New Five-Year Strategic Plan Approved & Adopted by Tribal Council

On September 6, 2024, the Tribal Council approved and adopted Tribal Resolution PL 085-24 a new five-year strategic plan. The Strategic plan for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, 2024 through 2029, gives an overall direction for the Tribe in the next five years that takes advantage of current resources and assets while embracing new opportunities for growth and success.

The strategic plan process began in earnest with the completion of the 2023 community needs assessment for the Tribe and Reservation. Members of the Tribal Council and Tribal government staff participated in a series of community and organizational strategic planning workshops held between March 2024 and May 2024 using the data from the 2023 community needs assessment to develop the strategic plan. The plan also includes the Tribe’s Core Values, and a Mission and Vision Statement.

Core Values, Mission, and Vision Statements

Core Values:

Accountability, Respect for Oneself and Others, Commitment to the People, to the Land, and to the Community, Professionalism, and Responsiveness.

Mission Statement:

It is the mission of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe to serve the Kooyooe Tukadu Numu by preserving, protecting, and promoting our shared cultural heritage, natural environment, spiritual integrity, sovereignty, and language.

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe provides a wide range of governmental and public programs, resources, and services. Organizational members engage in constructive and positive outreach and stewardship of our culture and our land. We are committed to protecting and enhancing our People’s quality of life by fostering and creating strong personal and individual capacity.

Vision Statement:

Over the next five years, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will create a long-term sustainable organization and community that seeks to efficiently and effectively serve the needs of the Kooyooe Tukadu Numu by enhancing the People’s human potential.

To enhance our community’s quality of life, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will continue to develop, deliver, and administer programs, resources, and services that address a range of cultural, economic, environmental, and social needs to preserve and protect the people’s health, safety, and wellness.

Strategic Plan Goals

Over the course of the organizational strategic planning workshops held between March 2024 and May 2024, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe developed twenty final separate strategic organizational goals that will guide the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s activities over the next five-year strategic planning horizon. These twenty separate strategic organizational goals are divided into five separate categories, including Community and Economic Development Initiatives, Cultural Development, Promotion, and Preservation, Organizational Improvement and Development, Educational Development and Individual Capacity Building, and Community Health and Wellness.

Community and Economic Development

Community and Economic Development Goal No. 1: To accommodate population growth on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation and allow for Tribal members to return to their own housing, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will increase the current level of housing inventory by 5.0 percent by 2029.

Community and Economic Development Goal No. 2: The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will work to increase the total number of households with a computer across the Reservation from a current estimated 85.0 percent to 95.0 percent by 2029.

Community and Economic Development Goal No. 3: To address growing community health concerns and impacts, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will increase the amount of healthy, alternative food options available for consumption on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation by 40.0 percent by June 2027.

Community and Economic Development Goal No. 4: The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will reduce community-wide unemployment rates across the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation from the estimated 15.3 percent in 2022 to just 10.0 percent by 2029.

Community and Economic Development Goal No. 5:  To provide a modern facility to serve the growing needs and interests of the people of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will complete the construction of a new community recreation center with a gym and related athletic facilities in the Wadsworth community within by 2029.

Cultural Development, Promotion, and Preservation

Cultural Development, Promotion, and Preservation Goal No. 1:  To preserve the culture of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal community, cultural education programs and materials will be developed, implemented, and expanded upon by 2029.

Cultural Development, Promotion, and Preservation Goal No. 2: To ensure the continued practice and preservation of the Paiute language, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribel will increase current comprehension and fluency rates of the Paiute language by 3.0 percent among Tribal government administrative personnel and among Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal youth and other community members by October 2026.

Community Health and Wellness

Community Health and Wellness Goal No. 1:  The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will implement, expand, and support diabetes prevention education, programming, and services aimed at lowering the current community-wide rate of diabetes diagnosis on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation by 10.0 percent over the next five years to address multiple health concerns and conditions related to confirmed diabetes diagnoses.

Educational Development and Individual Capacity Building

Educational Development and Individual Capacity Building Goal No. 1:  To promote early and continued educational success and to reduce future dropout rates across the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation by 50.0 percent to 75.0 percent, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will implement by December 2028 a new early intervention program that will assess and identify learning disabilities and deficiencies through Individualized Education Programs for all Tribal children and youth ages three years of age to eight years of age.

Educational Development and Individual Capacity Building Goal No. 2: The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will work to increase overall Tribal member educational attainment levels. Specifically, to ensure a successful transition from high school to higher education, college, or career readiness programs of 50.0 percent to 75.0 percent of Tribal youth aged 13 years of age or older and living on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will implement new ‘pathways to success’ by December 2028 for all levels of high school education, incorporating necessary support systems.

Educational Development and Individual Capacity Building Goal No. 3:  To better serve the financial needs of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation’s current and future population, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will increase the number of financial literacy workshops that are available to the entire community by 20.0 percent to 30.0 percent over the next five years.

Educational Development and Individual Capacity Building Goal No. 4:  By December 2028, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will create a community support system within all public schools operated by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe by creating new positions within the Education Department, filling them with Native educators, who will monitor the achievement levels of at least 50.0 percent to 75.0 percent of students aged five years of age to eight years of age.

Educational Development and Individual Capacity Building Goal No. 5:  To ensure the successful transition from Elementary/Primary school to Middle school for at least 50.0 percent to 75.0 percent of students aged nine years of age to 12 years of age attending schools operating within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will increase family and school support by December 2028.

Organizational Improvement and Development

Organizational Improvement and Development Goal No. 1: To ensure that the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation becomes more economically self-sustaining, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s Tribal government will increase sustainable sources of Tribal government revenue by 10.0 percent above July 2024 levels by July 2029.

Organizational Improvement and Development Goal No. 2: To better develop staff’s professional knowledge, skills, and abilities and to better educate and equip community members, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will increase the current number of training opportunities for the entire community by 20.0 percent to 30.0 percent over the next five years.

Organizational Improvement and Development Goal No. 3:  As the residential population of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation increases, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will increase public safety and Tribal services appropriately and provide competitive pay rates to successfully recruit and retain Tribal government employees that are responsible for providing various programs, resources, and services.

Organizational Improvement and Development Goal No. 4: The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will increase funding for Tribally funded programs, resources, and services by 15.0 percent over the next five years.

Organizational Improvement and Development Goal No. 5: To retain the experience and knowledge of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s Tribal government professional staff and workforce, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will develop and implement steps to retain current employees over the next five years.

Organizational Improvement and Development Goal No. 6: To ensure that the programs, resources, and services provided by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s Tribal government are sustained and improved as needed, the Tribal government will increase current economic development funds levels by 2029.

Organizational Improvement and Development Goal No. 7:  To increase the amount of federal funding for various programs and services and to ensure the completion of specific projects on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will strengthen its relationships with federal funding agencies through increased interaction with respective program officers over the next five years.

Implementing & Operationalizing the Strategic Plan

Although the work to develop the Tribe’s strategic plan was intensive, the hard work has just started. To implement and operationalize the strategic plan, Tribal staff will link the budget to the strategic plan goals during the annual budget process, so funding and other resources are allocated to accomplishing the goals. The strategic plan will, also, be reviewed annually to evaluate if revisions are needed to reprioritize existing strategic goals, develop new strategic goals and objectives, and to identify priority projects and actionable items annually based on emerging opportunities and threats and to changes in the internal and external environment of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. The Tribal Council is excited to have completed the strategic planning process, their effort to ensure that all staff are working towards the same goals.