Jose Acevedo is back on NextGen Native. One episode wasn’t enough to capture his energy and excitement. To be honest, two shows probably isn’t enough, either.! On the first show, we talked about his life. This time, we can skip the details (where you from, etc.) and dive into various subjects. Jose is the host of Finding Arizona , a podcast focused on entrepreneurs in Arizona. He is also part Hopi. We have a lot of mutual experience and energy to share amazing stories through our podcasts. You s...
Sep 30, 2016•1 hr 6 min
Brian Gunn is a member of the C onfederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation . He is a Principal at Powers Pyle Sutter & Verville PC in Washington DC. Brian is someone I’ve admired for a long time. In addition to being a lawyer that has taken on several large cases and initiatives as part of his work in Indian Country, he is low key and always maintains his sense of humor. Brian discusses how his general low key demeanor has positively impacted his clients’ cases. It reminded me of the say...
Sep 14, 2016•1 hr 8 min
Jacqueline Wilson Highlights “The thing classical music and being Native have in common is reassuring people we are not obsolete.” “Even if what you do is unorthodox, or unexpected or outside of the box, what you do and who you are is important and you should share it with other people.” In Indian Country, we often discuss being “traditional,” but in today’s episode, we get to hear someone who is “classical” while also being indigenous. That person is Jacqueline Wilson, a “classical Native” Jacq...
Sep 08, 2016•57 min
“If you are interested in Native issues, do what you need to do. One person can make a difference.” If you listen to NextGen Native, chances are you know Lance Morgan. Lance is the CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc , a corporation owned by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska . He also is the managing partner of Frederick Peebles Morgan , and teaches at Arizona State University Law School. I worked with Lance and his company in my last job and had the chance to get to hear his story a bit as he told the story of H...
Sep 01, 2016•50 min
“We never control the timing of our opportunities.” “ I always thought about the removal with anger or sadness...and now I think about survival and resilience.” Stacy Leeds is a Citizen of the Cherokee Nation . She is also Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Recently, Dean Leeds was reappointed to a second term as Dean. Let me restate that: Dean Leeds is a Citizen of the Cherokee Nation and Dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law. I’ve been excited to ...
Aug 23, 2016•1 hr
“What do [you] feel you are good at and feel you can contribute to your community?” When I spoke to Kayla Gebeck, the thing that jumped out at me was her enthusiasm to try new things, start new adventures, with the goal of preserving her language. After not traveling far beyond the upper Midwest, Kayla traveled to a Pueblo, then to Hawaii, and ultimately to New Zealand. Her goal was to learn how different communities were working to to preserve their languages.So while she was able to explore pe...
Aug 17, 2016•1 hr 12 min
Amanda Tachine If you need an energy boost, or your spirit lifted, this episode is for you. Amanda Tachine’s voice lifted my mood and her enthusiasm and energy lasted throughout the episode. Amanda is Navajo, and is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Center for Indian Education at Arizona State University . Amanda’s busy, and her accomplishments demonstrate that. TEMPE - September 8th, 2015 - ASU News - Postdoctoral Scholar Amanda Tachine will be recognized for her work as a White House Champion of C...
Jul 27, 2016•1 hr 4 min
Vince Logan (Osage) is the Special Trustee for Native Americans at the Department of the Interior . In that role, he is responsible for the trust assets administered by the Department. He is a Senate-confirmed member of the administration. As impressive as that is, it’s only a sliver of his accomplishments in his personal and professional career. Vince is from Oklahoma. At a young age, his parents moved to Norman so him and his siblings could be close to more opportunities for education. Despite...
Jul 21, 2016•55 min
Justin Wilson is an upbeat guy. You sense his energy from the moment you start a conversation with him. Or more likely, when he starts a conversation with you. When you learn about his life, it’s amazing to think how he can be so upbeat. But then you realize, it’s because he had no other choice. Justin Wilson is Choctaw. He grew up in Southeast Oklahoma. His father died when he was three and his mom wasn’t around much. He was living on his own at age 14. He excelled at school. He realized it was...
Jul 14, 2016•1 hr 21 min
“Google “Native people in tech…; and see Native people in every field, no matter how much of a walled garden exists. They did it, you can do it.” One of the goals for NextGen Native is to connect Native people across a variety of professions, and to tell the story of these people to place their experience in context i.e. being Native person in the 21st century. Perhaps no one best exemplifies this to date than Erin Spiceland. Erin Spiceland is Choctaw, and grew up in South Georgia. Her family en...
