In the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Native Women Lead was grateful to be in a position to help support and partner with 9 Native and Women-owned businesses in 2020 to provide NWL Care Packages to our communities. In the spirit of self-care and investing in the Indigenous creative economy at the height of the pandemic, we curated care packages to send out to our Transformation Thursday Virtual Retreat attendees. It is important to us to stimulate our own economies in this way that holds true to our values as an organization and also provide and promote authentic, high-quality, native made products. We invested over $12,500 directly into these Native and women owned businesses.

Together, we were able to demonstrate the impact of the Indigenous circular economy and provide care packages to over 200 virtual attendees throughout the United States, Canada and the U.K. The NWL Care Packages were well received and a demand was clear which provided the inspiration for the Native Women Lead Fair Trade Initiative which invests in two critical areas that have been hugely impacted by COVID-19: Self-care and the Indigenous Creative Economy. Though this initiative, we continue to partner with Native and Women-owned businesses to curate our BEWE Boxes for sale and distribution. This is something that we are working towards growing into a monthly subscription to support as many authentic Native and Women owned businesses as possible throughout turtle island and eventually, indigenous businesses abroad.

Much gratitude to Kha Povi Herbals, Nizhoni Soaps, Quw’utsun’made, Dancing Butterfly Naturals, Ora Louise Boutique, Nani Chacon, Earth & Sky Floral Designs, Bison Star Naturals and Cheekbone Beauty. The care packages that we distributed last year, inspired, informed and set the stage for this year and for what is to come which will be equinox, a Summer and Winter box in 2021, then Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring seasonal boxes starting in 2022 that align with our BEWE Values (Backbone, Emerging, Weaving and Empowering). 

Please follow, support and purchase from these incredible Native and Women owned businesses: