LONGMONT - Nonprofit First Nations Development Institute has received a $1.1 million grant from The Kresge Foundation in Troy, Michigan to help Native American nonprofits improve their management and leadership skills.

The funding will be used on a project conducted by Longmont-based First Nations and the National Urban Indian Family Coalition to work with as many as nine urban Native American nonprofits. The grant period runs through 2016.

The partnership will draw upon First Nations' ability to incubate new businesses, strengthen nonprofits and governments, teach financial literacy and invest in Native American food and agriculture systems. The coalition will provide its networks, evaluation/data-collection experience and insider knowledge of urban Indian organizations and their needs.

"For 32 years, First Nations has worked primarily in rural and reservation-based Native American communities," said Michael E. Roberts, First Nations' president. "We're excited to take our successful track record and apply it to urban communities of American Indians."