CNMI organization for NGOs receives three-year ANA grant

The Marianas Alliance of Non-Governmental Organizations has been awarded a grant of $682,485 from the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Native Americans for the Lemmai-Mei Nonprofit Incubator Project.

The three-year grant period began on Sept. 30, 2020, and will end on September 29, 2023.

MANGO is an umbrella organization for the CNMI’s nonprofit organizations. Its Lemmai-Mei Nonprofit Incubator Project will help 25 native nonprofit organizations receive incubator services to improve their sustainability. Lemmai-Mei is a hybrid phrase of the Chamorro word for breadfruit (“lemmai”) and the Carolinian word for breadfruit (“mei”).

Breadfruit is considered a staple food throughout Oceania.  Also, the tree’s leaves, roots, and sap have medicinal uses, and both the sap and the wood are used in canoe building. Just as the breadfruit sustains and supports islanders throughout Oceania, so will the Lemmai-Mei Project sustain and support CNMI Native nonprofits that provide services to the community.

In discussions with the management and staff of native nonprofits, MANGO learned that a lack of business training and writing skills was cited as a major weakness in nonprofit organizations. This was supported by the 2020 MANGO Nonprofit Organizational Needs Survey showed that many organizational capacity needs are in areas that require business training and experience, such as, leadership, management operations, data evaluation, and finance.  The Lemmai-Mei Project will provide training and support in six areas: establishing a nonprofit, board training, sustainability, strategic planning, managing a nonprofit, and financial management.

Workers install the signage for the Saipan office of the Marianas Alliance of Non-Governmental Organizations.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The long-term goal of the project is for all CNMI native nonprofit organizations to have the resources necessary to build capacity and produce sustainable programs for the community that they serve.

“Our survey revealed that 55% of all registered CNMI nonprofits are inactive and half of those that remain active may not have the resources necessary to sustain themselves for the long-term,” said Maisie Tenorio, MANGO board of directors chairperson.  “MANGO was created to provide support to the nonprofits of the CNMI.  Our success as an organization means nonprofits in our community have the capacity, training, and support they need are able to provide services to our people far into the future. We are thankful for the Administration for Native Americans for funding this project.”

To learn more about the Lemmai Mei Project or MANGO, visit the MANGO website: www.mangocnmi.org. Memberships are free in 2021. PR)