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Foundation Welcomes New Indigenous Peoples Programs Consultant

August 28, 2023/in News

John Henry Glover “Stormy” has joined JSF as an Indigenous Peoples Programs Consultant and will aid the Foundation in strengthening its Indigenous grant programs.

The Johnson Scholarship Foundation (JSF) is pleased to welcome John Henry Glover (“Stormy”) as a new Indigenous Peoples Programs Consultant. Glover will advise the Foundation on efforts around its Indigenous grant programs in partnership with JSF’s other Indigenous Consultant, Richard B. Williams.

Glover is a professor, administrator, and consultant in indigenous law, policy, education, and development; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); rural and underrepresented communities; and nonprofit management. He is originally from the beautiful Flathead Valley in western Montana.

Glover has served as the director of institutional advancement at Northwest Indian College, associate dean at the University of South Dakota (USD) School of Law, and professor of American Indian Studies at Black Hills State University (BHSU). He has also served as founder, executive director, and board member for Native Educational Endeavors, Inc., a nonprofit that provides educational opportunities to Native Americans and fosters cross-cultural respect.

He has also been an indigenous subject matter expert and facilitator for Kauffman & Associates; a tribal liaison for Inner City Fund (ICF) and Environmental Resources Management (ERM); a field researcher for Westat; chief diversity officer at USD School of Law; director for the BHSU Center for American Indian Studies; and an advisor to North Sound Accountable Community of Health and Borealis Philanthropy.

He received a bachelor’s degree in international studies and political science from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. He also received a JD from Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon. More recently, he earned graduate certifications and professional endorsements in DEI (Cornell), nonprofit management (Harvard), and nonprofit development (Indiana University/Purdue). He has raised and managed millions of grant dollars from the USDA, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, National Endowment for Humanities, Indian Land Tenure Foundation, American Indian College Fund, and more.

Glover has appreciated contributing to community service, including providing free diversity and inclusion trainings, nonprofit assessments, and strategic planning. Additionally, he leads oral history projects and creates paid internships in Indian Country. He has also supported charities including Meals on Wheels, Good Shepherd Free Clinic, YouthWISE, Lighthouse Mission Homeless Center, Lutheran Charities, and various local and international food banks and sustainable food empowerment programs.

His tribal affiliation is Salish from the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation. He and his son Gene “Boomer” are avid fisherman, sci-fi fans, and peripatetic adventurers.

At 40, Northwest Indian College Looks Back at Success

June 23, 2023/in News, Uncategorized

The following article was originally written by Natasha Brennan for Tribal College Journal. It is shared here with permission.

Brent Cleveland, a student at Northwest Indian College, speaks to fellow students during a graduation ceremony outside. He's wearing a black cap and gown. Mountains outline the background of the photo.

Brent Cleveland speaks to his fellow graduates at Northwest Indian College’s commencement. Cleveland earned his Bachelor of Arts in tribal governance and business management with highest honors.

As a student at Northwest Indian College (NWIC), Laural Ballew attended American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) meetings while working on her associate’s degree.

“Even though we were all from different tribal colleges and nations, we all had the same drive, ambitions, and dreams. We were being educated and given space to hold onto our culture. I got to see that at a national level thanks to AIHEC,” Ballew said.

After completing her program at NWIC, which only offered associate’s degrees at the time, she completed her bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University in 2002 and her master’s in public administration with a concentration in tribal governance from Evergreen State College. When she returned to NWIC as the director of finance, Ballew was later asked to lead the two-year business administration and entrepreneurship programs.

In 2010, NWIC was accredited to offer bachelor’s degrees. An NWIC survey found the community wanted the college’s two-year programs in tribal governance and business management (TGBM) to grow. In researching how to fill that need, Ballew learned there were certificates, two-year programs, and master’s programs for TGBM at other institutions—but not four-year degrees. With the help of her MPA mentor, the late Alan Parker, Ballew adapted Evergreen’s TGBM master’s curriculum into a four-year program at NWIC.

“I had so many students knocking down my door. I didn’t have to advertise. Students were anxious to be the first graduates. Using Evergreen’s curriculum meant our graduates were better prepared for master’s programs,” Ballew said.

