Saint Mary’s Student Jennifer Waltman Earns Bush Fellowship Award
Jennifer Waltman, a Saint Mary’s
University of Minnesota student in the Doctor of Psychology program,
was one of 24 leaders recently awarded a 2014 Bush Fellowship.
Waltman, from Maple Grove, Minn., will
use her $100,000 award to assist her during the next three years to
complete her studies at Saint Mary’s and help develop systems to
assist in mental health advocacy and therapy for Native
Americans.
“I’m a Lakota, and my interest is in my own
community and improving the health of Native Americans,” Waltman
said. “Natives have the biggest disparity in the nation for chronic
disease. It is my hypothesis that historical trauma has caused
epigenetic changes that contribute to epidemics of poor health
outcomes such as diabetes, substance use disorder, cancer, heart
disease, depression and PTSD. I want to explore mental health
treatment incorporating traditional healing that would improve
symptoms of chronic disease.”
Citing guidance from mentors in
the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community, Waltman will also use some of the award money to fund
research with professors at UCLA and the University of Oklahoma. Her
long-term goals include working with other multi-cultural
psychologists to create a multicultural health and wellness center,
eventually leading to consulting tribes and native people to help
eliminate health disparity.
Before she embarks on her future
plans, Waltman will finish her doctoral studies at Saint Mary’s.
She is currently doing clinical training at Abbott Northwestern,
learning with an integrated team comprised of psychiatrists,
psychologists and nurse practitioners. She is continuing her studies
while working as the managing partner for Heritage Strategic Group
where she advises businesses and non-profit organizations on
strategic processes.
Since 1965, the Bush Foundation has worked
to develop the leadership capacity of the region by making
investments in more than 2,200 people through its Fellowship
programs. The Bush Fellowship is designed for people who have already
demonstrated exceptional leadership abilities, but who feel they
could accomplish even more for their community with focused,
intensive leadership development. The Fellowship is distinctive in
its flexibility, allowing Fellows to articulate what they need to
become a better leader — whether through a self-designed learning
experience or an academic program — then providing them with the
resources and support to make it happen.
DSGW Architects Help Native Design Firm Open and Mentor
DULUTH, Minn. – A new firm
that helps Native American tribes plan and design buildings and
communities will receive mentoring and support from DSGW, one of the
oldest, established architecture firms in Minnesota, officials of
both companies announced in March.
The First American Design
Studio will work with DSGW Architects, which has offices in Duluth,
the Iron Range and the Twin Cities, to assist tribes nationwide in
planning for expansion, growth and development in their communities,
often including the design and construction of buildings.
“The
architectural planning services that First American Design Studio
offers, such as budgeting, site analysis, facility assessments,
capital campaign assistance and master planning, help tribal leaders
develop a vision,” said Mike Laverdure, founder of the First
American Design Studio and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain
Band of Chippewa, based in North Dakota. “It’s really all about
the effort around a project to get it to the point where a tribe is
ready to move forward and work with an architect. We want help plan
and advocate for growth within Native communities.”
Laverdure
has worked for DSGW since 2008, helping the firm secure projects in
Native communities throughout the Midwest. “When Mike joined DSGW,
we knew he dreamed of owning a Native American firm,” said Randy
Wagner, a partner at DSGW Architects and also at First American
Design Studio. “A significant amount of DSGW’s work is tribal.
With Mike’s leadership, we have become even more engaged.”
Wagner added, “The creation of a
Native-owned business allows an even greater opportunity for
development of tribal communities outside of the Midwest. Mike has a
passion for giving back and cares about designing buildings that
serve as elders in Native American communities.”
Laverdure is a
board member of Minnesota’s American Indian Chamber of Commerce and
is a Sequoyah member of the American Indian Science and Engineering
Society. As the outgoing president of the regional, professional
AISES chapter, he works to raise funds to promote science,
technology, engineering and math activities for Native youth. Mike
graduated from North Dakota State University’s College of
Architecture and is a registered architect.
