News Archives - Page 3 of 25 - Johnson Scholarship Foundation

Career Launch: The Missing Piece in My Job Search Puzzle

April 7, 2022/in Anthony Melena, News

Career Launch alum Anthony Melena shares how the program helped him get his job search on track. Perkins School for the Blind is a grantee partner of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, and this blog post was shared from Perkins with permission.

I used to think that getting a job was easy. Graduate high school, go to college and voilà, a job would be granted, simply because I’d sat through four-plus years of sleep-deprived lectures and never-ending assignments. Boy did I have a lot to learn.

In 2019, I graduated from UCLA with my BA in sociology. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of employment, but I was sorely disappointed when I still found myself unemployed nearly two years later. The job applications had become fruitless exercises that I forced myself to complete weekly, and the rare interview that I did manage to get seemed like nothing more than a tease by the time the Zoom call was ending.

Of course, the Covid pandemic was a huge reason that everything came to a standstill for part of that time, but as the country began to reopen, there was nothing more frustrating than to hear things like, “There are so many jobs, and nobody wants to work.” Well I did, and whatever I was doing to achieve that goal needed to change, because my stubborn determination was slowly but surely turning into a bitter disconnect in the process.

Ever heard the saying “It’s not what you know but who you know?” It’s quite true.

I had dismally failed when it came to tapping into the only thing that keeps us from ending up on these self-made islands of hopelessness: the people around us. It was the missing piece to this dreary puzzle.

On a whim, I began looking for opportunities to talk to anyone about my situation. And why not? I had wasted so much time trying it on my own that, at this point, I was willing to put messages in bottles just to have conversations with someone other than myself!

That’s when I came across Career Launch and the Perkins School for the Blind.

The Career Launch program promised to teach blind and visually impaired adults the skills and the training for employment in the spectrum of customer service. This included industries such as retail, human resources, health and technology, and even the medical field.

More important to me, however, was the notion that someone that answered my call, and was offering to walk with me through the process of finding the meaningful employment that I had been searching for since graduating from UCLA.

It was better than I could have ever imagined. During the intensive eight-week program, I learned everything from Google Suite and lessons on the fundamentals in business, to improv lessons and job simulations to help me be as prepared as humanly possible, and know how to proceed when the right opportunity came along.

It had been a long time since I had felt that kind of support outside of my home. Every step of the way, every lesson felt like music to my soul, and just what I needed to find the confidence that had been eluding me.

Now, I am happy to report that I have found a job that I love. I learned a lot about myself these last two years – undoubtedly the most important being that we can’t do everything alone.

Career Launch is offered through a residential program and a virtual program. The next session of the virtual program will begin this fall. There’s also a Business tech bootcamp. The next Business tech bootcamp takes place this summer. Learn more about all the Career Launch options by visiting the website or contacting Perkins.

Anthony Melina is a graduate of Perkins School for the Blind’s Career Launch.

Access Academy Raises Success Rate for Students With Disabilities at UNF

March 18, 2022/in News, Rusty Dubberly

Access Academy is a learning strategies program for students with disabilities offered by the Student Accessibility Services (SAS) Center at the University of North Florida. Access Academy offers “Boost” sessions based on tenets of the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) created by the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. Boost sessions focus on learning strategies in writing, memory, and test taking, as well as notetaking and studying. Boost sessions for life skills include time management, stress management, and self-advocacy. Along with these areas, two career strategies sessions focus on resumes and interviewing, disability-related employment law, and workplace accommodations. Boost sessions are three weeks long with an hour of in-person class time each week.

Access Academy originated in 2011 serving just a handful of students in its first year. Thanks to the support of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, the program has grown greatly in scope and scale. Over the last three years, students have successfully completed 833 Boost sessions in the content areas mentioned above. Access Academy is offered to students at all levels from freshmen to doctoral. Emphasis is placed on engaging incoming freshmen with disabilities to start their college career with the supports they need to be successful.

