NAES College

Established in Chicago in 1974, NAES College (Native American Educational Service) aimed to improve the leadership of Native communities and to ensure that tribal knowledge, traditions and values play a major role in the higher education of Native students. Before closing its doors in 2007, NAES College offered a single degree, a Bachelor's of Arts in General Studies with an emphasis in Public Policy, and tribal knowledge, community service, community development and leadership.

The Native American Educational Services (NAES) College began the Community Board Training Project (CBTP) as a 2 ½ year program in 1979. The CBTP continued through 1983. During that time, the CBTP was structured to help organizations serving the Native American community to function more efficiently. With Louis Delgado as its director, CBTP sponsored workshops which focused on training in the concepts behind community service agencies, including effective management and technical skills such as planning fiscal management, improving public relations, filing, hiring and using computer technology. During the course of its existence, the program expanded and sought to provide resource materials to community organizations and to offer them technical assistance.

Sol Tax, an anthropologist from the University of Chicago, helped to establish the Native American Educational Services (NAES) in order help Native Americans to acquire a college education. Established in Chicago in 1974, NAES College aimed to improve the leadership of Native communities and to ensure that tribal knowledge, traditions and values play a major role in the higher education of Native students. Before closing its doors in 2007, NAES College offered a single degree, a Bachelor's of Arts in General Studies with an emphasis in Public Policy, and tribal knowledge, community service, community development and leadership.

Established in Chicago in 1974, NAES College (Native American Educational Service) aimed to improve the leadership of Native American communities and to ensure that tribal knowledge, traditions and values play a major role in the higher education of Native students. Before closing its doors in 2007, NAES College offered a single degree, a Bachelor’s of Arts in General Studies with an emphasis in Public Policy, and tribal knowledge, community service, community development and leadership.

Established in Chicago in 1974, NAES College (Native American Educational Service) aimed to improve the leadership of Native communities and to ensure that tribal knowledge, traditions and values play a major role in the higher education of Native students. Before closing its doors in 2007, NAES College offered a single degree, a Bachelor's of Arts in General Studies with an emphasis in Public Policy, and tribal knowledge, community service, community development and leadership.

Americans for Indian Opportunity is a non-profit organization founded and led by LaDonna Harris (b. 1931) and other Native American activists in 1970, as a network to develop initiatives and opportunities to enrich the cultural, political and economic lives of Indigenous peoples.

The Chicago American Indian Community Organization Conference (CAICOC) developed as a direct result of the organizational training and development classes offered by the Community Board Training Program (CBTP) and the Native American Educational Services (NAES) College during 1980-1981. During a Chicago Political Systems class in March 1981, class members raised key questions which led to a conference on May 4, 1981, hosted by CBTP and sponsored by NAES. This meeting brought together representatives of fifteen Chicago Indian community organizations and programs to discuss the need for a community conference. The overall goals and objectives of the conference were determined to be: 1) to develop statements on common issues affecting the Chicago Indian community; 2) to provide a more effective networking system among Chicago Indian community agencies; and 3) to develop a statement of purpose on behalf of the community, as well as drafting position statements on a wide range of issues directly affecting the Indian urban community. These statements would then serve as a guide and resource to community development efforts for the next several years.

The result of this initial conference was the development of CAICOC, which was held on June 25-26, 1981 at the American Indian Center in Chicago. CAICOC was structured to obtain maximum participation and input from the Indian community. Eight representatives per organization were encouraged to attend, with the recommendation that four of these participants be community members or service recipients.

The total number of participants at CAICOC was 132, representing thirty-five different tribes and members of 22 different organizations, programs and tribal clubs serving the Chicago Native American community. Statements were developed on the following core issues: Chicago Indian Community and Other Communities; Economic Development; Education; Employment; Health; Housing; Legal Services; Public Relations (Media); Social Services Delivery; and Youth Services.

The success of this conference and the continuing need to further address position statements led to a follow-up retreat, which was held June 4-6, 1982 at the Woodstock Conference Center in Woodstock, Illinois. 38 directors and board executives from all of the Chicago area Native American organizations and programs attended. Specific action plans on various issues were developed to promote and design programs to meet the needs of the Chicago Native American community, and to identify those agencies with services already in place. Annual CAICOC retreats, with on-going subcommittee activities guided by the action plans developed at the retreats, continued for several years, due in large part to the continuing support and direction of Louis Delgado, Director of the Community Board Training Program at NAES College and CAICOC Conference Coordinator. CAICOC was also involved in publications on community development and organization.

The last CAICOC retreat was held in June 1985; however, committee activities continued until about June 1987, when the Chicago American Indian Working Together Community-Wide Conference was sponsored by CAICOC in February 1987.

Established in Chicago in 1974, NAES College (Native American Educational Service) aimed to improve the leadership of Native American communities and to ensure that tribal knowledge, traditions and values play a major role in the higher education of Native students. Before closing its doors in 2007, NAES College offered a single degree, a Bachelor’s of Arts in General Studies with an emphasis in Public Policy, and tribal knowledge, community service, community development and leadership.

The American Indian Health Service is an organization founded in 1974 in Chicago. It is dedicated to the development of comprehensive health care programs for the Native American community of the metropolitan Chicago area.