotlight study with 46 Native creators.
- Colorado State UniversityminorColorado State University partnered on the 2011 American Indian Creative Economy Market Study Project examining household economics, infrastructure needs, and social networks of Native artists.
- Leveraging Investments in CreativityminorLeveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) partnered on the 2011 American Indian Creative Economy Market Study Project examining household economics, infrastructure needs, and social networks of Native artists.
- Perseverance TheatreminorPerseverance Theatre partnered with Sealaska Heritage Institute and First Peoples Fund on the Tlingit Opera production, part of the NPA Live Production Grant program. Perseverance Theatre's mission is to produce professional theatre by and for Alaskans.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
First Peoples Fund competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Ford Foundation: Major national foundation with a dedicated Future of Work(ers) and Just Cities portfolios intersecting with Indigenous arts and culture; similar scale of arts grantmaking but operates across a much broader portfolio.
- Bush Foundation: Large regional foundation with explicit focus on Native communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin — overlapping geographic and beneficiary overlap with First Peoples Fund and overlapping Native-led grantmaking practice.
- Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: Largest US arts-focused foundation funding arts and culture across the country, including Indigenous arts initiatives — comparable in mission focus on cultural expression but at a substantially larger scale.
- Rasmuson Foundation: Alaska-based foundation supporting arts, culture, and Indigenous communities with grants to individuals and organizations — a regional peer with similar fellowship/grant architecture and shared Alaska Native beneficiary base.
- National Endowment for the Arts: Federal arts grantmaking agency funding Native American arts and traditional arts programs nationwide — comparable at the funding-mechanism level though substantially larger scale and broader mandate.
Direct peers
- Lannan Foundation: Private family foundation with a dedicated Indigenous Arts program supporting Native artists, writers, and culture bearers through fellowships and grants — overlapping program architecture with First Peoples Fund's fellowship portfolio.
- The Christensen Fund: Foundation focused on Indigenous-led environmental and cultural stewardship, including direct grantmaking to Indigenous artists, knowledge holders, and community organizations — comparable mission and funding mechanisms.
- Native Arts and Cultures Foundation: A national Indigenous-led arts grantmaker explicitly serving Native artists, culture bearers, and communities; the closest functional analog to First Peoples Fund with overlapping fellowship-style grant programs and Native-led governance.
- Joan Mitchell Foundation: National foundation providing fellowships and grants to individual artists, including programs for Indigenous and emerging artists — directly comparable individual-artist grant mechanism to First Peoples Fund's fellowships.
- Artspace: National nonprofit focused on creating and operating affordable live/work and arts space for artists, including the Oglala Lakota Artspace partnership with First Peoples Fund — comparable arts-infrastructure mission and partner.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
First Peoples Fund social profiles
Digital presenceFirst Peoples Fund financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
First Peoples Fund leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
First Peoples Fund funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
First Peoples Fund M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about First Peoples Fund
What does First Peoples Fund do?
First Peoples Fund is a nonprofit grantmaking and program-delivery organization that supports Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian artists and culture bearers. It provides fellowships (Artist in Business Leadership, Cultural Capital, Native Performing Arts), grants (Yéigo Action Grant, Native Arts Ecology Building Grant), the Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award, and physical infrastructure such as the Oglala Lakota Artspace. Programs combine financial support, professional development, mentorship, and convenings to help Native artists build sustainable careers and preserve ancestral knowledge.
Is First Peoples Fund a public or private company?
First Peoples Fund is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was First Peoples Fund founded?
First Peoples Fund was founded in 1999. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is First Peoples Fund based?
First Peoples Fund is headquartered in Rapid City, United States, in the North America region.
How does First Peoples Fund make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Donations and Charitable Contributions are the primary driver. The others are foundation Grants.
Who are First Peoples Fund's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Ford Foundation, Bush Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts. Direct peers are Lannan Foundation, The Christensen Fund, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, Joan Mitchell Foundation and Artspace.
Does First Peoples Fund have an API?
No public API is recorded for First Peoples Fund.
What industry is First Peoples Fund in?
First Peoples Fund's product category is Nonprofit Arts and Culture Support. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAJ, Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations, with a secondary code of BPAGAHAI, Indigenous, Ethnic & Folk Arts/Heritage Organizations. Its NAICS code is 81321 and its SIC code is 8600.