In 2013, the Bachelor of Arts in Tribal Governance and Business Management program became the third of four bachelor’s degrees NWIC offers. Designed to develop the skills that support governance and business management in tribal communities and organizations, the program of study offers students the fundamental knowledge and experience necessary to succeed in the areas of leadership, sovereignty, economic development, entrepreneurship, and management.

“With funding in-part from the American Indian College Fund [AICF], NWIC was able to acquire 160 acres of land,” vice president of campus development and administration services Dave Oreiro said. “The college’s capital campaign, in collaboration with AICF through AIHEC, expanded the Lummi main campus’ facilities.”

By 2014, the 4,500 square-foot Kwina building became home to the college’s TGBM program. Despite having a new building, TGBM faculty knew the program—being geared toward working students with full-time jobs, entrepreneurs, and business leaders—had to be as accessible as possible. They developed online and hybrid courses, becoming the first four-year program at NWIC to offer them.

“My own story helped me to understand where our students were coming from,” Ballew said. “Juggling family, work, and school isn’t always easy.”

TGBM became a model for the school in developing its distance learning curriculum, which was in the works prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic hit, the program—which was ahead of its time in online offerings—was instrumental in preparing the school to become an accredited distance learning institution in 2020.

“Going into the pandemic, our faculty and staff were already prepared. That was unique and made our program favorable for working students,” Ballew said.

TGBM faculty and staff have worked to make the program affordable and offer exciting opportunities for students. The program is supported by an endowment with the college’s foundation, including a $1 million match and an additional $100,000 in scholarship awards from the Johnson Scholarship Foundation. The program works closely with the College Fund and tribal entities to develop career readiness and internship programming with the Lummi Nation, Intuit, Pyramid Communications, and White Swan Environmental. The program is also working to finalize an official partnership with the Bureau of Trust Fund Operations to support student career pathways with federal government roles that impact tribal nations.

To date, the Tribal Governance and Business Management Program has conferred 160 bachelor’s degrees. Over 40% of the college’s 370 bachelor’s graduates majored in TGBM.

“It goes to show that when you build something that the community wants, the community will help you build it up quickly. The program has great faculty and staff like TGBM department chair Brandon Morris. They know that every day a Native student walks into the classroom or through that virtual door is a success,” Ballew said.

In addition to her role as a member of NWIC’s board of trustees, Ballew serves as Western Washington University’s first executive director of American Indian, Alaska Native, and First Nations relations and tribal liaison to the president. She is working on her doctorate in Indigenous development and advancement from Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in New Zealand.

“I’m fortunate to have insight into what it’s like to be a student, staff, and administrator. Being on the NWIC board has enabled me to attend AIHEC meetings like I did as a student. Only now I listen to the presidents and administrators who are experiencing the same challenges, relishing in our students’ success, and supporting each other toward bettering Indigenous higher education,” Ballew said. “I am excited to be celebrating 50 years of AIHEC and thankful for their support of Northwest Indian College as we celebrate our 40th year.”

JSF Indigenous Student Excellence Scholars excel and give back at Toronto Metropolitan University: Part 2

May 12, 2023/in News, Toronto Metropolitan University

The following article was submitted by Toronto Metropolitan University. It is shared here with permission.

JSF Indigenous scholar and student-athlete spends summer mentoring students back home

Following closely in the footsteps of Johnson Scholar Cody Anthony is Saije Catcheway, who has recently completed her second year of a Bachelor of Commerce, studying Business Management and Law.

Catcheway cites coming to Toronto to study and join the Varsity Women’s Hockey team as a “dream come true.”

She too is a recipient of the JSF Scholarship, which Catcheway says reinforced her belief in herself. “This gracious gift showed that my hard work is paying off and relieved a weight from my shoulders,” she says. “I’m grateful for being able to continue my education while knowing that I’m able to pay my living expenses and my transportation home.”

Catcheway is Ojibwe-Cree and returns home for four months in the summer break to Skownan First Nation in Manitoba to mentor students from Grade 3 to Grade 7 through speaking engagements and athletics. Her mentorship initiative is funded by the Ted Rogers Student’s Society Leadership Award.

