On Dec. 14, 2024, a cohort of Cherokee women will come together in Tahlequah, Okla., to take part in a showcase after spending three months as a part of The University of Tulsa Cherokee Women’s AcceleratHER Fellowship. The program is designed to empower Cherokee women founders to build their businesses through strategic guidance, mentorship and access to capital.
“They’re starting to kind of understand a bigger picture of what it means to be a woman founder and what’s available, since we know investment in capital is so low for women,” said Lesley Robinson, director of education at the Ayana Foundation, an organization in partnership with University of Tulsa with sponsorship from Cherokee Nation.
Under 2 percent of women founders receive venture funding, and according to Robinson, it’s not getting better. Venture capital funding for Indigenous Native American women is significantly lower: just .0013 percent of venture capital funding.
This fall’s cohort is working to change that, giving $10,000 to 10 Cherokee women founders as they attend a three-month program focused on launching, building and growing their businesses.
In 2019, Lisa Copass, a member of the Cherokee Women’s AccelerateHER fall 2024 cohort, founded CloudHaus Dwellings. Located in California, CloudHaus brings climate-resilient and energy-efficient prefabricated home kits made from steel SIPs rather than traditional stick framing, which uses lumber to build a house’s skeleton.
By and large, our disenfranchised have not been able to have that kind of wealth in order to even have [strong houses], so they’re often the ones that end up living in the worst conditions. So we’re hoping to change that and bring a price point down where it actually is achievable for first time homebuyers, for people who are just barely making minimum wage.
Lisa Copass, founder of CloudHaus Dwellings
After founding CloudHaus, COVID halted building, steering Copass towards volunteer work. She helped build a small village for unhoused youth in Oakland, Calif. However, the structures—built using stick framing and without upkeep—are now dilapidated.
“What that taught me is that housing is not a nice-to-have. It’s a birthright. It should be a birthright,” said Copass. “I’m trying to change the conversation [away] from affordable housing putting people in cheap housing. … Affordability means a lot of different things, and it doesn’t mean the cheapest anymore.”
The shift away from stick framing towards more resilient materials hasn’t been easy. In 2022, 94 percent of the homes built were with stick framing, and less than half a percent consisted of steel framing. Copass said resistance to new building techniques mainly comes from older generations.
“It’s not an easy road to toe, but I think there is enough pain out there right now that it is going to be one of the most relevant solutions to bring to the market,” said Copass.
“By and large, our disenfranchised have not been able to have that kind of wealth in order to even have [strong houses], so they’re often the ones that end up living in the worst conditions. So we’re hoping to change that and bring a price point down where it actually is achievable for first time homebuyers, for people who are just barely making minimum wage,” said Copass.
Robinson said that the three-month cohort goes far beyond the practicalities of being a business owner.
“[It’s] not just understanding who you are as a founder and really focusing on the business, but really more about the identity and intersectionality of who you are. Then having this really beautiful, intentional, impactful handshake in the Cherokee Nation, and then the resources as a business woman that you can begin to cultivate from there,” said Robinson.
In addition to community building and receiving funding, all 10 women will be TERO certified at the fellowship, meaning that they meet Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance requirements. This not only identifies their business as Native American-owned, but demonstrates their commitment to eliminate the discriminatory barriers tribal members encounter while obtaining employment.
Everything else kind of falls into alignment when you follow your heart. I’ve been supported in that kind of practice here, because I never as a kid was allowed to do that. …To have your tribe behind you, literally, I think is very important.
Copass
“This fellowship is not just business focused. It’s very deep in terms of looking at yourself. We did a lot of personality assessments, our strengths, our weaknesses, our blind spots. That’s invaluable, because if you don’t really know yourself and where you shine and where you don’t shine, it’s very difficult to be a good leader,” said Copass.
On building her construction business, Copass said, “It’s true, what Taylor Swift says: It’s harder to get ahead in a man’s world and we have to work twice as hard.”
It took Copass half of her life to find out that she wanted to work in building—an industry that is predominantly male: In 2023, women made up just under 11 percent of construction workers in the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
“Everything else kind of falls into alignment when you follow your heart. I’ve been supported in that kind of practice here, because I never as a kid was allowed to do that. …To have your tribe behind you, literally, I think is very important,” said Copass.