Jun 29, 2016•55 min
Jacob Aki on Native histories: "When we look into our history, we have a history of excellence...and we have to reclaim that." Jacob Aki My conversation with Jacob Aki sparked a lot of thoughts about how I think about leadership and solving tough problems. Jacob Aki Jacob’s bio below outlines well his leadership and contribution to his community at such a young age. In particular, I was taken by two parts of our conversation: First, Jacob discussed the organization Aha Kane , which has the missi...
Jun 22, 2016•1 hr 2 min
Kekoa McClellan: " "We can never forget that we are native first, but we cannot ignore that we are not the only people who matter.. We have to look at the people around us. If we separate ourselves from them, we are separating ourselves from their hearts." Kekoa McClellan Official Bio Kekoa McClellan is the President and CEO of Pelatron Power Evolution and the President of the firm's Joint Venture PQ Energy, LLC. McClellan leads the development of waste-to-energy systems in the State of Hawaiʻi....
Jun 16, 2016•1 hr 4 min
[ ed note: Jose Acevedo’s challenge to NextGen Natives was actually directed at me (and you). The challenge was for me to use the NextGen Native platform to bring NextGen Natives together in person. If this interests you, let me know by leaving a comment here, or on Facebook/Twitter, etc.] Jose Acevedo connects with all kinds of people through his podcast Finding Arizona . He also connects with people through the business he created, War Cry Warrior . And that does not include his day job as a l...
Jun 09, 2016•1 hr 13 min
“Give yourself six months and do the one thing that absolutely terrifies you.” Sooner Davenport’s official bio Sooner Davenport is Apache Tribe of Oklahoma , Kiowa and Navajo. She was born in Shiprock, New Mexico and currently lives in the Oklahoma City area. She graduated with her Bachelor's from Oklahoma City University and pursued graduate studies at the U niversity of Minnesota-Duluth's Master of Tribal Administration and Governance program. Davenport is a passionate advocate for quality edu...
May 26, 2016•1 hr 1 min
“Our voices will not be centered unless we fight for Native voices to be heard.” Dr. Adrienne Keene (Cherokee) will begin a position at Brown University this fall as a tenure track Assistant Professor in the American Studies Department. She also is the author of Native Appropriations, her website that “is a forum for discussing representations of Native peoples including stereotypes, cultural appropriations, news, activism and more.” Each of these accomplishments alone is impressive. The fact th...
May 16, 2016•1 hr 33 min
Carina Miller on success: “Why are we accepting that [success] is not something that is part of an Indian identity?” Carina Miller's Leadership Carina Miller has a unique skill set. She is committed to making her community a better place. She has the drive and persistence to see tough projects/times/conversations through. And, perhaps most importantly, her communication skills are excellent. The communication piece helps her explain her ideas and goals to others, even in difficult meetings, in a...
May 09, 2016•58 min
Jaclyn Roessel “You need to savor, truly savor the life that you built for yourself...it’s the worst thing to have a beautiful life and not be able to appreciate it.” Jaclyn Roessel is Navajo. She grew up on the Navajo Nation and attended Arizona State University . She is the Education and Public Programs Director for the Heard Museum . She also writes the blog Grown Up Navajo , hosts a podcast called Schmooze: Lady Connected and Presence 4.0. As you can tell, Jaclyn is very busy. But she does i...
May 04, 2016•1 hr 13 min
On this episode, I share some of these updates with a segment I call “NextGen Natives in the News.” This is a mini roundup of things I’ve come across recently that I think is worth sharing with NextGen Natives. NextGen Native has been around about a year and a half. In that time, we’ve heard stories from many amazing people in Indian Country. The fun part about building this network of NextGen Natives is to see the amazing things that previous guests continue to do, and learn about cool things t...
Apr 28, 2016•22 min
Kraynal Alfred is Navajo. Originally from Tuba City, she moved around as a child. She spent time both in Oakland, CA and Atlanta, GA. Eventually she attended Georgia State University. She’s worked for the National Congress of American Indians, National Indian Health Board, the Speaker of the Navajo Nation, and currently at the Native American Political Leadership Program. Kraynal has been able to utilize several program to facilitate her educational and professional development. Those programs h...
Apr 21, 2016•1 hr 6 min
A change up to the normal show, here we share three different resources or ideas that have impacted me recently: Investing for retirement-the impact of compound interest A quote I'm pondering about decision making. Cold showers. Links and resources: Investment Philosophy Magic of compound interest Stress Test Vice documentary on Wim Hoff Conversation with Victor Rocha...