Continual program evaluation is vital to the success of Access Academy. Quantitative and qualitative data are analyzed each semester to continually improve Boost sessions to best fit the needs and goals of SAS students. Over the last three years, students who participated in at least three semesters of Boost sessions had a GPA of 3.31, compared to a GPA of 3.08 for SAS students who did not participate. During this same time period, Access Academy participants graduated from UNF with a 3.32 GPA, compared to a GPA of 3.17 for SAS students who did not participate, and a GPA of 3.21 for all UNF undergraduates.

These comparisons are correlational but show a trend of Access Academy participants maintaining higher GPAs than their comparison groups. Every Access Academy participant is required to complete an end of course survey to provide anonymous feedback about their experiences in their Boost sessions. Students’ feedback is reviewed each semester to guide content revision and instructional strategies that best fit the students’ needs and goals.

Covid-19 impacted all of us greatly. The Access Academy staff believed that the program was too vital to cease during UNF’s mandatory remote time. Students needed programmatic supports more than ever. The program staff worked diligently to convert all the previously in-person Boost sessions to an online instructional model using UNF’s Canvas Learning Management System. In retrospect, building online versions of the courses was paramount to sustain the program during remote times, but also has offered the possibility of creating new ways to make Boost sessions more accessible to students and create pathways for new teaching methodologies.

We are looking now to the future of Access Academy. Our instructional model is currently getting a facelift to ensure that every minute is valuable learning time for our students. We are incorporating a flipped classroom model to begin in August 2022. A flipped classroom is a model of blended learning that combines online and in-person learning environments. In this model, students will study the learning materials using our Access Academy Canvas modules before their scheduled in-person sessions. During the in-person sessions, the Access Academy facilitators will work with students in one-to-one and small group settings to apply knowledge obtained from the online modules to real world applications. As an example, a student will learn about time management strategies in the online modules. The student will then attend their in-person Boost sessions to receive coaching to implement their preferred time management strategy, so it is personally meaningful for their goals. We believe that this will make learning more efficient and dynamic by reinforcing the material learned in ways that can be tailored to the individual student’s needs. With the continued support of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, we are excited about the future of Access Academy and the students who will benefit from this program during their time at UNF and beyond.

Dr. Rusty Dubberly is Director of UNF Student Accessibility Services.

‘Last Dollar Aid’ Helps Students Cross the Graduation Finish Line

March 14, 2022/in Brittany Yapp, News

Nativity Prep’s Last Dollar Aid Program has continued to be made possible by the generosity of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation. The Last Dollar Aid program provides tuition assistance to alumni in college who face gaps in scholarships and expected family contributions. Since its inception, Last Dollar Aid has an incredible impact with a 94 percent graduation rate, far higher than the national average for similar demographics.

Each year the Graduate Support team works extensively with alumni who are seniors in high school and in college to support them in a variety of ways. Alumni who are entering into and enrolled in college can apply to the Last Dollar Aid Program. If accepted, they must maintain a set GPA, be in regular contact with our Graduate Support team, and attend at least two Nativity events per year.

Here are some highlights of two Last Dollar Aid recipients:

Allen is a current senior at the University of Massachusetts Boston who has taken advantage of much of what UMass has to offer. He shared that Last Dollar Aid helped make it possible for him to take part in an amazing opportunity – Recalc Academy’s Finance Accelerator program, a 7-week program for students from diverse backgrounds to receive expert training on skills needed for banking, consulting, and private equity. Allen is exploring his options in the finance world and recently landed a job offer at UBS.

Isaiah is a recent graduate of Framingham State University where he studied finance. Isaiah returned to work with the Advancement Team at Nativity before landing a job at JLL, a real estate and investment management firm. For Isaiah, the importance of Last Dollar Aid was not only financial but kept him in touch with Nativity for support to persist in college.

As we continue to empower and support boys from Boston in pursuing elite high school and college educations, we are grateful for the incredible support from the Johnson Scholarship Foundation.

