Resilience Circles: Investing in community resilience

By Lisa Nelson, Resilience Circles Program Director

In collaboration with Jump/Scale, Spruce Root piloted Resilience Circles, a program to support Indigenous entrepreneurs with the goal of promoting regional economic development and community wellbeing. Resilience Circles saw several major developments in 2023, including the hiring of a full-time program director, Lisa Nelson, to lead the project development.

A framework was created to guide the process for the year-long pilot program. Business consultants and wellness practitioners were brought on board. Additionally, the search for the first cohort of participants was launched through a nomination and application process. Ten Southeast Alaska Native entrepreneurs rounded out the inaugural cohort to participate.

Resilience Circles believes that by providing opportunities for healing and wellness, the program will increase the individual success rates of businesses. When people are well, they lift others up and positively impact the overall health, vitality and resilience of their communities.

While recognizing that intergenerational trauma creates limiting beliefs and inequitable access to resources, Resilience Circles finds highly skilled practitioners, career mentors, financial coaches and experts in mental, cultural and lifestyle wellness to create work sessions to strengthen and enhance the success of Native-led businesses in Alaska and set them up for long-term economic resilience.