Apr 16, 2016•27 min
“I wanted to inspire [my sister] to carry on our traditions through any kind of art.”--Cynthia Begay The Origins of Hopi Girl Silver Cynthia Begay is Hopi and the brains and talent behind Hopi Girl Silver. Check out her amazing work at www.hopigirlsilver.com . Cynthia grew up in Bakersfield, CA. During the summers, she would spend time with her family back home. There she watched family members that were silversmiths. When she went to college she would ask “which family member made that for you?...
Apr 07, 2016•51 min
The Story of Nebraska v. Parker Vernon Miller is Chairman of the Omaha Nation . Recently, the nation has been in the news as it successfully defended its sovereignty before the Supreme Court in the case Nebraska v. Parker. In this episode, we discuss the background of the case, the strategy put together for the case, and the impact the case will have on his own nation, across Indian Country and on the Chairman’s leadership experience. In recent years, Indian Country has been timid to bring cases...
Mar 31, 2016•1 hr 9 min
Johnnie Jae on being a suicide survivor “You don’t just have to survive, you can thrive...” Johnnie Jae’s Bio Johnnie Jae is of the Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw tribes of Oklahoma. She is the managing partner of Native Max Magazine , founder of A Tribe Called Geek , and contributor to Native News Online . She is the manager and producer for the Success Native Style Radio Network , where she hosts the Indigenous Flame and A Tribe Called Geek radio shows. She is also a founding board member of Not Y...
Mar 23, 2016•1 hr 14 min
“We were never afraid to admit what we didn’t know...But we did not fear to dream big...it is your right to dream big bold visions about your future, and your right to pursue those visions.” Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation is doing some incredible work on Pine Ridge. And Nick Tilsen is the Executive Director of the organization. Nick Tilsen, Executive Director of Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation Thunder Valley was created after Nick and others were scolded by som...
Mar 17, 2016•57 min
“Life gets better...Things get much better... if you can get through that hard stage... Life, love, happiness, everything gets a whole lot better…” Stacey Ecoffey is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota. She grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in Pine Ridge. She is currently the Principal Advisor for Tribal Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . Growing up, horses were a big part of Stacey’s life. Her grandfather always had her on a horse, and she found horses to be a...
Feb 29, 2016•45 min
“I never thought of myself as pitiful”… “but I struggled with the injustice of our history”-- Jodi Gillette Indian Country is humble. It encourages, as discussed on a previous episode, leadership as service . Jodi Gillette is a great example of this leadership style. Jodi Gillette is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe . She grew up in Kyle, South Dakota. Jodi describes herself as one of the most fortunate people in the country because of where she is from. As a child she was surrounded by...
Feb 29, 2016•56 min
“I like to tell [students] you’ll never know what you’re capable of until you try.” “The future is whatever they want it to be. And there is nothing that should stop them from getting there.” --Mike Black Mike Black, Oglala Sioux , is the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs . Mike’s story is a great example of what happens when you combine experience, skills, and mentorship. On their own, each is a valuable asset. But they may not be enough individually to propel your career to the highest ...
Feb 23, 2016•39 min
Launching Lakota Voices Pine Ridge is WAY TOO FAMILIAR with the tired narrative of Indian Country as poverty porn. It is ground zero for media that perpetuate the narrative. It’s also the example used by those trying to counter it. But there’s another story about Pine Ridge and Indian Country generally. It’s our story told by us. In general, I call this story NextGen Native. And I’m excited to launch a series that focuses on this story in a specific community. The series is called Lakota Voices....
Feb 19, 2016•15 min
Walk Your Own Path “Walking your own path is getting off the moving walkway at the airport. On the walkway, you may be moving but you are not the one driving the motion nor are you in control of where it is going. Instead, choose yourself where to go and how to get there. It’s more work than the moving walkway, but the payoff is worth it.” Dennis Worden Usually on the podcast we hear amazing stories from NextGen Natives around the country. This episode I discuss some concepts and ideas that I th...
Feb 12, 2016•30 min
“I’m always asked to motivate other people. Motivation has to come from within you. Nobody can give it to you.”-- Waylon Pahona If you’re reading this, you are probably familiar with Healthy Active Natives. Waylon Pahona created this Facebook page that has almost 60 thousand likes. It’s been a source of motivation and support for people throughout Indian Country. Waylon--who is Hopi, Tewa and Maricopa Piipaash--joined NextGen Native to share his story. If you need some positive energy, Waylon is...
Feb 04, 2016•51 min
