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Vanessa Roanhorse: Forging Stronger Pathways for Indigenous Women

Ryan Honeyman
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Today we have a powerful and important conversation with Vanessa Roanhorse, the CEO of Roanhorse Consulting and the Co-Founder of Native Women Lead. Our guest has dedicated her life to building wealth and power for indigenous women, investing in community initiatives, and firmly putting people back at the center of this conversation.

Vanessa also sits on the board of Native Community Capital, Delta Institute, Zebras Unite, and is an advisor to the Angels of Impact Fund and the Decolonizing Wealth Project. All these branches of her work share the common goal of creating a better future for marginalized people through representation and access, and in today's conversation, we get to hear all about how Vanessa thinks about and approaches her work.

We talk about the importance of trying, and how an open-hearted attitude towards learning and mistakes is so valuable in the social enterprise world. Vanessa also touches on the vital component of capital, and how collectivism and cooperation can make all the difference in network and community work. So without further ado, make sure to listen with us as we go deep with this amazing guest!

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Key Points From This Episode:

  • Vanessa's path to her current work; unexpected turns, family decisions, and important connections. 

  • The biggest barriers standing in the way of native women in social enterprises.  

  • Lessons that Vanessa learned in the early days when she started Roanhorse Consulting

  • The amazing grant that Vanessa and Native Women Lead have received from Equality Can't Wait!

  • How culture informs Vanessa's work and the value of this approach for her.

  • Ways to support indigenous entrepreneurs; Vanessa shares her thoughts on the best routes. 

  • Vanessa's experiences in The Boston Impact Initiative and her reasons for getting involved. 

  • A call to action from Vanessa and how you can connect with her and her important work.  

  • The message of patience and self-care that Vanessa believes we all need!

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Tweetables:

“That is one of the biggest challenges, is the never-ending work to not only reclaim our narrative, but to address the invisibilization that has happened to native and indigenous people.” — @vrroanhorse

“America is built on colonization, patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism.” — @vrroanhorse

“I am still going to meetings and panels and spaces where I am definitely the only indigenous woman. I hope in ten years it doesn't look like this though.” — @vrroanhorse

“It is very difficult to learn something new in an environment and through a story that isn't yours.” — @vrroanhorse

“We have to be on a healing journey, but the only way to be healing around that journey, is that we need to be in more positions of decision-making as indigenous people.” — @vrroanhorse

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Roanhorse Consulting — https://roanhorseconsulting.com/

Vanessa Roanhorse on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessaroanhorse

Vanessa Roanhorse on Twitter — https://twitter.com/vrroanhorse

Native Women Lead — https://www.nativewomenlead.org/

New Mexico Association of Grantmakers — https://www.centerfornonprofitexcellence.org/

Native Community Capital — https://nativecap.org/

Delta Institute — https://delta-institute.org/

Zebras Unite — https://zebrasunite.coop/

Angels of Impact — https://www.angelsofimpact.com/

Decolonizing Wealth — https://decolonizingwealth.com/team/

Equality Can't Wait — https://www.equalitycantwait.com/

Decolonizing Wealth — https://www.powells.com/book/decolonizing-wealth-9781523097890

Edgar Villanueva — https://www.edgarvillanueva.net/

The Boston Impact Initiative — https://bostonimpact.org/

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