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Old Faithful Inn – Yellowstone National Park – 1996 –
Scott and Pam Evans and Beverly and Cal Medhaug have been long time friends and relatives through Native American powwow circles. Through their Friendship, they traveled together to rodeos, powwows and vacationing throughout the northern plains states.  Through their times together, the couples often found their conversations leading back to one topic – how sad it was to watch young Native people who come from great families, choose the wrong path in life because they didn’t have the tools or resources to know that there was a different direction.

Late one night while visiting Yellowstone National Park sitting on the balcony of the Old Faithful Inn, that same conversation came up, the group decided to change the narrative.  They brainstormed the idea that summer internships for Native college students would open the door for a different path, and perhaps a new beginning.  That night, the group agreed to help a few Native high school grads earn summer internships.  To strengthen relationships with potential employers the founders believed the cultural exchange between interns and their employers, colleagues and customers would be one of the greatest strengths of the program.

During that first year the founders used their personal contacts to secure internships for four interns from Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.

The original program was designed to help “Jump Start” young Native people as they pursued employment opportunities.  The founders realized that once a young person received an internship or job offer, that they immediately had barriers in front of them before they could start their job.   How do they get from Rosebud to their job location in Michigan? Do they have the right clothing, equipment and tools to be prepared to start their job?  How are they going to eat without a paycheck for the first two weeks of their employment?

With those questions the Native American Jump Start (NAJS) – “Jump Start Grant Program” was born.  NAJS would provide necessary funding to the interns to help them break those barriers and get through their first two weeks of employment until that first official paycheck hit!

The internship program immediately grew from just four interns that first year to 15 in year two working in the Rocky Mountain Research Station in the Black Hills National Forest.

The original name of the organization was “Native American Jump Start for Employment Program” and was primarily administered by Scott and Pam Evans from their kitchen table in Bay City, Texas.  As the years went by, Scott and Pam recruited the help of some of their closest friends to help financially support and volunteer to work for the program.  

With continued growth and interest from young Native people looking for internship and employment opportunities, the organization continued to evolve.  In 2013, NAJS received its official nonprofit status, developed its articles of incorporation and bylaws, and organized itself in Jackson, Wyoming. Craig Jones became the first chair of the board and helped launch the organization as an official nonprofit with a mission to: provide opportunities of growth and success for Native American individuals and families through education and employment.   

As part of that growth NAJS added support for young Native people pursuing educational opportunities in addition to the employment internships.  Partnerships were formed with The Indian University of North American at Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota, The Grand Teton National Park Foundation, in Wyoming, supporting the Tribal Youth Corps program, and support of students from Salish Kootenai College in Montana.  

From 1996, NAJS was a one hundred percent volunteer led organization and in 2018, they hired their first part-time employee to help with the day-to-day administration.  In 2024, NAJS hired Dave Deschenes as the first Chief Advancement Officer of the organization to help drive the growth of the organization and fundraising efforts.  In 2024, the organization added several new directors to the board and is proud to share that the board has 16 members with 8 female directors on of the 16 directors, 7 of them are Native American.  

The organization would not be where we are today without the great support of our past and current board members and the generosity of our donors supporting our programs.   We look forward to continuing to make a tangible impact to support young Native people as they pursue educational and employment opportunities.