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Tallgrass Institute

 

Tallgrass Institute was housed at the Center for Native and Indigenous Studies (CNAIS) through July 2025 and operated as First Peoples Worldwide at CU Boulder from 2018 to 2024. 

You can now find Tallgrass Institute at  www.tallgrassinstitute.org. Email cnais@colorado.edu or visit www.colorado.edu/cnais for more information.

Annual Reports

 2024-2025 Annual Report
 2023-2024 Annual Report
 2022-2023 Annual Report
 2021-2022 Annual Report
▶ 2020-2021 Annual Report

Considerations for investors seeking to implement best practices to solicit the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of Indigenous Peoples as to development or resources on and near their lands and territories. Available in English, French, Spanish and Russian.

Drawing from interviews with 22 practitioners comprising philanthropic investors, private investors, Native intermediaries, and Native entrepreneurs, research demonstrates how catalytic capital in Indian Country enables long-term, culturally-aligned success.

Through a lens of equitable partnerships, this investor brief reviews some of the risks and opportunities in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Though community-driven applied research, this report examines the current state of Native food supply chains and collates recommendations towards strengthening and expanding these chains from Native perspectives.

Why and how companies must account for Indigenous Peoples' land rights to understand and address business and climate risks.

Need and opportunities to prevent continued and increased Indigenous rights violations in renewable energy development. Co-authored with Amazon Watch for Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Scaling enterprise in Indian Country through private equity offers enormous opportunity as tribes seek to diversify their economic development and, given the impacts of the global pandemic, provide jobs and economic opportunities to their citizens.

This case study examines impacts attendant to the Dakota Access Pipeline project to highlight the costs that companies, financial institutions, and investors faced by failing to account for the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It asserts that social risk resulting from the absence of adequate human rights protections has material impacts.

Research examines the intersection of sex trafficking and oil and gas development on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota and provdies strategies to address this complex issue.