Policy and Education Experts to Speak on Native Family Engagement in Early Childhood Education

Mar 8, 2015 | Blog

Policy and Education Experts to Speak on Native Family Engagement in Early Childhood Education

March 8, 2015

Albuquerque, New Mexico—William (Bill) Mendoza, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, Oglala-Sicangu Lakota, and a professional educator with experience as a teacher and a principal, is speaking at the American Indian College Fund’s convening on Native Family Engagement as part of The Ké’ Early Childhood Initiative (Ké’ ECE Initiative) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, being held March 9-10.

The Ké’ ECE Initiative (https://collegefund.org/content/ke-early-childhood-initiative) is convening more than 45 representatives from four tribal colleges and partner programs in a closed session to develop statements to inform policy on Native early childhood education and family engagement. The American Indian College Fund’s (College Fund’s) ECE Initiatives seek to strengthen the role of Native families in early learning opportunities, building culturally-responsive programming with families and tribal partners.

The Ké’ Early Childhood Initiative supports tribal college grantees and their tribal and community partners to help them deepen their engagement with Native families in their children’s education, starting from birth to age eight. This program is the second early childhood education initiative the W. K. Kellogg Foundation has funded with the American Indian College Fund in five years.

The convening will feature other nationally recognized speakers with expertise in Indian education and policy, including:

  • Jeremy Garcia, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Education in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies at the University of Arizona and a member of the Hopi/Tewa Tribes of Arizona.
  • Iris PrettyPaint, Ph.D., M.S.W, an educator and researcher who is a leading authority on cultural resilience, student retention, and indigenous evaluation with American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Dr. PrettyPaint is Vice President for Indigenous Knowledge Transfer at KAI.
  • Malia Villegas, Ed.D., Director of the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center (ncai.org/prc), where she is the Principal Investigator of an National Institute of Health-sponsored Native American Research Center for Health project examining the use and dissemination of community-based participatory research practices in Indigenous and minority communities. Dr. Villegas is an enrolled member of the Native Village of Afognak in Alaska, where she serves on the Tribal Council.

Follow the live Tweet from Alburqueque at https://twitter.com/Wakanyeja_ECE

Recent Blog Posts

Circle of Hope Winter 2025

| Winter 2025 |Circle of HopeWhy Diversity MattersGreetings, my dear friends and relatives,I want to start by expressing my deep thanks to each of you for reaching out to me, and others across the College Fund team, to share your concerns for us, as well as reminding...

Rural America Loses If We Lose Tribal Colleges

Rural America Loses If We Lose Tribal Colleges

Cheryl Crazy Bull warns that federal funding cuts threaten Tribal Colleges and Universities, which provide affordable, community-focused education for Native and rural students. She highlights their impact on workforce development, economic growth, and student success, urging continued investment to secure their future.