November 3, 2022 – Grow with Google’s Digital Coaches program and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) are announcing a Digital Coach for Native and Indigenous-owned small businesses (SMBs). The program hosts local workshops, provides hands-on coaching, and offers opportunities to meet and learn from successful local businesses. The company’s philanthropy, Google.org, is also providing a $750,000 grant to NCAI to support the organization’s digital skilling efforts. NCAI will use this investment to foster a community of learning and to share best IT practices with Native and Indigenous-owned SMBs.

“While Native-owned small businesses have grown over the past thirty years and are significant contributors to growing tribal economies, entrepreneurial parity is still unrealized,” said NCAI President Fawn Sharp. “This is a key reason why NCAI is excited to continue our partnership with Grow with Google to bring the digital skills necessary to help Indian Country businesses thrive.”

Nearly 80% of SMB leaders noted that adopting digital tools during the last two years created new opportunities for their business. To help more SMBs access digital tools, Jake Foreman will serve as the Grow with Google Digital Coach for Indigenous-owned businesses, hosting digital skills workshops specifically serving Indigenous communities. Jake is a Program Director at New Mexico Community Capital (NMCC) which provides culturally appropriate tools for success to emerging Indigenous-owned businesses, families, and tribal enterprises. In his new role as a Digital Coach, Jake will now bring these resources to Indigenous-owned businesses across Indian Country.

"Through the Grow with Google Digital Coaches program, we've seen firsthand how small businesses can reach their full economic potential when they have access to digital tools," said Lucy Pinto, Manager, Grow with Google Digital Coaches. "We're proud to continue our partnership with NCAI and to work with our new Digital Coach to expand access to digital skills in Native and Indigenous communities. Their strong expertise will help more Native and Indigenous-owned small businesses across the country thrive online, reach new customers, and unlock additional sources of revenue."

This initiative builds on a previous $1.25M Google.org grant to NCAI and the success of an NCAI pilot training program that was created with support from Grow with Google. Since 2017, the Grow with Google Digital Coaches program has trained more than 160,000 Black and Latino-owned SMBs, and with the help of Jake and NCAI, it will now expand to help Indigenous entrepreneurs increase their economic potential and thrive online. Learn more about the Grow with Google Digital Coaches Program and upcoming workshops here.

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About Grow with Google
Grow with Google was started in 2017 to help Americans grow their skills, careers and businesses. It provides training, tools and expertise to help small business owners, veterans and military families, jobseekers and students, educators, startups and developers. Since Grow with Google’s inception, it has helped more than nine million Americans develop new skills. Grow with Google has a network of more than 8,500 partner organizations like libraries, schools, small business development centers, chambers of commerce and nonprofits to help people coast-to-coast.

About the National Congress of American Indians
Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country. NCAI advocates on behalf of tribal governments and communities, promoting strong tribal-federal government-to-government policies, and promoting a better understanding among the general public regarding American Indian and Alaska Native governments, people and rights. For more information, visit www.ncai.org