Education on the reservation only goes to Grade 10, but – thanks to a scholarship – Catcheway, who was born and raised in nearby Winnipeg, had the opportunity to attend and graduate with honors from an all-girls private school. Soon after, she attended college in the U.S., but the high tuition and cost of living led her to leave. She thought her dreams to pursue post- secondary education and play college-level hockey may have ended, until she was accepted to study business at TMU, which she says was always her number-one choice.

She emphasizes that “in the TMU culture, athletics are at a very high standard, but as a student athlete, ‘student’ comes first, academics come first.” Balancing both academic and athletics has helped her hone her time management skills to balance school with practice, training and traveling for hockey games. In the process, she has also been awarded the Ontario University Athletics Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2023.

She feels she’s at TMU “for a reason” and wants to continue to be a role model for her First Nation community and culture, who along with her family have been supportive of her goals.

This summer, she hopes to also mentor the high school students and consult with the Skownan chief, counsel and teachers about expanding opportunities, perhaps online, for learners past Grade 10.

“I want to inspire these kids to further their education. I want to be a role model to promote inclusivity, change and opportunity, especially for Indigenous women in the workplace,” Catcheway says. “I can’t stress enough that you’ve got to love what you’re studying and be passionate about your goals in school in order to do well and to have fun.” She hopes to pursue a law degree after graduation.

The Johnson Scholarship Foundation continues to make higher education accessible for three additional Indigenous students who are studying Professional Music, Midwifery and Sociology at TMU and who are passionate about making a positive impact in their communities.

JSF Indigenous Student Excellence Scholars excel and give back at Toronto Metropolitan University: Part 1

May 12, 2023/in News, Toronto Metropolitan University

The following article was submitted by Toronto Metropolitan University. It is shared here with permission.

Cody Anthony is the first JSF Scholar to graduate from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) in Canada. He is one of five Indigenous students at TMU whose academic and career dreams have become tangible and achievable thanks to support from the Johnson Scholarship Foundation.

“I’m so grateful for the Johnson Scholarship Foundation award. It gave me peace of mind, so instead of worrying about meeting basic life necessities, I got to focus my attention on Indigenous initiatives and community impact,” he says. “It has prepared me for a lifetime of community work, which is exciting.”

Anthony identifies as a mixed urban Indigenous person, whose father is Dene with roots from the Deh Gah Got’ie Kue First Nation in the Northwest Territories. In May 2023, he graduated from TMU’s Ted Rogers School of Management (TRSM) with a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours in Business Management with an interest in Pre-Colonial Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Modern Economic Reconciliation.

“A lot of people don’t know the history of business or commerce between First Nations groups before colonization in what we now call Canada. I had the opportunity to work with the Indigenous Advisor at TRSM, Michael Mihalicz, to help develop an e-learning module called ‘Indigenous Entrepreneurship: A community-driven approach to new venture creation,’” says Anthony.

For this project, he gathered archaeological transcripts and evidence of trade amongst First Nations before 1941. “We did business differently, which was really cool. Gift giving was important, as was equity amongst relationships and partnerships. And leadership meant caring for one another.”

Mihalicz, who in addition to being the Indigenous Advisor in the Office of the Dean, is also an Assistant Professor, Entrepreneurship and Strategy Department in TRSM, says:

“Cody moves fast and efficiently, and I was really impressed.” He adds, “He has some incredible ideas and is committed to creating space for Indigenous Knowledges to exist within TRSM. Cody is also committed to bridging the cultural divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples at TMU through community-building activities that bring everyone together in a way that maintains the integrity of our identities and voices. One really big initiative that he founded was the inaugural Reconciliation in Business conference in 2022.”

The conference was spearheaded by the Ted Rogers Indigenous in Business student group, which Anthony also founded. His vision for the conference included uniting Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Toronto to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call-to-Action 92 by accelerating the fight for Indigenous economic sovereignty and self-determination and against the economic injustices Indigenous communities face, by closing the socioeconomic gap, and by unlocking the emerging C$100-billion annual Indigenous economy.

Mentorship at the heart of the JSF Indigenous scholar experience

Anthony credits mentorship opportunities as being key to his success at TMU.

“I’ve had a lot of amazing people support me in the journey. I could always depend on Michael Mihalicz,” he says.

