Resourcing First Nations Enterprises: Insights from a Social Enterprise Development Learning Community

"Resourcing First Nations Enterprises" is a knowledge resource prepared by the First Nations Projects Institute, drawing on conversations with around 25 First Nations business leaders, social enterprise founders, finance professionals and community organisers over nine months. It documents lived experience of navigating funding systems, and sets out to inform sector-wide learning and advocate for systemic reform in how funding reaches First Nations-led initiatives.

The report moves from problem to possibility. It opens by describing the current funding landscape, covering issues like scarcity, burdensome applications, unpredictable funder behaviour, and the particular disadvantage faced by start-up enterprises. It then turns to positive case examples, including a Māori-led government funding model in Aotearoa New Zealand and an Australian advisory group, before naming shared traits of good funding practice such as trust, relational investment and outcomes-focused reporting. It closes with a detailed set of recommendations directed at funders, government and the broader sector.

Readers will come away with a clear picture of the barriers First Nations enterprises face when seeking capital, alongside concrete examples of what good funding relationships can look like in practice. The report frames these findings as evidence of a structural and relational challenge, not simply a gap in financial products, and provides specific, actionable recommendations for each part of the sector.