Being of service to tribal communities
both in the Twin Cities area and in the reservation environment is a
priority for the three Native women who will be graduating from
Native Americans in Philanthopy’s Circle of Leadership Academy in
November. The organization selected a nation cohort of tribal
citizens from around the country during its April 2012 Native
Philanthropy Institute in Los Angeles. Among those selected were four
women from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area who work in the Native
community in various positions and organizations. Leslie Apple
(Oglala Lakota), Alicia Smith (Yupik), Deanna Standing Cloud (Red
Lake Ojibwe) and Anna Ross (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) were selected for
the 18-month program based on their individual goals and projects to
improve their community through their own leadership development in
philanthropic and non-profit sectors.
According to NAP program associate
Diana Manuel, the program’s mission is to strengthen and sharpen
the necessary skills to be an effective leader in Native communities
through group training seminars, webinars, distance learning and
mentorship opportunities.
For Apple, that means a chance to
cultivate her professional abilities. “I joined to develop my own
leadership skills and networking so I can be effective in my career,
job, community and within my own life. I wanted this to be a
challenge to get out of my comfort zone.”
Apple is currently the Development and
Grants Coordinator for the Tiwahe Foundation, a Minneapolis-based
philanthropy that engages Native American individuals and families to
improve their circumstances through giving to explore their culture,
spirituality and traditions.
“Prior to joining CoLA, I had not
really known about philanthropy or even what that meant. I hear that
a lot – philanthropy – what does that mean? I think being on this
learning journey, learning about their work on a national level,
raising awareness and funding to Native organizations has been a
great help at understanding empowerment. It’s not just a leadership
program, but it’s an effective one,” Apple said.
Part of NAP’s efficacy is measured
not just in what it can teach, but how it can connect its academy
members to others around the country to mentor when needed.
“I’ve always been sort of familiar
with NAP and familiar with their work. I got this email and thought,
‘this is a really cool idea,’” said Ross. “I was curious about
how this was going to be different and I applied. It’s tribal members
from all over the country, you submit your resume and your interests.
And they brought us all together. It was so cool to get together and
to collaborate and see what everybody else is doing and the
challenges that they face are the challenges you face and you realize
you’re not in it alone. There’s people that have been in their
profession for years and there are newer professionals who are just
starting out; some people who are in entry level positions and some
that are executives. There’s such a variety but there’s also that
camaraderie there as well.”
For Ross – who is the executive
director of Bii Gii Wiin, a home ownership and personal finance
advocacy organization – the rewards of her goals are in being able
to share with others around the region and the country.
“Here’s me, the executives director
of a little non-profit in the Twin Cities and then there’s a circuit
court judge in the state of Illinois in the same group. It’s such a
spectrum of people and I love it, I love every minute of it. We
really are like a family. It’s another opportunity for me to
network and the more you invest in relationships in other Natives
from the community, the more invested you feel in the community.
Because these people now are like my family and this is their home,
it makes that connection much more real for me in the community.”
For Standing Cloud’s part, she has
used her membership in CoLA to springboard into developing a deeper
commitment to her educational community. As a Red Lake Ojibwe, she
was raised and went to school in Minneapolis, spending time on Red
Lake, the Flathead reservation in Montana and Rapid City, S.D.
Her dedication to education came
because of personal experience with her daughter. “I kind of
slipped into education with her. I’d walk her to class every day
when she was in the first grade, I got to know staff and teachers
before getting involved with the Title VII committee. Then, the
[Minneapolis Public Schools] Indian Education director offered me a
job as the Family Engagement Coordinator, where I’ve been since
January of 2009.”
“When I applied for CoLA, one of the
reasons was because of the positions I’d had was to have tribal
communities work more closely with each other instead of going
directly to the state or the federal government. My vision was to
help the communities lean on each other, getting the tribes to get
together to reevaluate and reassess how they operate and interact
with the community, having in place some kind of assessment and work
more with other sovereign tribes.”
Before she takes on the task of
connecting tribal communities to one another, Standing Cloud plans to
make herself a resource. “One of the small steps for my action plan
is to just to get my bachelor’s degree, I’m 9 credits away. And
I’m just working on that, everything I’ve done can be counted as
action research. I am working toward the larger vision I had in my
application and part of that was to get my education. I’m a single
mom so I have a Kindergartener and a freshman in school right now.”
She is currently enrolled at Metropolitan State University.
For Ross, giving back to her
respective community is also a priority. Raised on the Turtle
Mountain reservation in North Dakota, she saw first hand how
complacency can breed apathy. “Part of the program is that each
leader has a vision or goal of a project they want to accomplish and
implement. My project is a professional mentorship program,
encouraging employers to have policies that push their staff to be
involved within the community. If you’re going to a meeting or on a
community board, I’ll give you those hours off and education time
to further your education. I would use my staff as an example, I’m
training them to take my job. I don’t want my receptionist to
remain a receptionist her whole life, I want her to get her degree
and I want her to move up and I want her to get a better job. I think
that’s really important and that’s the kind of work environment
that needs to be created on a regular basis. When you’re in a job
for so long, you lose vision for the community and what you’re
there for in the first place.”
For all four, their 18-month journey
in expanding their personal and professional horizons comes to a
close on Nov. 7 when NAP will host their graduation ceremony in St.
Paul.
“I’m really thankful to have been
considered for this opportunity – that I was accepted to be part of
this cohort. It’s connected me with other regions that I wouldn’t
otherwise be able to be connected. I made great relatives and it
feels really good. My relationships and relative-making is spreading
across Turtle Island and something I can use in the future,”
Standing Cloud said.
For more information about Native
Americans in Philanthropy, joining its next Circle of Leadership
Academy or to attend the Graduation Celebration, visit
www.nativephilanthropy.org or call Diana Manuel at 612-724-8798, ext.
5.