Brittany Yapp is Associate Director of Annual Fund and Communications at Nativity Preparatory School.

Customized Online Programs Bring College to Neurodiverse Students Everywhere

February 25, 2022/in Angie Francalancia, News

Almost a decade ago, Landmark College, which exclusively serves neurodiverse students, launched an online Dual Enrollment program, enabling neurodiverse high school and gap year students to obtain college credits without moving to the rural Vermont campus.

Leaders at Landmark knew it was a vital link for students with neurodiversity such as a language-based learning disability, ADHD, or autism. Then COVID-19 hit, and everyone learned the necessity of effective online learning.

Through a five-year, $1 million grant with the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, Landmark College is expanding its program to reach more neurodiverse learners, particularly those with financial need who otherwise wouldn’t have access to Landmark College. The college’s goal is to quadruple the number of annual participants.

Originally, there was some doubt that neurodiverse students would succeed without face-to-face instruction. However, Peter Eden, Ph.D., and President of Landmark and long a champion of the dual enrollment initiative, saw it from a different perspective.

“Some would say, ‘I cannot travel 3,000 miles to a rural campus in Vermont.’ And some students were studying online at other colleges without the support that Landmark could provide,” he added.

“Like every college, we needed to provide courses that are web-based,” Eden said. “Because we are a college that focuses on students with neurodiversity, we needed to craft and engineer them in a certain way.” That means fewer students in each class, an instructor who understands neurodiversity, and extra support for the students.

When the program started in 2013, there were about 25 students enrolled. By the 2018-19 school year, that number had grown to 179. Last semester with the aid of scholarship dollars, there were 195 students participating from 23 different states, and the cohort included 4 international students as well. By the end of the school year, Landmark anticipates that number will be 323 students. In the next four years, Landmark College aims to increase the number to 1,000.

Today, Landmark’s dual enrollment program is one part of a full complement of online programs that enable neurodiverse students to begin their education with Landmark College while still in high school, and then support them online regardless of their physical location. COVID-19 did not cause their creation, but perhaps hastened it, Eden said.

“COVID aside, Dual Enrollment allowed us to grow some of our programs both upward and outward,” Eden said. “And of course, the Johnson Scholarship Foundation has been wonderful supporting our dual enrollment program.”

The other online programs, now grouped under the LC Online brand include:

College START, an online program that creates a foundation and a pathway for students to develop learning strategies and build the skills needed to grow strengths in and out of the classroom setting. After completing this one-year online experience, students can go on to earn an associate or a bachelor’s degree at Landmark College or another institution.
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program – a key strategy to increase access to higher education for neurodiverse students who learn differently is having educators at all levels who are trained to recognize the needs of neurodiverse students. The post-baccalaureate certificate graduates can personalize education supports for neurodivergent students and connect them to programs like Landmark College’s Dual Enrollment program.
Webinars and online workshops for educators and parents with up-to-date information and research-based practices for supporting students with learning differences (LD) such as dyslexia, ADHD, or autism.
A 5-day Online Boot Camp during summer for recent high school graduates or current college students to gain a better understanding of their learning styles and shift the way they think about their learning strengths and challenges.

Learn more about Landmark College and its online programs at https://lconline.landmark.edu/

Angie Francalancia is a communications specialist with Johnson Scholarship Foundation

Important Tips to Landing an Internship: How to Outshine the Competition

February 3, 2022/in Jennifer Fonseca, News

You know you are unique. You know you are qualified. And, you also know you need an internship! But how can you set yourself apart from the thousands of other college students who are also applying for summer and fall internships? Below are some tips to help you as you prepare for interviewing.

Know Thyself
The first thing I suggest students do is think about three things they want to make sure the interviewer knows about them before the interview concludes. These might be personal traits, or perhaps an accomplishment. This could be something like they ran a marathon. While not related to a professional internship, running demonstrates transferable skills like dedication, commitment, and perseverance—all qualities employers are looking for, and not something many candidates have probably ever done. Identifying in advance what you want the interviewer to know about you not only helps you feel more in control of the interview, it also allows you to showcase what makes you distinct from other candidates.

