#  Statement of Responsibility 

 



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*The Project on Indigenous Governance and Development at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School affirms a responsibility to advance the self-determined governance and flourishing of Indigenous nations, while helping Harvard live up to its historic commitments to Indigenous education and leadership.*

The Harvard Kennedy School Project on Indigenous Governance and Development collaborates with Indigenous nations to strengthen their capacities for effective, self-determined governance and development. The Harvard Project’s mission is to conduct and promote collaborative research, learning, and teaching that improves the political, social, cultural, and economic well-being of all Indigenous peoples, nations, and communities. Our efforts support Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty, the rights to self-determination, and self-governance.

In practice, this means we provide tools, data, and analysis, and when possible pro bono advising, to support Indigenous peoples’ effective governance and strengthen their economic, social, and cultural foundations.

In fulfilling this responsibility, the Harvard Project advances the Harvard Kennedy School’s mission to improve public policy and leadership so people can live in societies that are safer, freer, more just, and more sustainably prosperous. We do so by centering Indigenous self-government as an essential dimension of both public policy and governance in the United States and around the world.

This responsibility is also rooted in Harvard University’s own history and obligations. The 1650 Charter stated that the College would serve, “the advancement of all good literature arts and sciences in Harvard College in Cambridge … all other necessary provisions that may conduce to the education of the English and Indian youth of this country in knowledge and godliness.” Yet it is only in recent years that Harvard has begun to fulfill its commitment to Indigenous education. Today, the Project on Indigenous Governance and Development embraces part of this responsibility and works alongside the Harvard University Native American Program to help Harvard University honor and modernize that commitment—moving beyond the colonial purposes of the early Indian College toward relationships of reciprocity, respect, and repair that support Indigenous nations’ governance, cultural continuity, and community well-being.

With Indigenous senior leadership and guided by mostly Indigenous staff and affiliates, the Harvard Project’s mission is fulfilled through:

**Practical Research & Leadership Development:** The Harvard Project is widely respected for framing, inspiring, documenting, and disseminating the lessons of the Indigenous nation rebuilding movement in North America as well as Australia, New Zealand, and beyond. Building on our long history of supporting Indigenous leaders, we continue to collaborate with the next generation of domestic and international experts in academia, policy, and government sectors.

**Advisory Services:** Over the years, and only at the request of communities and organizations themselves, the Project has conducted more than 500 pro bono field projects, bringing the Harvard Project’s expertise and information to bear on Indigenous concerns that have ranged from constitutional and judicial reform to housing, education, and business development.

**Honoring Nations:** The Harvard Project’s flagship Honoring Nations awards program for innovation and success in the US has allowed us to develop the world’s largest repository of information on effective Indigenous governance. With 148 honorees from more than 100 Native nations since 1998, the program’s awards are the tip of an iceberg. The lessons in leadership, policymaking, and administration are researched, documented, and disseminated to governments—Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike—around the world.

**Learning Platforms & Fellowships:** Programs such as online Nation Building Toolboxes curate best practices from across Indian Country and beyond, enabling Indigenous Nations and communities to learn from each other. Fellowships and research affiliations for Indigenous and non-Indigenous decision-makers and students of contemporary Native affairs are helping to educate both current and emerging leaders, scholars, and policymakers.

**Policy Development:** Through policy briefs and testimony presented to Indigenous, state, and national legislatures and agencies, the Project sets out research-based ideas for reforming policies that have failed Indigenous people for far too long.

**Peer-to-Peer Convenings:** The Harvard Project puts the convening power of Harvard University to work by providing all-too-rare opportunities for serious, high-level deliberations among senior leaders in Indigenous affairs.

**Public Dissemination:** Through venues such as extensive online Google collaborations, Webby Award-winning documentary films, and its status as a reliable and knowledgeable source for the media, the Project works to provide accurate information to policymakers and to the general and Native public.