I have always been interested in art and design since I was a young girl in high school. In fact, I dreamed of my career being in the realm of interior design. Initially, it did not feel like I ended up in that realm, but experience and my perspective has changed throughout the years.
Research has shown that children of color are more likely to succeed when they have a teacher of the same race. Yet Native children are much more likely to have a white teacher than a Native teacher. To promote a positive educational trajectory for Native children, the American Indian College Fund is launching the new “For the Wisdom of the Children” program, thanks to a two-year, $1.5 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The American Indian College Fund and Pendleton Woolen Mills, the acclaimed- lifestyle brand headquartered in Portland, Oregon, are introducing two new, exclusive blankets to the American Indian College Fund Collection for 2018.
The Trustees of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation have approved a grant of $2.024 million to the American Indian College Fund to continue support for graduate degree completion fellowships for Tribal College and University faculty.
Dr. Cynthia Lindquist, President of Cankdeska Cikana Community College in Ft. Totten, North Dakota, says she never set out to be a tribal college president. “College was a dream for me as a high school kid. I was the oldest of 13 kids, and there was no money for college.”
March 12, 2018, Denver, Colo.— The Coca Cola Foundation and the American Indian College Fund honored 35 American Indian scholarship recipients at its 2017-18 Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship banquet at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Student Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota.
The American Indian College Fund honored Dr. Cynthia Lindquist, President of Cankdeska Cikana Community College in Ft. Totten, North Dakota, for her outstanding contributions to American Indian higher education as its Tribal College and University Honoree of the Year. Dr. Lindquist, along with 34 American Indian scholarship recipients named as Students of the Year, were lauded at a reception hosted by the College Fund in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Since graduating from high school my educational development has focused on forestry and natural resources, and my career in various technical and professional positions has been intertwined with my educational focus. I approach my education and career as complementary activities, because my jobs are opportunities to learn and learning is my job.
At the center of the American Indian College Fund’s new PSA campaign rests a goal to change a staggering statistic: Only 14 percent of college graduates today are American Indian, less than half of that of their peers.
During this month dedicated to women, I want to acknowledge the importance of Native women who work in environmental spaces. It was primarily women who encouraged me to believe in my relationship with the earth and who acknowledge me as I am, which is to say a mixed-race queer.
