Thriving Indigenous Systems Fund grants $9.2 million to 31 organizations

Through the Thriving Indigenous Systems Fund (TISF), Vancouver Foundation is putting $9.2 million to work — supporting 31 Indigenous-led initiatives that are changing systems through healing, land, rights and responsibilities, and culture. 

“It’s inspiring to see the work that’s being done, restoring and revitalizing systems that really were almost taken away,” said Nina Zetchus, Senior Manager of Granting at Vancouver Foundation, who oversaw the grant program.

Zetchus and the granting team, along with a dozen Community Advisors, sifted through more than 130 applications. They reviewed them carefully in two stages. In each stage, Community Advisors considered how well the applications fit with the grant's purpose, how to give out the funds equitably, and how to ensure funding reaches the most remote parts of B.C.  

The granting team reviewed many applications rooted in caring for the land, reconnecting with traditional food systems, and healing from the ongoing impacts of colonization. Most applicants requested funding to revitalize languages, hold ceremonies, run land-based camps, and bring Elders and youth together. But underlying all this work is a shared understanding that the challenges communities face and the solutions they lead are all deeply connected, said Zetchus.  

Building on strengths

And among successful applications, a bigger pattern emerged.  

"The theme was celebration," Zetchus said. "They were writing from their strengths and expanding on how they were deepening their work that's rooted in community, instead of just addressing something as if it's a deficit.  It was about restoring systems that were already in place, not reinventing the wheel." 

"To have these stories and get a glimpse into this kind of resistance — it's just hope," she said.  

The Thriving Indigenous Systems Fund was designed to create the conditions for systemic change through preserving, evolving, and transforming the social, political, economic, and cultural systems of Indigenous communities in B.C. Successful applicants are awarded flexible, multi-year grants of up $100,000 per year for three years. The fund's next grant cycle opens in 2027.