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Inside Voices

Beverly Santicola

Executive Director
Center for Rural Outreach and Public Services, Inc.

Executive Director Beverly Santicola blends her Indiana farm roots with decades in HR and grant writing to champion cultural economic development. She co-founded the Center for Rural Outreach and Public Services, Inc. with her mother and helped generate $176M for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe through immersive Partnership Retreats. By working with a Native photographer and emphasizing authentic voices, Beverly’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies Planning (CEDs) is now considered the “gold standard” by federal agencies. Known for her honest communication, fast action and respect for Indigenous leaders, Beverly helped effectively connect tribal needs with government systems, and earned four Communicator Awards of Excellence and eleven Awards of Distinction in Design & Print.

How did growing up on a farm in Indiana shape the way you approach community development today?
My entire family (mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins) were farmers, and we were taught to “leave the land better than you found it.” My Uncle Emil farmed until he was 99 years old and reminded me of this obligation every year when I made an annual trip to Indiana to harvest the corn and beans with him.

What led you to economic development work with Native American Tribes?
I worked for 20 years as a Human Resource Manager for manufacturing companies in small towns in Indiana and Ohio, so I grew passionate about job creation, job retention, and community development. When I left the field of HR management to run a nonprofit organization that focused on workforce development, I became quite good at grant writing, so I started a nonprofit of my own with my mom so we could help save small towns like the one where we grew up.

What was your vision for the look and feel of the UMUT Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies Plan (CEDS)?
After working with Native American Tribes for 10 years, I learned that the most important elements of a successful project for indigenous people are visual storytelling and the integration of culture, tradition, and history. When we got our first contract to write a CEDS we merely improved on the Word Document that had been done the year before, but I was not satisfied with it, so each year we started making it better integrating stunning photography by Anthony Two Moons – a professional Native American photographer from New York City and hiring an extraordinary graphics designer to showcase the people, land, culture, challenges and accomplishments. When federal agencies like the US Department of Interior/Bureau of Indian Affairs and US Department of Commerce recognized our CEDS as a “gold standard” to set the ideal that other communities should strive to reach, I knew we had developed a product that promised “to leave the land better than we found it.”

There’s so much that went into CEDS – community voices, data analysis, stunning visuals. How did you orchestrate it all together?
I think my three greatest skills are “dot connecting”, “leveraging resources,” and “risk-taking” to do something different that sets my clients apart from all the rest. I have learned how to connect the dots from a big idea to successful project implementation quite well over the years. Ten years ago, I heard from Chairman Heart of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe that Native American Tribes typically get 10 minutes each year to talk to individual federal agencies about their needs and project ideas. I decided we should “flip the tables” on the federal agencies and invite them all (along with state and private funders) to one big event (called Native National Partnership Retreat) where they learned about the tribe’s needs, goals and objectives and then figured out how to work together to help the tribe solve problems. That process has helped generate $182M for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe alone, and we’ve also used it more recently with the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and Blackfeet Nation as a foundation to do their CEDS.

You work with federal officials, tribal leadership and community members. How do you translate across those different languages and priorities?
I’m a farm girl from Indiana. I speak plainly and truthfully. I keep my promises, and I respond immediately to any and all requests for information and help.  I understand what’s most important to funders and what’s most important to tribal members. Our team builds on the strengths and passions of tribal people to identify solutions to their problems – prioritizing areas where we know federal, state, and private funding is available and we have built trusting relationships with funding partners.

What role does storytelling play in economic development strategy?
For every Native National Partnership Retreat, we hire a graphical record to record the stories and conversations between tribal members and funding partners and end up with a visual road map to keep our projects on track, as well as to communicate and remind potential funders of our needs, goals, objectives, timelines, roles, and responsibilities.

When you look at the finished plan, what moment or section makes you most proud?
I am most proud of the storytelling from beginning to end, but especially the graphical recording of our Native National Partnership Retreats that provide a roadmap for the tribe’s future. I don’t think anyone else does a CEDS like us, nor Partnership Retreats with funding agencies for strategic planning.

 

Well Said.

 
Is your work making an impact like Beverly’s? Submit your best projects by this Friday, Nov. 7th for preferred early pricing.

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