Redwood Region RISE Announces 26 New Micro-Investment Awardees

The Redwood Region RISE (RRRISE) Collaborative is proud to announce 26 new projects selected for funding through the Elevate Fund — a micro-investment initiative designed to fuel community-led economic development across our region. From Indigenous cultural revitalization to workforce training, cooperative housing, and creative enterprise, this cohort reflects the breadth of vision and depth of community leadership taking root across the Redwood Region.

The Elevate Fund was established by the Collaborative’s Equity Committee to direct resources toward new projects, collaboratives, nonprofits, and businesses led by or serving communities that have historically been left out of economic development — including Tribal members, communities of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA2S+ residents, youth, older adults, and people involved with the criminal justice system.

Meet the Elevate Fund Awardees

• A Mother's Village - A Mother's Village: Cultivating a living village culture in Humboldt County where mothers, children, and families are deeply supported and resourced through pregnancy, postpartum, and early childhood with nourishing meals, childcare, sacred circles, and community-rooted care. 

• Abundant Beauty for Mental Health - Bling Brow Bar: Building a curriculum that teaches beauty professionals how to integrate mental health resources and supportive conversations into their client services. 

• Adaptive Culinary Program Expansion - Vision of Hope Village: Expanding an Adaptive Culinary Program in Lake County to provide structured, hands-on vocational and life skills training for adults with developmental differences. 

• Aquilli Metzli & College of the Redwoods Shively Dry Farm Collaboration - Aquilli Metzli: Partnering an Indigenous-Latine worker cooperative with a student farm to preserve traditional Milpa dry-farming methods while establishing a sustainable tortilla factory. 

• Back to The Fire Tribal Lifeway and Resources Center - Back to The Fire Tribal Lifeway and Resources Center: Establishing a new nonprofit to provide culturally grounded support, advocacy, education, and land-based healing to Native American families, youth, and justice-involved relatives. 

• Blue Lake Tribal Manufacturing Laser Expansion - Blue Lake Rancheria: Acquiring a fiber laser system to expand the Tribe's advanced manufacturing capabilities, creating skilled employment opportunities and strengthening economic self-sufficiency. 

• Breaking Cycles: Youth Healing & Prevention - Not My Addiction: Supporting children and teens impacted by parental substance use through peer mentorship, guided journaling, and career exploration to break intergenerational cycles of addiction. 

• Building KDT Photography: A Redwood Region Creative Enterprise - KDT Photography: Transitioning an Indigenous-owned photography business into a formally established LLC by funding professional systems, insurance, and advanced technical certification. 

• Cámara de Comercio Humboldt (CdCH) - Redwood Coast Chamber Foundation: Focusing on uplifting and strengthening the local Latinx business community through culturally accessible education, networking, and economic advocacy. 

• Culture Entrepreneurship for Round Valley - Round Valley Indian Tribes: Creating a nonprofit that empowers Native artists and culture-based innovators to build sustainable businesses by blending traditional skills with modern business tools. 

• DreamMaker B-JEDI Leadership Workshops - Ink People: The Ink People will support DreamMaker Program Leaders to share a series of Learning Labs where participants will deepen their understanding and practice of Belonging, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion implementation strategies in the North Coast region. 

• Honoring Tradition, Healing Generations: A Cultural Competency & Reentry Pilot - Native American Spiritual Leaders of California: A new initiative designed to support Native youth and community members in rebuilding their lives after incarceration through culturally relevant training, mentorship, and community reconnection. 

• Hoopa Family Gardens - Valerie Richards-Leiner: Securing organic certification, purchasing essential supplies, and launching a youth mentorship program focused on building raised-bed gardens to supply fresh produce to tribal nutrition programs. 

• Indigenous Rise Studio: Foundation Year (Capacity Building + Website Launch) - Indigenous Rise Studio: Establishing the operating foundation of a newly formed creative studio to advance workforce development, storytelling, and healthy workplaces through Indigenous-centered design. 

• Kindergarten Round-up - Lakeport Elementary: A family-centered event where community members can share a meal while connecting with caregivers on early education information, childcare options, and community supportive services to ensure household stability and student success. 

• Lake Mendocino Destination Park - Greater Ukiah Business and Tourism Alliance: Transforming a nine-acre site into an inclusive recreation hub featuring cultural spaces, eco-friendly infrastructure, and a mobile business incubator to boost local tourism.

• Mo HD Creates Creative Enterprise Expansion Project - Mo HD Creates: Formalizing and scaling the operations of a grassroots creative consulting business to increase earned income, create paid opportunities for local collaborators, and better serve historically underserved communities in the Redwood Region. 

• Nahdiyaw Youth - Hoopa Valley Tribe: Helping a Hoopa Valley Tribe nonprofit file for 501(c)(3) status to begin targeted fundraising and grant writing based on a recent community needs survey. 

• Queer Non-nuclear Community Land Trust in Humboldt County (entity name pending) - Ashton Hamm: Establishing a land trust to provide stable, flexible, and accessible cooperative housing models for LGBTQIA2S+ and non-traditional families. 

• Red Wing Ranch - Red Wing Ranch: Developing a community-based creative residency that brings youth and adult mentors together through artistic workshops and performances focused on social change and environmental stewardship. 

• SeaForester - Earth Equity: Establishing a worker-owned seaweed farm and reentry organization in Klamath to provide holistic support and food sovereignty to system-impacted tribal members while revitalizing coastal ecosystems and reducing recidivism. 

• Standing On Business - Jaime Gutierrez: Establishing a new, native-owned LLC designed to provide local employment opportunities for Native Americans while addressing regional junk removal and wildfire fuel reduction needs. 

• Stories of our Community - Moloney Media: Providing professional photography and videography services to underrepresented local small businesses to amplify their cultural contributions and increase their market visibility. 

• The Noyo Bida Second Annual Event - Noya Bida Truth Project: Supporting an Indigenous-majority volunteer board in launching educational initiatives focused on California tribal genocide, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), and restorative environmental justice. 

• Zappa Montag - Black to the Land: A multi-faceted community empowerment organization seeking to create healthy connections to nature, and create pathways for Black folks to connect and be in community in proximity to nature.

What Comes Next

All 26 awardees are invited to a Kick-Off Zoom event in mid-June, where they'll connect with one another and with the broader RRRISE network. Every project is also eligible to receive one-on-one technical assistance through mid-August 2026 to help turn their plans into reality.

About Redwood Region RISE

Redwood Region RISE (Resilient Inclusive Sustainable Economy) is a regional collaboration bringing together 175+ organizations and thousands of residents across Tribal Lands and Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties to create and implement sector plans for good jobs and stronger communities. The Elevate Fund is one expression of that vision — a belief that lasting regional prosperity starts with the communities and leaders closest to the ground. Learn more about Redwood Region RISE 

Congratulations to all 26 awardees. We can't wait to see what you build!