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Photo: Native youth at NBNY participate in leadership exercise. Courtesy: Nick Lowery
Scottsdale, Arizona--The 31 outstanding youth from 12 tribes were put through a cutting edge, interactive program that combines Harvard’s Adaptive leadership and Nation Building paradigms with the latest in educational discoveries in individual and group dynamics.
Nation Building for Native Youth is the only national program for Native Youth that uses both the latest in personal awareness and group trust exercises that enable leaders to effectively harness the full potential of their team, group, tribe, or “clan”, with actual training in the components to successfully present before a tribal council.
Youth were selected for their capacity and potential as leaders. “We
are ready now to do trainings one by one with individual tribes,” said
Lowery, “Our belief is that the uniqueNative insight into the subtle
and powerful relationship between culture and democratic values will
not only help tribes find their own solutions, but also help heal
clan-based enmities in other parts of the world. Progress in
Afghanistan and Iraq only took place when in its 3rd year of occupation
in those countries, the Bush administration recognized and implemented
a cultural component to democracy. The very thing the Harvard Indian
scholars have been saying for more than 11 years – that cultural match
is everything to lasting solutions for tribal cultures.”
Youth
came away from the NBNY training believing they had had a life-changing
experience. “I feel more confident than ever that I can make a
difference with my tribe,” said one young lady from the Navajo
Reservation.” Another said, “For the first time, I now understand that
criticism comes with being a strong leader, and I don’t just think, I
know I can speak in front of a tribal council without feeling
intimidated, something I never thought I could do.”
Lowery announced three new developments for the Nick Lowery Youth Foundation
- The Foundation will be doing further Nation Building training on reservations that request their help
- A new partnership with the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville,
Kentucky, that will lead to trainings at the Ali Center and the Museum
of the Native American in Washington, D.C.
- A partnership with Dartmouth College, originally a school in the
1700’s dedicated to educating Native Americans (see “Letter from the
President” at www.Nickloweryfoundation.org) as expanding centers of
leadership training to empower today’s at risk youth with the
confidence and skills to become problem solvers for their communities.
Dartmouth now has an unprecedented 56 Native youth entering this year’s
freshmen class.
Trainers included nationally recognized Native educators Lynn and Kirke
Kickingbird, former Harvard Professor Rick St Germaine, and Lowery, who
has worked for the past 4 Presidents in drug abuse, national service
and education issues. Celebrity speakers and performers included
Country music legend Jessi Colter and the Miracles singer Syd Justin (a
former NFL player as well); Phoenix NBC’s top weatherman James Quinones
and Channel 3 “Your Life” co-host Gayle Bass talked about the power of
story-telling in the media. Former Arena Football star Will Sullivan
told his riveting story of transcending gang violence that claimed the
life of his best friend – and almost his own – and set the tone for
overcoming gang and clan pressure. Finally, tribal leaders and role
models like Mary Kim Titla, former congressional candidate and NBC
reporter spoke about communication and political organization skills.
Says Lowery, “With our Parnership with Dartmouth and the Ali Center,
NBNY is becoming a national and even international model we will use to
help develop transformative leadership the world over. NBNY started as
a Fellowship at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 2001”.
“Eight years in the making, we want to thank the UPS Foundation and Lee
Kreindler Foundation in particular for their support. We have fully
honed a model that uses Native history, tradition, wisdom, and most
importantly, culture, to teach leadership that can penetrate tribal,
clan and neighborhood enmities, and build cohesive partnerships that
solve problems and ultimately, we hope, un-write some of the wounds of
history. If there is something we have learned in the past eight years,
it is that the cultural component of democracy and power is far more
fundamental than the structure of democracy. Each cultural paradigm
projects out of its history, and out of its challenge and response, a
definitive, characteristic way, a social capital or tradition of
resolving problems. It is "The Lakota Way: it is the "Apache Way" , it
is the "American Way" - it is, indeed, the way "we" do things, wherever
and whoever "we" are; a tacit as well as structural path to resolution
of conflict. If this way is not understood, if it is not included as
part of the process of deliberation and balance of power, then any
democratic vision will be watered down, diluted, and ultimately washed
away by the flood of misunderstanding and anger that will ensue.”
“Trust exercises and team building are a big part of our leadership
training, “Lowery says, “because it challenges kids to tackle the
difficult situations in their lives and bond together as leadership
clans and teams. We believe this can be a key to penetrating the
cultural ‘Rubics cubes’ that breed complexity, violence and in turn,
intransigence in our world.”
For more information about the Nick Lowery Youth Foundation and Nation
Building for Native Youth, go to www.nickloweryfoundation.org
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