Rooted Futures was developed as a digital hub to connect dots.
Born in 2024 from a partnership between The University of Washington (UW), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC), the online resource platform meets two urgent needs: first, it informs Indigenous students — college-level and younger — about career choices that exist in natural resources management, and second, it funnels these job seekers to available openings in the Pacific Northwest.
The platform covers several areas of interest, including: Forests, Land and Wildlife, Water and Fisheries, Government, Law and Treaty Protection, Data and Technology, and Cultural and Tribal Resources.
“Something we noticed in recent years was that we weren’t getting job applications from tribal members,” said NWIFC’s communications coordinator, Kari Neumeyer, referencing fisheries as an example. “Because fishing resources are declining, fewer tribal youth are considering careers related to harvest.”
NWIFC supports twenty treaty tribes as they co-manage natural resources within the state of Washington. For the past two years, they worked closely with UW’s Information School’s Capstone School to compile a small team of students and build Rooted Futures.
Each cohort focuses on new goals for the platform. “Our goal [this year] was to make the platform more accessible, engaging, and useful for Indigenous middle and high school students,” wrote the 2025-2026 student-led team. (Originally, Rooted Futures was directed at early college students.) “We also want to support educators, counselors, and community members who may introduce youth to these career pathways.”
This past year, Rooted Futures worked to reach more of its target audience: students. To do that, they designed and distributed Rooted Futures stickers and brochures for schools, designed by Suquamish artist Parker Sullivan. “We’re promoting it at career fairs and event booths, including the 2026 Washington State Fair in Puyallup,” said Neumeyer.
They’ve also been focusing on improving the overall website user experience, making it accessible, mobile friendly, and interactive. Rooted Futures recently launched a free, twelve-question survey students can take to “discover your path in nature,” with instant results highlighting careers in tribal natural resources, curated by how you think and what you care about.
“If they can see it, they can be it.”
Kari Neumeyer
“Ideally it could be a one-stop shop where job seekers could go directly from the quiz to available jobs,” said Neumeyer. “We’d also like to have more profiles of people on the website [that are] in these types of careers, following the adage, ‘If they can see it, they can be it.’”
Each year, the UW students administering Rooted Futures will graduate, and the NWIFC will take over for the summer. This fall, another capstone team will apply, take on leadership roles, and the platform will strengthen its role as an updated resource for career-minded Indigenous students in Salmon Nation, hungry for a future that works and anxious to connect with viable professional pathways in resource conservation that matter.
Three Actions:
- Visit the Rooted Futures website.
- Learn more about the work of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
- Read about the many beneficial impacts of Indigenous-led stewardship throughout the bioregion, shared by Magic Canoe.
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