Jobs and Careers

Whether you are looking for your first job, changing careers, or building skills, these programs and job boards are good places to start. This page is for Muwekma Ohlone tribal members, Ohlone people, members of other California tribes that are not federally recognized, and the wider California Indian community.

Native workforce programs

Strong Native Workforce, Native American Health Center (Bay Area)

The Native American Health Center's Strong Native Workforce program offers job placement, career counseling, job training, workshops, and support services. It can also help with paying for education and training.

  • Who can use it: Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Natives living in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Marin counties and the City of San Francisco. Its public page does not state a federal-recognition requirement. Fill out the pre-intake form to find out whether you qualify.
  • Contact: workforcedevelopment@nativehealth.org
  • Label: Native-serving

California Indian Manpower Consortium (CIMC)

CIMC's Workforce Development Program runs a federally funded Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program with career, training, youth, work experience, and support services.

  • Who can use it (WIOA program): American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian people who are unemployed, underemployed, or low income and who live in CIMC's service area. Check CIMC's service-area map to see whether your county is covered.
  • Who can use it (Native Employment Works): Members of one of CIMC's participating tribes only.
  • Label: WIOA program is Native-serving. Native Employment Works is limited to members of participating tribes.

Public job boards

These job boards are open to everyone who meets each job's requirements.

Label: Open to all eligible applicants

Federal Indian Preference

The Indian Health Service (IHS) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs give hiring preference to applicants who qualify under federal law. Applicants usually prove eligibility with form BIA-4432.

According to the IHS, the categories are: members of a federally recognized tribe; descendants of such members who were living within an Indian reservation on June 1, 1934; others of one-half or more Indian blood of tribes indigenous to the United States; and Alaska Natives. The IHS notes that the one-half blood standard can apply to ancestry from certain tribes that are not federally recognized, as determined by the BIA.

The BIA Pacific Regional Office's Division of Tribal Operations lists Indian Preference verification among the individual requests it handles.

Outdoor, conservation, and park work

Please read

This list is a starting point. Programs, eligibility rules, and openings change often. Please confirm the details with each program or employer before you apply.

Listings were checked on November 10, 2026. Know a job program we should add? Please contact us.