Mihalicz first met Anthony through the Indigenous Student Welcoming Committee, where TRSM advisors reach out to welcome all incoming Indigenous students.

Mihalicz introduced Anthony to Sana Mulji, Senior Advisor for External stakeholder Engagement and Strategic Partnerships with Indigenous Initiatives. Mulji recruited Anthony to join the Indigenous Initiatives team, which works to integrate Indigenous art, curriculum, Knowledges and worldviews at TRSM, and she was key in helping Anthony run Reconciliation in Business 2022.

“Sana was imperative to my whole student experience, and she has helped my personal development so much,” says Anthony.

He also credits fellow student Hadia Siddiqui, Vice President of Speaker Relations of TEDxTorontoMetU, for her mentorship and guidance in producing his February 2023 Tedx Talk, titled “The Future is Indigenous,” which connects his personal experiences with the history of entrepreneurship and trends towards prosperity for Indigenous groups. The talk is scheduled to be released in Spring 2023.

“Hadia is an incredible student and helped me craft the perfect Ted talk,” he says, adding that there are others who served as invaluable peer mentors throughout his academic journey.

“I had the opportunity every single day to go out there and meet new people and be part of different projects, and have a huge network of incredible people that are going to support me down the line,” he says. “I wouldn’t have been able to get that without the scholarship.”

Now that he’s graduating, Anthony jokes that the first thing he is looking forward to is sleeping in during the summer. After that, he’s planning a career in advocacy, Indigenous entrepreneurship, economic development and, eventually, politics. “I’m really interested in supporting Indigenous youth and speaking up for the voiceless.” His advice for Indigenous students who follow in his footsteps: “Be yourself. Don’t be afraid to bring your Indigeneity to Toronto Metropolitan University.”

Native Forward Scholars Fund Leader Angelique Albert Joins  Johnson Scholarship Foundation’s Board of Directors

May 1, 2023/in Native Forward Scholars Fund, News

The Johnson Scholarship Foundation (JSF) is pleased to announce that Angelique Albert of Native Forward Scholars Fund has joined the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Albert (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) has dedicated her career to serving Tribal communities. As Native Forward’s chief executive officer, she leads the nation’s largest scholarship provider to Native students, which has distributed more than $350 million in scholarships to students representing over 500 Tribes across all 50 states.

“The Johnson Scholarship Foundation has a strong legacy of partnering with organizations across North America to enable students to pursue greater educational and career opportunities,” said Robert A. Krause, the Foundation’s CEO. “Angelique Albert brings over 25 years of experience as a leader in nonprofit, philanthropic, business and government industries. The Foundation will look to her for insights on how to better serve our program areas, including Indigenous communities.”

Albert is a 2014 graduate of Gonzaga University’s Master of Business Administration in American Indian Entrepreneurship (MBA-AIE) program, which was created in 2001 in partnership with the Foundation. The program was designed to meet the unique needs of Indigenous students living on reservations and spark economic growth.

“I am beyond thrilled to join the Johnson Scholarship Foundation Board of Directors,” Albert said. “Investing in society by creating opportunities for access to quality education and fulfilling careers is a true passion of mine. I am excited to join this wonderful organization and help create brighter futures for people from all walks of life.”

Albert’s career began by serving her own Tribe as a legal intern, a court-appointed special advocate, and a chief juvenile probation officer. Before working at Native Forward, she was the executive director of the Salish Kootenai College Foundation and associate director of American Indigenous Business Leaders.

Philanthropic roles include serving as lead Native American program officer for the Beaumont Foundation of America and external grant reviewer for the Case Foundation. She is a member of the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance Advisory Council. She is also an executive officer of the Southwest Association of American Indian Arts board of directors and an advisory member of Gonzaga’s MBA-AIE program.

For more information about the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, visit jsf.bz. For more information about Native Forward Scholars Fund, visit nativeforward.org.

Two Pathways Mashteuiatsh projects forging new links

March 24, 2023/in Craig Montford, News

The following article first appeared on Pathways to Education Canada’s website. It is shared here with permission.

To give students a sense of belonging, Caroline Lambert, director of Pathways Mashteuiatsh, often adapts programming to fit the needs of youth within the local community. For example, Pathways Mashteuiatsh offers a series of workshops focused on activities such as crafting healing dolls and making traditional regalia.

