Joseph Kalt
Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy, Emeritus
Project on Indigenous Governance and Development
Working to understand and foster the conditions for sustained, self-determined social and economic development among American Indian nations.
Contact Info
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Sovereignty matters.
After decades of being shut out from resources that help communities achieve flourishing economies, societies, and educational opportunities, Native Nations are now undergoing a remarkable renaissance.
This resurgence is powered by a movement to exercise rights to self-determination on matters like government structure, natural resource management, economic development, health care, and social service provision.
The Project on Indigenous Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School is working alongside these Nations to deepen this movement by equipping Indigenous peoples with the tools they need to govern effectively and to strengthen their economic, social, and cultural fabrics.
Meet the Team
Megan Minoka Hill
Senior Program Director, Project on Indigenous Governance and Development; Director, Honoring Nations
Melissa Yazzie
Assistant Director, Outreach and Communications, Project on Indigenous Governance and Development
Eleanore Lammers-Lewis
Program and Faculty Assistant, Project on Indigenous Governance and Development
The latest news, resources, and research
Feature
Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Are Key to Environmental Protection, Says Ford Foundation Mason Fellow David Cotacachi
From the Andes to Washington, D.C., David Cotacachi has spent his life advocating for Indigenous rights and lands.
Media Release
National Search Yields Six Innovative Native Programs For Harvard’s 2021 Honoring Nations Awards in Governance
Media Release
New Research Recommends Allocation & Administration of ARPA Funding for Tribal Governments
Policy Brief
Recommendations for Allocation and Administration of American Rescue Plan Act Funding for American Indian Tribal Governments
Policy Brief
Emerging Stronger than Before: Guidelines for the Federal Role in American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes’ Recovery from the COVID‐19 Pandemic
Video
On the Front Lines: Tribal Nations Take on COVID-19
Like governments around the world, America’s 574 federally recognized tribal nations were racing to protect their citizens from the coronavirus. Impacting tribes at a rate four times higher than the US population, the pandemic was testing the limits of tribal public health infrastructures.
Media Release
Researchers Release Proposal for Fair Distribution of Response Funds to Native Nations
Researchers from Harvard, the University of Arizona, and University of California, Los Angeles today released its proposal for fairly allocating the $8 billion of Title V CARES Act monies earmarked for the governments of federally recognized American Indian and Alaskan Native nations.
Policy Brief
Dissecting the US Treasury Department’s Round 1 Allocations of CARES Act COVID‐19 Relief Funding for Tribal Governments
Media Release
Research Critiques Allocations of Federal CARES Act COVID-19 Response Funds to Indian Country
Research finds that Treasury has employed a population data series that produces arbitrary and capricious “over-” and “under-representations” of tribes’ enrolled citizens.
Media Release
Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development releases research on allocation of COVID‐19 response funds
Policy Brief
Policy Memo Regarding the Allocation of COVID-19 Response Funds to American Indian Nations
Media Release