Tallgrass Institute - Spring 2026
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
As flora breaks through the soil in the Northern Hemisphere, the Tallgrass Team has been around the globe. We participated in a knowledge exchange in Indonesia calling for awareness, respect, and protection of Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation. Tallgrass is in the room moving international corporate standards towards better – from IFC investment policies, to financial institutions’ understanding of FPIC, to incremental but promising progress by global automakers
Through this winter, we stand in solidarity with our colleague Daria Egereva and all Indigenous defenders standing up for their culture, land, and water. Please see below for links to resources, upcoming events, news items, and ways to support Indigenous-led economic futures.
Kate Finn, Founder & Executive Director
Freedom for Daria Egereva
Daria Egereva, a Selkup leader and international advocate for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, was among several people unlawfully arrested in December after returning to Russia from the United Nations Climate Conference in Brazil. Tallgrass Institute supports the open letter and petition from global Indigenous Peoples for Daria’s release.
Learn more and send a message of support directly to Daria at www.daria-egereva.org.
Call for Global Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation
“We urge national and international financial institutions and global supply chains to cease all financing of projects that threaten Indigenous territories, natural resources, and Indigenous knowledge systems, particularly those of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation.”
Read the Jakarta Declaration: Indigenous Peoples and Civil Society Organizations for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and further background on Indigenous Peoples who choose to live in voluntary isolation.
Automakers Must Close Critical Due Diligence Gaps
“Where projects or sourcing activities affect Indigenous Peoples’ lands, territories, or resources, companies have a responsibility to respect those rights, independently of State conduct, including the requirement to engage in self-determined, culturally appropriate, and good-faith processes consistent with FPIC throughout the full project and supply chain lifecycle.”
Read Recommendations to Ensure Electric Vehicle Compliance with Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Free, Prior and Informed Consent. Related: Despite some progress, Indigenous Peoples’ rights remained the lowest performance indicator in Lead the Charge’s 2026 automaker supply chain leaderboard.
Strengthening Indigenous Rights Thresholds in IFC Investments
“When IFC standards are strongly and clearly applied, they can help prevent harm and support more equitable outcomes. When they are weakly or inconsistently implemented, they can normalize practices that sideline Indigenous Peoples’ decision-making while still being presented as ‘responsible’ investment.”
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group is updating its sustainability standards, including those related to Indigenous Peoples. Read our primer Indigenous Peoples and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to learn more.
Investor Action on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
Recent Investors & Indigenous Peoples Working Group (IIPWG) strategy calls highlighted Indigenous Peoples’ rights at COP 30 and the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights; updates from engagements with JPMorganChase General Motors, Chevron, Rio Tinto, and ConocoPhillips, among others; proxy preparations for 2026 Annual General Meetings; strengthening FPIC in Global Investor Commission on Mining 2030; guidance on Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation, and more. Further takeaways and resources in the December, January, February, and March newsletters.
Tallgrass Institute serves as Secretariat for IIPWG. See also past webinars, newsletters, and other resources from IIPWG. If you would like to learn more about IIPWG, please email info@tallgrassinstitute.org or complete this form.
Join Tallgrass Institute at Upcoming Events
From Policy to Practice: Upholding Consent of Indigenous Peoples in Private Sector Standards
April 14, 2026 in Washington, DC (in-person and livestreamed)
Indigenous leaders and private sector actors will share lessons, identify gaps, and explore pathways to strengthen Indigenous People’s consent in corporate standards and practices. Organizers: Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI), Right Energy Partnership (REP), Oxfam America, Tallgrass Institute, and Recourse.
United Nations Permanent Forum On Indigenous Issues (UNPFII)
April 20-May 1, 2026 in New York City (in-person)
The theme of UNPFII's Twenty-fifth Session is "Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ health, including in the context of conflict.”
Tallgrass Institute in the News
A tribal mining development agreement: a path forward or a one-time anomaly? | Native American Calling
“A lot of companies are very interested in implementing [benefit agreements] with Indigenous Peoples and really it all comes back to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and making sure that all engagement with Indigenous Peoples is from a place of respect and a place of consent.”
Kate Finn Highlights the fight for Indigenous Peoples Rights | Just Investing (also on Spotify, Apple, and Audible podcasts)
“Corporate accountability work [provides] the opportunity to build strategies that protect and safeguard Indigenous Peoples and their communities so that their economic priorities can be elevated before harm occurs.”
Indigenous concerns surface as Trump calls for seabed mining in Alaskan waters | Grist
“Indigenous peoples have the right to give and to withdraw consent. Mining companies themselves need to design their operations around that right.”
Indigenous rights and the green transition | The Johns Hopkins News-Letter
“What we need is to continue at a measured pace with accountability to human rights to solve for climate change together in a way that creates a better planet for all of us. [This requires] respect for free, prior and informed consent, respect for Indigenous Peoples, and building human rights into business operations.”
Support Our Work
The Susan White Yethiya wihe’ Advocacy Fund provides support for Tallgrass Institute in memory of Susan White, Trust and Enrollments Director for the Oneida Nation and Co-Chair of the Investors & Indigenous Peoples Working Group. For many years, Susan spearheaded efforts to promote sustainable and responsible investing in Indian Country.
Donations to Tallgrass Institute are tax deductible and support our work to integrate Indigenous insights and priorities into business standards and practices to solve for today's most pressing global challenges.
About Tallgrass Institute
Tallgrass Institute is a Center for Indigenous Economic Stewardship. We bridge Indigenous leadership and knowledge with investor strategies to advance Indigenous Peoples' self-determination and wellbeing. By activating investor and economic ecosystems, we work to redefine the private sector’s role as one that respects Indigenous Peoples’ human rights, lands, and economic priorities.
Learn more at www.tallgrassinstitute.org.