Know The Company, The Position, The Interviewers
This is something many students forget to do, but it is vital to outshining the competition. With what is widely available on the internet there is no reason why a student can’t find valuable information to demonstrate their knowledge of the company and industry. I strongly recommend students not only familiarize themselves with the organization’s website (mission, culture, clients), but also source news articles, both in favor and opposition of the company. Additionally, find reviews by employees or even potential interview questions on sites like Indeed or Glassdoor. Lastly, Linkedin is a great site to look up information about both the company and employees who have LI profiles. One recent candidate learned through LI that one of her interviewers enjoyed dancing as a hobby, so she made sure to mention that in her interview. That may just have been the thing that got her to the second round!

Practice, Practice, Practice
The research actually suggests a minimum of five mock interviews to sufficiently prepare a candidate. The STAR Interview Method is what we use in our mock interview sessions. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Skilled interviewers ask behavioral based questions which ask a candidate about past experiences to determine future performance. These types of questions generally begin with “Tell me about a time when,” or “Describe a time that you. . . .” The STAR Method helps students to brainstorm in advance the answers to these types of questions, while allowing them to provide succinct and specific examples that show tangible results. Using the marathon example, one could identify several behavioral based questions that the marathon could be an answer to, such as: “Tell me about a time you overcame an obstacle?” “What would you say are some of your strengths?” Or “Describe a time when you had to manage your time well.” Once the questions are identified, writing out one’s STAR answers will help them shine like a star in the interview.

While many individuals are nervous before and during an interview, following these three tips will help one to feel more confident and prepared. You may not be the only star in the room, you just need to shine more brightly than the others; these tips will help you do just that!

Bonus tips: If interviewing over video, create a nice backdrop/background. If the video interview is recorded make sure to smile and respond enthusiastically. Watching monotone recorded videos is sure to put the reviewer to sleep, so display controlled enthusiasm.

Jennifer Fonseca, M.Ed., is Assistant Director of Career Development at Palm Beach Atlantic University, a core grantee partner of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation.

Making Disability a part of the DEI Discussion

January 25, 2022/in Meg O'Connell, News

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the forefront of every talent management strategy. During 2020, companies found themselves facing significant challenges with respect to DEI and determined they needed to re-examine efforts on race, equity, justice and opportunity.

Yet one element of diversity is frequently left out of most DEI conversations – disability. Disability employee engagement is a gap companies are only just beginning to explore. A review of 10 years’ worth of data from companies around the globe showed stark differences between employee engagement of people with disabilities as compared to those without. But most significantly, it revealed how little data existed. While 90 percent of the companies said they have diversity initiatives, only 4 percent included disability in their diversity programs.

Global Disability Inclusion, in partnership with Mercer, the world’s largest human resources consulting firm, is launching a groundbreaking climate and culture survey focused on employees with disabilities and their workplace experiences.

The goal of the survey, known as Amplify, is to provide companies with valuable insights into the work experience of both people with disabilities and those without, allowing them to improve policies, programs and procedures to create greater equity in the workplace and ultimately improve climate and culture.

“Companies are unaware of the employment experiences of people with disabilities because disability is too often left out of the broader diversity conversation,” said Meg O’Connell, CEO and Founder, Global Disability Inclusion. “What we created is a new survey that asks disability-specific questions. It will incorporate questions for both the person with disabilities as well as people without disabilities so that the entire culture at a company can be measured.”

The survey will launch on Feb. 14, and there’s still time to register.

The survey includes everything from experiences on leadership, for example, “Senior leaders promote diversity and inclusion,” to achievement, such as “I have the opportunity for advancement in my company,” to identity and disability inclusion, which looks at whether people are comfortable disclosing their disability status and whether accommodations are provided.