Residential school survivors participated in the healing dolls activity when it was first organized by Pathways Mashteuiatsh’s program partner, Puakuteu. During these workshops, Elders were given the opportunity to craft a doll. The creative process allowed survivors to talk about their experiences in the residential school system and the emotions it brought up. Caroline was so moved by the intersection of creative work and personal expression that she decided to include this activity as part of Pathways Mashteuiatsh’s programming.

“Working with the Elders made us realize that the impact of the residential schools continued from generation to generation. It is still affecting young people seven generations later, just like the philosophical principle of the seven future generations. That’s why we decided to incorporate this activity in Pathways Mashteuiatsh’s programming,” Caroline explains. “We work with a kukum (grandmother) and a trained facilitator. They help address many topics by working with the dolls and it opens up conversations about young people’s well-being and their feelings.”

Pathways Mashteuiatsh integrated a second activity, initially organized by program partner Puakuteu, into its programming: Traditional Teachings and Regalia. This activity focuses on the making of regalia, the traditional clothing and sacred accessories worn during powwows. Women and Elders from the Mashteuiatsh community wanted to pass on their knowledge to future generations, and Caroline saw an opportunity to offer a new activity to youth in the Pathways Program. “Through making the traditional dress, youth learn more about their culture and the history behind it,” Caroline shares. “And from a mentoring point of view, it’s a chance to work on skills like patience and attention to detail.”

Both projects were met with great success. The healing dolls made by Pathways students are at the center of the Ilnikueu/Healing Dolls exhibit at the Mashteuiatsh Amerindian Museum. Caroline is pleased with the transformative impact the project had on students’ well-being. “Students said they cried and laughed, experienced a lot of emotions, and ultimately grew through this activity,” Caroline recounts. “It’s not easy to talk about feelings, but this project made it possible.”

The regalia activity concluded when the first cohort of participants wore their regalia at the Grand Entrance of a powwow. It was a moment of shared pride that Caroline and Pathways Mashteuiatsh students will never forget. “The Grand Entry is like a red carpet,” Caroline explains. “The graduates were so proud; it was so beautiful to see. Everyone was watching. It created a buzz, and the other kids said to us, ‘Let’s go, I’m going to dress up next year, I’m going to get involved in the powwows.’”

Every day, projects like these remind us of the power of working with partner community organizations across Canada to deliver the Pathways Program. Pathways Mashteuiatsh has operated in this community through partnership with Puakuteu, Women’s Committee of Mashteuiatsh since 2013. We are grateful for our partners’ support in helping more young people graduate from high school.

For more information about Pathways to Education Canada, visit pathwaystoeducation.ca.

Tribal Colleges – Providing Native People with Access to Choice, Visibility and Control

November 14, 2022/in Cheryl Crazy Bull, News

This article was first published on the website of the American Indian College Fund, a grantee partner of Johnson Scholarship Foundation. It is one of many organizations that facilitate educational opportunities for Indigenous people, a focus area of the Foundation. JSF also has worked directly with tribal colleges and universities across the country to expand educational opportunities for Indigenous students. The article was shared with permission.

Fall is back-to-school time for college students all over Indian Country. It is a time when I pause and think about how important tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are and how critical it is for mainstream institutions to have support readily available for Native students.

In June, I shared thoughts about the meaning of tribal sovereignty as symbolized by our tribal flags and by the flags of tribal colleges. Now as the fall semester has started across schools nationwide, I have been thinking about how TCUs represent sovereignty and enact sovereign rights.

From their very existence and through the ways they serve students and communities, TCUs are models of tribal sovereignty. Sovereignty is a legal term that emerged to frame the rights and responsibilities of Tribal Nations. I think of sovereignty as reflecting our inherent rights as people—our right to speak our languages, inhabit and have access to our homelands, and to retain our Indigenous ways of living. Because the missions of TCUs are grounded in providing access to traditional knowledge, practices, and values, their programs strengthen sovereignty.

We can also think of sovereignty in terms of self-determination, providing Native people with access to choices, visibility, and control over our own decisions and resources. Tribally chartered institutions, like most TCUs, are established under the authority of tribes to establish their own education systems as acts of self-determination.

