Native Power Building Summit Recap

Hundreds of Native leaders gathered at the 2026 Native Power Building Summit, hosted by Advance Native Political Leadership and co-sponsored by Mission Telecom Giving, and I left deeply grateful to have been a part of it.

This year’s Summit focused on the vital work of building bridges across movements. Leaders from Maremoto, a new Mission Telecom Giving grantee working to build Latino civic, cultural, and media power, spoke about who gets to tell Latino stories. Nsé, a member of our board of directors, joined a conversation on cultural organizing, and Dakota Hall of Alliance for Youth Organizing contributed to the gathering as well.

Mission Telecom Giving was honored to co-sponsor the Summit alongside Women Donors Network and Donors of Color Network—peer organizations I have been part of and helped shape. Advance’s acknowledgment of that support from the stage at the close of the day was deeply meaningful.

Being in a room with hundreds of Native leaders was a first for me. It reinforced the importance of gatherings led by the communities building political and cultural power—and our responsibility to keep showing up in support.

– Ashindi Maxton, Director of Mission Telecom Giving