“The majority of disabilities are invisible, whether it’s mental health, neurological, or a learning disability, and most people don’t disclose their disabilities if they have them,” O’Connell said. It may be surprising that likely 15-20 percent of the employee population could identify as having a disability, she added. “We want to help create a better culture of inclusion where people aren’t afraid to talk about their disability status or ask for an accommodation. The opportunity to impact what is likely 15-20 percent of the employee population is monumental.”

For more information about the survey or to have your company participate, contact O’Connell at info@globaldisabilityinclusion.com or visit Amplify | Global Disability In (globaldisabilityinclusion.com).

Meg O’Connell is Founder & CEO of Global Disability Inclusion, working with companies, foundations and non-profits to provide strategic direction, design and implementation of disability employment and inclusion programs.

The Girl That Lived Her Life with Two Personalities

January 14, 2022/in Angie Pleitez, News

Angie Pleitez is a student at Santaluces Community High School in Palm Beach County, Florida, and a member of the Take Stock in Children/Johnson Scholars Program. Below are excerpts of an article she wrote as part of the program.

Hello. My name is Angie Pleitez and I would like to share my story, the story that made me realize to always be grateful for everything that happens to you, whether it’s good or bad. Ever since I was little, I was depicted as the person in my family that could be different from the rest. My parents always reassured me that I was going to be the one in the family to make a difference and rise to the top. They always told me that I had the opportunity that no one else in my family had, which was to get a full education and be someone important in the world. I am the daughter of two immigrant parents who risked everything to give a better future for their child. That’s a huge amount of pressure to put on someone, but I didn’t think much of it when I was younger. I just thought of myself as just another child that played outside and hung out with her friends. What I didn’t know when I was younger was all the actions happening behind the scenes.

To start, when I was little, I had to stay with a babysitter most of the time because my mother worked from the morning to the night and my father would work from the morning to past midnight. Sometimes they would barely get sleep because when they came home, they still had to take care of me. From the time and effort they put in their laborious jobs, they were able to afford my school supplies, my backpack, after-school care, all necessary components for me to have the best school experience. They always praised me for getting good grades, which gave me boosts in my confidence and self-esteem. I was on the honor roll and earned recognition for my intelligence. I was always very proud of my intelligence and perseverance at such an early age. It continued this way all the way up to 5th grade. It was getting to that point where my life was going to take a sharp turn, which was my teen years.

I was scared that I was taking a huge step in my life. I’ve never liked change ever since I moved away from where I grew up when I was 7. I didn’t want to accept the fact that I was going to be in a different environment and going to be experiencing something I’ve never experienced before. My parents tried to reassure me that everything was going to be okay; that it’s just another phase of my life that everyone goes through as well, but I already had the idea instilled in me that things would go downhill from here. My middle school years destroyed not only my academic achievements but my self-worth. I was at my lowest point, and I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone. I was especially hesitant to tell my parents because I didn’t want them to know their “star child” wasn’t shining as bright as before. As time passed by, I could feel that I was slowly starting to lose myself. I felt unhappy and unmotivated all the time, and I didn’t care for most things anymore. I felt numb and I felt like I wasn’t living a life anymore – at least, not the life I wanted to lead. I was willing to do anything to take the pain away which would have led to life-threatening consequences. I’m glad that I stuck around because I later on realized that the pain doesn’t last forever and that things get better, maybe not right away but they eventually do. This is when I found the Take Stock in Children/Johnson Scholars Program.

The program opened my eyes to see that I still had an opportunity to turn myself around. It felt like this program could be my chance of getting out of this dark place I was heading into. I found it as I was entering high school, and I can honestly say that it turned my life around for the better. I felt myself getting my academic achievements back and the joy of feeling proud of myself back. I felt like I had a purpose again, a purpose to keep going and continue to always do better than the day before. I started doing better in school and got recognized for all the great things I was doing. I felt my parents grow happier and their pride for me grew. I talk to them about my future and college and they can’t help but be so overwhelmed with happiness. Yes, there are many obstacles that try to knock me down to the position I was in before, but I grew out of that point in my life and I don’t ever want to go back. I’m proud of how far I’ve come, no matter the circumstances my family and I go through.