Both students who attend TCUs and the communities these students serve benefit in both symbolic and practical ways from their institutions’ commitment to sovereignty and self-determination. Nearly all TCUs are place-based and are located on or near tribal homelands. Our very locations reclaim lands. The education TCUs provide is restorative, helping Native students to overcome the troubling, often harmful educational effects of boarding schools. Our commitment to revitalizing cultures and languages, fostering extended family relationships, and building economies means Tribal Nations can be healthier and more prosperous. I have always appreciated that one of the most valuable characteristics of TCUs is the community they serve—comprised of the people and the land as a primary source of knowledge.

A few years ago, the College Fund, in collaboration with the Gallup Purdue Index and with funding from the Lumina Foundation, surveyed TCU alumni. Those of us who work with TCUs were not surprised that the survey revealed TCU graduates were two times more likely than their peers to thrive when it came to elements of well-being, such as feeling motivated, enjoying their work (purpose), feeling supported and loved (social), having financial security (financial), having a sense of belonging and relationships (community), and enjoying good health (physical). These survey results affirm that TCUs matter in ways that are critical to self-determination and sovereignty.

Students attending mainstream, often predominately white institutions must also have the attention and support that TCU students receive. They are entitled to this support so they can also receive an education that helps them be healthier and more prosperous.

Students are supported through representation and visibility. When students see themselves reflected in the curriculum and in the faculty, staff, and public actions of their institutions they thrive.

The purpose of education for tribal people is both well-being and self-actualization and supporting the ability to govern ourselves, which is affirmed by many scholars and educators. This occurs more naturally at TCUs because of their programs and locations. Attaining this goal of education at a mainstream institution requires a more conscious effort—not just from the faculty and staff at the institution—but also from the students who attend them.

Native people have a right to go to school wherever they wish, and while the College Fund is deeply committed to TCUs and to the continued establishment of tribal higher education institutions, we recognize that access to an education for Native students must be more broadly supported. When we support Native students in achieving their educational dreams at all higher education institutions, we strengthen Tribal sovereignty.

As the fall semester brings many good things to Native students everywhere, please join me and the College Fund by supporting Native students and advocating for their inclusion and success. Visit the College Fund’s website, www.collegefund.org, to learn more about Native students, tribal colleges, and our work at the American Indian College Fund.

Cheryl Crazy Bull is CEO and President of the American Indian College Fund.

A Personal Journey Influences a Future Path for PLANS

August 11, 2020/in News, Sarah-Ann Upshaw

African Nova Scotians are a large racially visible group in Nova Scotia. The current workforce, including health care, is not representative of the diversity that exists in Nova Scotia. PLANS was established in 2013 with the goal to increase the number of African Nova Scotians within the fields of health, medicine and dentistry. PLANS works to achieve this goal through many recruitment and retention activities that aim to expose youth to the various health programs, assist with navigating the application process and provide support across their academic journey. Recently the PLANS program manager position has become a permanent position at Dalhousie University. This strengthens Dalhousie’s commitment to this program and the priorities for healthcare in the region.

The work of PLANS has been enhanced by the funding received from the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, which has aided in the development of programs as well as bursaries and scholarships to reduce barriers and to increase the enrollment of Indigenous Atlantic Canadians and African Nova Scotian students who are engaged in the study of Health, Dentistry and Medicine.

How my journey informs my work with PLANS

I am very honored to be able to continue the very important work that PLANS has undertaken as the now permanent PLANS Program Manager. Having grown up in rural Nova Scotia and experiencing firsthand the barriers of navigating post-secondary, I know how important this program is. Lack of awareness of resources, limited knowledge of what programs are offered and the financial impact of attending post-secondary, especially in a new urban area can be overwhelming. Being the first in your family to attend post-secondary you don’t often have the supports or resources in place to be able to do so easily, and it can be a deterrent for many, including me. Attending university was not an immediate option for me following high school, and it required attending community college and working before I was able to pursue university myself. I reflect on the programs and initiatives that PLANS offers and the impact that it would have had on my own career progression if it had been in place at that time. This is what motivates me to ensure the work we do with PLANS has the largest reach possible to make sure we are capturing youth like myself who did not have the support or resources to navigate post-secondary. I believe that my educational and professional journey lends great insight into areas for future development. I have had the opportunity to work in varied roles within health care and to work with many others on interprofessional teams in various settings. I am able to draw upon those experiences to inform some of the programs and supports that are offered through PLANS. My experience working in community health systems as well as within the schools affords me better insight into how those areas can interact and how to best collaborate when looking to deliver programs for PLANS in the future.

