DENVER – The Dallas, Texas-based Embrey Family Foundation has awarded the American Indian College Fund a $1 million grant over a four-year period for a Native women’s leadership program.

The project provides 20 scholarships and leadership training for American Indian women pursuing their bachelor’s degrees. As part of the leadership training, participants will attend annual retreats to develop skills and gain networking opportunities. Participants will also attend culturally relevant programs to help formulate their personal leadership development plans, which will take root in their Native communities, and evolve as they progress toward employment opportunities, and advanced degree programs.

Twenty women were chosen from six tribal colleges to participate in the program, including: Cankdeska Cikana Community College, in North Dakota; College of Menominee Nation, in Wisconsin; Fort Belknap College, in Montana; Northwest Indian College, in Washington; Sitting Bull College, in North Dakota; and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, in New Mexico. These colleges were identified because of the strength of their women leaders, for the diversity of the academic programs they offer, and for the regions they represent.

Scholars chosen for the program include:

• Debra Bob, Tulalip, undecided major, Northwest Indian College
• Melinda Cook, Menominee, elementary education major, College of Menominee Nation
• Jalisa Marie Cruz, Standing Rock Sioux, human services major, Sitting Bull College
• Dacia Dauphinais, Blackfeet, Indian studies major, Cankdeska Cikana Community College
• Deanna Diaz, Seneca, liberal arts/natural resources major, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
• Christina Flansburg, Gros-Ventre, allied health major, Ft. Belknap College
• Lorissa Garcia, Acoma Pueblo, business major, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
• Shallee Graff, Port Gamble S’Klallam tribe, education major, Northwest Indian College
• Charlene Lee Healy, Assiniboine, allied health major, Ft. Belknap College
• Kourtenay Iron Cloud, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, business administration major, Sitting Bull College
• Jennifer Cordova-James, Tlingit, business administration/art major, Northwest Indian College
• Vera Anne Julius, Lummi, business major, Northwest Indian College
• Brandi King, Assiniboine, psychology major, Ft. Belknap College
• Jessica Longknife, San Carlos Apache, allied health major, Ft. Belknap College
• Janet Ladd, Navajo, elementary education major, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
• Lois Leben, Spirit Lake Dakota, elementary education major, Cankdeska Cikana Community College
• Audra Stonefish, Oneida, environmental science major, Sitting Bull College
• Lindsay Walking Eagle, Spirit Lake Dakota, nursing major, Cankdeska Cikana Community College
• Melissa Wilber, Menominee, human services major, College of Menominee Nation
• Terri Ann Zhuckkahosee, Menominee, business major, College of Menominee Nation

“We congratulate these strong Native women,” said Richard B. Williams, president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund. “This investment on the part of the Embrey Family Foundation will give these women the education and skills they need to lead their communities in their chosen professions and as members of their communities. Through this gift of education and personal development, the Embrey Family Foundation is growing the next generation of leaders who will walk in the footsteps of those who came before them, while leading their people and their descendants to a more hopeful and exciting future.”

Cankdeska Cikana Community College
To provide education opportunities, at the community college level, including vocational and technical training. As a tribal community college, we emphasize the teaching and learning of Dakota culture and language toward the perpetuation of the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation. The goal is student independence and self-sufficiency through academic achievement.
http://www.littlehoop.edu/

College Of Menominee Nation
The College Of Menominee Nation’s mission is to provide opportunities in Higher Education to its students. As an institution of higher education chartered by the Menominee people, the college infuses this education with American Indian culture, preparing students for careers and advanced studies in a multi-cultural world. As a land grant institution, the College is committed to research, promoting, perpetuating and nurturing American Indian Culture, and providing outreach workshops and community service.
http://www.menominee.edu/

Fort Belknap College
The mission of Fort Belknap College is to provide quality post-secondary education for residents of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and surrounding communities. The college will help individuals improve their lives by offering them an opportunity to maintain the cultural integrity of the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes as well as succeed in an American technological society.
http://www.fbcc.edu/

Northwest Indian College
Through education, Northwest Indian College promotes indigenous self determination and knowledge.
http://www.nwic.edu/

Sitting Bull College
Sitting Bull College is an academic and technical institution committed to improving the levels of education and training, economic and social development of the people it serves while promoting responsible behavior consistent with the Lakota/Dakota culture and language.
http://www.sittingbull.edu/

Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute is a National Indian Community College that prepares Native American students to be productive life-long learners as tribal members in an ever-changing global environment. As a land grant institution, SIPI partners with tribes, employers, and other organizations with a stake in Indian education. An enduring commitment to student success is the hallmark of SIPI’s operations.
http://www.sipi.edu/