The Take Stock/Johnson Scholars Program, my family, and the friends who actually want the best for me have helped me realize that life is worth so much. I can create a great future for myself if I want to. I can go to a great college if I want to. I have a chance that not many people have, and that means so much to me.

Angie Pleitez is a Junior at Santaluces Community High School

A Fast Track to Teachers for Visually Impaired Students

January 7, 2022/in News, Renee DiFlavio

Imagine as a parent of a child with low vision being told there’s no teacher available to provide those vital early intervention lessons. Imagine being told your child would have to be added to the wait list until a teacher was available.

The nation faces a severe shortage of Teachers for the Visually Impaired, and the U.S. Department of Education has identified it as a key teacher shortage area. The same is true in western New York where VIA (Visually Impaired Advancement) serves students with low vision or blindness from 40 area school districts.

We knew that the direct link to providing services to more students was fast-tracking a new Certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired. Thanks to a grant from the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, VIA has made that happen.

To find the right candidate, we had to go no further than our pre-school program where Amy Lindstrom had taught since 2012.

Amy Lindstrom works with Lucas.

“That’s where my love for the role of a TVI had begun,” Amy said. “I began in 2012 as an aide, then as a special education teacher. I did have students with visual impairment in my classroom, who also were receiving services from a TVI. It was through the grant that I was able to go pick up classes and complete the courses that I needed. I’m happy to say that I did receive my certificate at Thanksgiving this year.”

Amy already held a master’s degree in special education, so she needed only complete the certification program and pass New York’s state exam to obtain her TVI certification. Now, she’s one of two full-time and three part-time TVIs at VIA serving students from birth to age 21 throughout 40 regional school districts in Western New York.

Her days involve travel to schools, homes and day care centers to provide individualized therapy to children who are visually impaired. She’s working with 13 school-age, six pre-school, and two early-intervention children. Expanding the number of individuals VIA serves not only assists those individuals but others as well because it provides additional dollars to supplement other VIA services for people who are blind or visually impaired.

For parents whose children otherwise might have been waitlisted, it means their education stays on track.

“We know that children who are blind really miss out on what we refer to as ‘incidental learning,’” Amy said. “This is all that we learn just by taking in the world around us, primarily through what we see. The children we serve need explicit instruction to develop concepts and an understanding of the world around them. They often fall behind their peers developmentally due to their vision impairment. This explicit instruction by a TVI becomes vitally important to filling in the gaps that put our students behind.

“Completing my TVI training and passing my New York State Blind and Visually Impaired State Exam has been an amazing experience for me,” she added. “Thank you to the Johnson Scholarship Foundation for making this happen.”

Renee DiFlavio is Senior Vice President at VIA.

The Importance of STEM Initiatives to Indigenous American Communities

December 10, 2021/in News, Sarah Echohawk

Every child should have the freedom to dream big. At the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), it’s been our mission to encourage Indigenous children to not only dream big in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), but to make those dreams a reality.

The current, and increasing, underrepresentation of Indigenous people in STEM is cause for national concern because it deprives our nation of the potential for innovation and transformative solutions arising from a diverse STEM workforce (Corbett & Hill, 2015; National Academies, 2011). Further, research suggests diverse voices, such as those of Indigenous learners and professionals, contribute to creative and critical STEM enterprise of problem solving (Page, 2007; Spencer & Dawes, 2009). Equally, it is morally imperative to support all individuals, including Indigenous men and women, and Indigenous two-spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, who wish to pursue STEM education and careers.

Too many bright and talented Indigenous students at all levels encounter challenges academically for a multitude of reasons. Working with its partners, AISES creates brighter futures for them by ensuring equal access to STEM educational programming, closing gender and learning gaps, placing a premium on diversity, and improving access to essential support services and resources. And while encouraging Indigenous students to pursue STEM studies because today’s fastest growing, most in-demand jobs are in STEM fields, the skills and principles acquired through STEM education are equally important for those looking to create and manage businesses of their own someday.

