Wabanaki Benefit Foundation’s mission is to honor our ancestors' dream of the health and prosperity of our people, through fostering our collective traditions of respectful relationships and giving.
Wabanaki Benefit Foundation’s mission is to honor our ancestors' dream of the health and prosperity of our people, through fostering our collective traditions of respectful relationships and giving.
Wabanaki Benefit Foundation was born out of the process and fundraising to support the creation of the new Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument’s Tekαkαpimək Contact Station. Upon receipt of $1 million added by donors' request as part of the Monumental Welcome fundraising campaign, the Tekαkαpimək Wabanaki Advisory Board decided to create a 501(c)(3) public charity, Wabanaki Benefit Foundation.
The $1 million serves as seed money for a permanent endowment, which we intend to grow with contributions from Maine philanthropists and regional and national foundations.
Annual interest earned by investing endowed funds will produce a self-renewing pool of money to be disbursed as grants, create more pathways for philanthropy to flow to Wabanaki communities, and cover operations of the foundation itself. This will allow significant financial resources to return to Wabanaki Country, creating intergenerational wealth to be stewarded and disbursed by Wabanaki people.
Toward these ends, we have already incorporated in the State of Maine, obtained our Federal EIN and Maine Charitable Solicitation License, adopted bylaws, received our federal 501(c)(3) designation, and have our funds invested under management by Goldman Sachs, with whom we have created a values-based investment policy.
