IDRS, Inc.

Mark Thompson, (916) 803-7550, email

IDRS is a national Indian governed non-profit organization founded in 1989 by five prominent national and regional Indian organizations: California Indian Legal Services, First Nations Development Institute, the Seventh Generation Fund, Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority, and Round Valley Indian Reservation.

Our mission is to build capacity in Indian country. We do this by supporting tribal leaders and governments to successfully resolve challenges and create needed change in their communities. We bring together a broad range of tribal decision makers, assist them in identifying issues of common concern, resolve differences, build consensus, and reach “win/win” agreements on direction and priorities. IDRS supports a process of “working things out by talking things through” by: providing leadership training in cross-cultural communication and negotiation skills, facilitating the development and implementation of action plans, initiating strategies for mobilizing essential technical and financial resources, forging alliances, and negotiating cooperative agreements with government agencies and other partners.

We provide training and services in three focus areas that enable us to address community concerns while maintaining our essential values: (1) Conflict Resolution Training & Services; (2) Environmental Development Services and (3) Youth Advocacy Services