California Indian Manpower Consortium (CIMC)
California Indian Manpower Consortium (CIMC) is a non-profit consortium of 104 reservations and rancherias in California, which is owned and operated by Native Americans and advocates for the educational and economic advancement of the first Americans, including Native American, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian individuals who are low-income, unemployed or underemployed. CIMC’s workforce development services include employment, training, education, nutritional assistance, housing assistance, childcare, eldercare, follow-up services, and other supportive services that ensure career success while also reserving the cultural integrity of its participants.
CIMC has a strong relationship with the Census Bureau and has been participating in the Native American Rights Fund to review census data and ensure support for Indian tribes. The Fund for Workforce Equity is supporting CIMC to gather statistical labor force and census data from Native American tribal member workers and learners of the Pala Band of Mission Indians Tribe and Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel to develop local workforce development programs/policies and alter policies/programs on a national level for their economic revival.
Based on 2020 census data, the organization is at risk of losing critical funding for its employment and training services, and hopes the validated tribal census data it is collecting will provide evidence that tribal groups need more support, not less. Through outreach efforts to tribes located in Northern California to participate, CIMC has received interest from several tribal organizations who want to join its study and intends to develop customized labor force reports based on their findings in return.