Aug 8 2024

Toward Languages of Liberation in Learning Environments

Grantmakers for Education

Virtual

August 8, 2:00 pm ET

What would it take to support all children and youth to flourish in both their home or native language and English? What is lost for our democracy when children lose their family’s languages? How can early childhood and youth development programs affirm positive cultural identities that build resiliency and honor cultural traditions?

Join us for an insightful discussion on these and other questions as Dr. Shantel Meek connects the dots on how children's earliest experiences in their native, heritage and English languages shape their identities while shaping a truly multicultural vision of democracy’s future in the United States. Panelists will share insights from the practitioner’s lens about the critical importance of affirming positive cultural identities and incorporating home languages when working with children and youth.

This is the second installment in the series co-hosted by Early Childhood Funders Collaborative and Trust for Learning. The first session in this series, From Neurons to Nation, can be accessed here.

While others are welcome to attend, this event is intended for members and education grantmakers.

There is no cost to attend this Grantmakers for Education program. Registration closes 15 minutes prior to the program time. By registering for this program, you agree to our Learning Environment Commitment. Thank you for your patience; we review each registration in advance.

Thank you to our cohosts, Early Childhood Funders Collaborative and Trust for Learning.

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About the Speakers

Julie Garreau

Julie Garreau
CEO
Cheyenne River Youth Project

A citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Julie Garreau has led the Cheyenne River Youth Project since its 1988 inception. She has seen the project through its exhilarating development from a tiny, one-room youth center in a former Main Street bar to a comprehensive youth and family services organization that includes “The Main” youth center for children ages 4-12, the Ċokata Wiċoni (Center of Life) teen center for youth ages 13-18, the Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Count) Institute and Art Park, the Winyan Toka Win (Leading Lady) Garden, and three social enterprises—the Keya (Turtle) Cafe & Coffee Shop, the Keya Gift Shop & E-Store, and the Leading Lady Farm Stand.

Julie is a dedicated youth advocate, and she hopes that CRYP will become a model for other communities to follow as they develop effective, sustainable, culturally relevant youth programming. She has received the South Dakota Volunteer of the Year Award (1992), the Presidential Points of Light Award (1993), the Lakota Nation Invitational Tournament Public Service Award (1993); the Father Hogebach Service to Native American Children Award, presented by St Joseph’s Indian School (1995); the North American Indian Women’s Association Fellowship “Among All Peoples” Award (1999); the Garden Supply Company’s First Place “Garden Crusader” Award (2005); the Spirit of Dakota Award (2009); and the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s prestigious Tim Wapato Public Advocate of the Year Award (2019).


Vanessa Goodthunder

Vanessa Goodthunder
Director
C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi (CWOO)

Vanessa Goodthunder, Sna Sna Wiƞ (Snah-Snah Weeƞ) comes from C̣aƞṡayapi (Chahƞ-shah-yah-pee), which means where they paint the trees red also known as the Lower Sioux Indian Community. She graduated from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a Bachelor’s in U.S History and American Indian Studies-Dakota Language, and with a Master of Education. Her passions are education, revitalizing the Dakota language, and working with Native youth.

Vanessa believes that language can be used to heal from historical trauma and has dedicated her life to learning and teaching her languages (Dakota and Dine). Vanessa has worked with the nonprofit organization called Daḳota Wic̣oḣaƞ (Dakota Way of Life) as both a youth participant and later, a language instructor supporting Dakota language curriculum development. She was the Aide to the Chief of Staff and Tribal Affairs Policy Advisor in the Office of Governor Mark Dayton and Lt. Governor Tina Smith. She sits on the board of the National Indian Head Start Directors Association, the Lower Sioux Indian Community Education Committee, and serves on the board of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota. She helped opened and currently serves as the Director of the C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi (CWOO)-A Birth-5 Dakota Immersion School, the first Dakota Head Start in the State of Minnesota.


Dr. Shantel E. Meek

Dr. Shantel E. Meek
Executive Director
Children’s Equity Project

Dr. Shantel E. Meek is the Executive Director of Children’s Equity Project (CEP) and a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University. The CEP is a multi-university initiative that aims to close opportunity gaps between children from historically marginalized communities and their peers. Dr. Meek previously served in the Obama Administration as a Senior Policy Advisor for Early Childhood Development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and as a Senior Policy Advisor for Education in the Domestic Policy Council at the White House. Dr. Meek holds a B.A. in Psychology and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University. She is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, and her personal experiences as a Latina and first-generation college graduate from a small border town inform her work and contribute to her drive to improve the learning conditions of children from historically marginalized communities. Today, she lives in Phoenix with her husband and two babies, both of whom are growing up bilingual.


Veronica Robles

Veronica Robles
Co-Founder and Director
Veronica Robles Cultural Center

Veronica Robles is a Mariachi singer, musician and Latin American folkloric dancer and choreographer by trade but has become a cultural icon for Latinos in Boston. She has effectively utilized the power of the arts and culture to bring the community together by raising awareness on the importance of diversity and she has empowered the youth by employing them and teaching them about their roots and cultures. Robles is Co-founder and Director of the Veronica Robles Cultural Center that supports community action and economic growth in East Boston and offers Latin American arts and culture programming and provides jobs for youth.

Recently she was honored with the national 2021 Changemakers Award presented by the Institute of Non-Profit Practice. In November 2019 Ms. Robles received the Ohtli Award. This Award is one of the highest and very limited distinctions given by the Government of Mexico. Veronica Robles is a woman of courage and principles; as a cancer survivor she lives her life to the fullest, filled with joy, passion, and love. Her work honors the memory of her only daughter who passed away as a teenager.

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