For over 40 years, AISES has been committed to substantially increasing the number of Indigenous people in STEM studies and careers. AISES’ three key focus areas are student success, career support, and workforce development. In the advancement of our mission, AISES works with exceptional Indigenous students who all too often face educational and economic inequalities. As such, AISES offers programming and resources to encourage, guide, and fund Indigenous students on their pathway into a STEM field. Upon completion of their STEM degree or certification, AISES continues to provide supportive programming and resources as well as access to the nation’s largest network of individuals and institutions dedicated to supporting the ongoing career development and advancement of Indigenous people in STEM fields.

In 2017, AISES launched a STEM and Business initiative to expand opportunities and provide resources for AISES members who want to combine their interest in STEM with starting or expanding a business within their own tribal communities. Since then, AISES has engaged hundreds of students and professionals by delivering sessions at its annual conference, creating a cohort of individuals for entrepreneurship training and mentorship, and providing start-up capital to program participants. To support this work, AISES partners with allies who are also committed to providing resources to help grow and expand the numbers of Indigenous STEM students and professionals. One such collaboration is with the Johnson Scholarship Foundation.

With support of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, AISES STEM and Business program is delivering an entrepreneurship training initiative to (1) expand access to the AISES STEM and Business curriculum via AISES microsite along with outreach and promotion of these resources to the entire AISES network; (2) create a 10-person STEM and Business cohort and recruitment of 5 professional mentors; (3) conduct a three-part series of STEM and Business trainings, two in-person trainings hosted in conjunction with AISES events and one virtual training; and (4) award mini-grants to support Indigenous STEM Business development.

Thanks to partners like the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, AISES has enabled many Indigenous people to develop businesses. It’s helped grow tribal enterprises, and supported tribal communities as they strive toward economic independence and the assertion of tribal sovereignty. Now more than ever, it is essential for AISES to further expand our partnerships to create more opportunities for Indigenous youth and young professionals seeking careers in STEM fields. It is time to make Indigenous STEM representation a priority as a critical component of the larger global effort to develop the most innovative solutions to today’s most pressing problems and issues. Together, AISES and its partners are creating those opportunities – and I hope you too will join us.

Sarah Echohawk is a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, and is CEO of AISES.

Tribal Nations & The United States: An Introduction

November 15, 2021/in Angie Francalancia, News

Johnson Scholarship Foundation founder Ted Johnson Sr. believed strongly in supporting Indigenous people. Since 1992 Johnson Scholarship Foundation has been supporting scholarships and programs at tribal colleges and other Native-serving institutions. The goal is to catalyze economic development for Indigenous peoples by investing in entrepreneurship and business education and investing in capacity building for business and entrepreneurship in Indigenous communities.

Native American Heritage Month is a fitting occasion to share some information about tribal nations in America. The National Congress of American Indians published an update in February, 2020, to its publication, “Tribal Nations & the United States: An Introduction. It provides an overview of historical and current information on Native Americans, including a section on economic development.

Here is some data from the report:

The need for sustained economic growth is critically acute in most Native communities across the country. On reservations, 39 percent of Native people live in poverty – the highest poverty rate in America. On-reservation employment is highest in education, health care, and social services, followed closely by public administration.
Agriculture is a major economic, employment and nutrition sector in Indian Country, including 60,083 farming operations accounting for $3.33 billion in total sales.
Native-owned small businesses have grown over the last 30 years and are significant contributors to the growing tribal economy. Much of the growth is due to the Small Business Administration’s Business Development Program.
There were 272,919 American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses in 2012, a 15 percent increase from 2007.

Read the entire report at the National Congress of American Indians’ website here.

Angie Francalancia is a communications specialist with Johnson Scholarship Foundation