The PLANS goal of creating a more diverse health care workforce has always been important to me. The ability for members of our African Nova Scotian community to feel represented and comfortable to receive health care services is important as is the importance of our youth to experience this. For our African Nova Scotian youth to be able to see themselves represented in various roles throughout the spectrum of health care (health educators, practitioners, those in leadership roles) is important to let the youth know that this career path is within their reach.

My vision for the upcoming year

The challenges of COVID-19 over the spring and into the summer has changed the way that PLANS has traditionally operated. A key component of the PLANS program has been our summer camps, which allow youth to experience the various health programs in a very experiential way. It gives them the opportunity to become familiar with some of the local universities, faculty and students, which is key to assisting potential students to feel comfortable. This year we have shifted how we engage with youth to an online virtual platform. This change affords us the option to reach more youth in ways that our traditional camps could not allow. In the upcoming year I look forward to the opportunities for growth and reinvention that this change has brought. My passion has always centered around providing opportunities to African Nova Scotian youth in rural areas, and my continued goal is to identify additional and innovative ways that PLANS can engage and support these youth. I am excited to continue the work of PLANS and look forward to many of the upcoming projects and collaborations PLANS has in the upcoming year. I am so thankful that I get to be a small part of a students’ journey and to be able to support their educational goals.

PLANS seeks to increase representation of African Nova Scotians in the health professions through recruitment and retention, community collaborations and partnerships to improve health outcomes within the African Nova Scotian community. PLANS offers programming, provides resources, and attends community and school events to provide health career support and preparation. Learn more here!

American Indigenous Business Leaders Look to Raise $150,000 to Create Care Packages for Elders in the Community

April 9, 2020/in News, Prairie Bighorn-Blount

Johnson Scholarship Foundation, a supporter of the American Indigenous Business Leaders, is glad to share AIBL’s efforts to support the communities of Indigenous Peoples during this uncertain time.

Donations for Food, Cleaning Products for Seniors Accepted Now at AIBL.org

PHOENIX – Tribal communities have long looked to their elders to pass along wisdom, customs and traditions, and now, future business leaders from across the nation are banding together in support of their senior members.

American Indigenous Business Leaders (AIBL), a national nonprofit with more than 500 active chapters spanning 20 states, has a lengthy history of empowering and supporting Indigenous business students from across the United States. In the wake of recent events, the organization is temporarily shifting its focus from supporting students to supporting seniors, many of whom are suddenly facing exacerbated health issues, a lack of transportation to and from stores, medical services, and similar hardships.

To do so, AIBL has launched a campaign to create Senior Citizen Support Care Packages and is looking to raise $150,000 to put toward the effort. AIBL chapters from across the nation will then use the funds raised to create care packages valued at either $100 or $50 apiece, with $100 packages containing food and cleaning essentials (think paper products, baby wipes and other tough-to-find items), and $50 packages containing food, exclusively.

“In tribal communities, younger members have always looked to their elders as sources of respect and leadership – they have an endless amount of admiration for those who came before them and feel a responsibility to care for them,” said AIBL’s Board Chairman Dave Archambault Sr. “The AIBL community is one that recognizes the evolving needs of senior citizens and is ready to step up and help support those who have long done the same for their families and communities. We are asking people to help, knowing that good things will come to them for their generosity.”

Once care packages are ready for distribution, AIBL members will deliver them directly to the recipients’ doorsteps to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

“Some of these recipients simply don’t have a way to get around, or have health issues at play that make it more difficult for them to visit public places like grocery stores,” said AIBL Executive Director Prairie Bighorn-Blount. “Others don’t have any local family members who can help. We’re here to step in and help ensure that no one goes without essential items during this time of crisis.”

AIBL is currently accepting donations of any size to help further the effort and reach even more senior citizens across Arizona and the nation. To donate to the cause or learn more about the organization, visit AIBL.org.