First Annual Rez Nation Youth Leadership March 4 and 5, 2011

Contact: Jessica Sotelo, Executive Director, Partners for Prosperity
208-681-0318

First Annual Rez Nation Youth Leadership March 4 and 5, 2011

Pocatello: Partners for Prosperity will host the first annual Rez Nation Youth Leadership Summit for Native American Youth grades 9 through 12 on March 4 and 5 at the Idaho State University Campus. The purpose of the 2 day event is to provide Native Youth with opportunities to learn about both leadership and service to the community.

The summit is part of a program Partners for Prosperity started last year called Navigating and Developing Native Youth Scholars and is funded by a grant from the Learn and Serve American Corporation. During the summit students will be assigned to mock Tribal Councils and given real world issues in Indian country to discuss and decide. Their presentations will be judged by local Tribal leaders who will act as mentors during the event. Students will also perform service in the Fort Hall area on Saturday before returning to the ISU campus in the afternoon to reflect on their service by creating posters that illustrate what service means to them.

“This is a great opportunity for young leaders in our community to experience leadership and to work directly with many of our local elders and leaders during the summit” said Randy’L Teton, Community Development Specialist for Partners for Prosperity and the project coordinator.

Special guest speakers for the event include Kellcee Baker, a young Cherokee woman who is currently working as the Legislative Analyst for the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, DC and Rudy Soto, who is a graduate student in the political leadership program at George Washington University. Soto is an enrolled member of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes and shares his personal story of overcoming obstacles including gangs to pursue academic and personal success.

On Friday night students will participate in a music workshop with Native American Award winning musician Chase Manhattan. No Sun Derek Brown, also an enrolled member of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes and student at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, will act as DJ for an alcohol free/drug free dance.

The ISU Native American student group Native Americans United as well as the Idaho National Laboratory are additional sponsors for the event.

Partners for Prosperity is a nonprofit organization for the 16 county region of Eastern Idaho including the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The mission is to reduce poverty through education, empowerment and asset building.



For additional information, contact Randy’L Teton, 208-241-8779