Department of Education–Webinar: Leveraging Native American and Alaska Native Voices in Education Research

Leveraging Native American and Alaska Native Voices in Education Research – The Institute of Education Sciences and White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities are excited to co-host this Listen and Learn Session. We will be discussing the high-priority education research needs of the Native American and Alaska Native communities.

Featured guests include:

• Erica Moore, PhD is Boriken Taíno of iukaieke Guainia and a member of the United Confederation of Taino People. She has a Ph.D. in higher education leadership and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in history. Moore currently serves as Executive Director of Native Student Success at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. Previously, she was director of the American Indian Student Center at South Dakota (SDSU), where she worked as a content expert for an ongoing educational development series and fostered a culturally responsive and supportive campus environment for American Indian students.

• Dr. Stephanie A. Fryberg is a member of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington State, is the University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Psychology, and is the founding Director of the Research for Indigenous Social Action and Equity Center at the University of Michigan. Dr. Fryberg’s research expertise focuses on how social representations of race, culture, and social class influence the development of self, psychological well-being, and educational attainment; and on designing interventions that reconfigure learning spaces to improve outcomes for racial minority and low-income students. Putting research to work, Dr. Fryberg’s work on the psychological effects of using Native Peoples as mascots has been used across the country to eliminate racist mascots in schools and sports domains. She has worked with six school districts at the student, teacher, and building leader levels to develop a curriculum and identify best practices for creating and sustaining culturally inclusive growth mindset schools and classrooms. Dr. Fryberg recently served as president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (Division 9 of the American Psychological Association) and was recently selected as a fellow of the Association of Psychological Science.

• Ron Lessard is an American Indian from the Mohawk and Abenaki Tribes. He is currently the Acting Executive Director for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities. The Initiative leads the President’s Executive Order 14049 and seeks supports activities that will strengthen the Nation by expanding education opportunities and improving education outcomes for all American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) students. Acting Executive Director Lessard also serves as the Department of Education’s Tribal Consultation Official and serves on the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children. In addition, he co-leads the Education Committee on the White House Council on Native American Affairs. In 2021 he received the GlobalMindED’s 2021 Inclusive Leaders Award for his commitment to the rights of Indigenous people, especially Native-American children, receiving the best education in a culturally appropriate way.

• Ace Charette is an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa and is the Director of Research, Assessment, and Accreditation at Turtle Mountain Community College. Turtle Mountain Community College espouses indigenous worldviews in higher education. In this role, Director Charette applies nearly a decade of experience serving tribal education organizations toward solutions spanning the student experience, ranging from pre-enrollment to post-graduation. He promotes an indigenous framework for approaching data discussions and equity-centered applications to meaningful practice. His work helps identify opportunities for data application and cultural relevance that bridge diverse information sources with realistic applicable strategies to “close the loop” on data-informed institutional action.