In honor of National Mentoring Month and the release of I Am Why’s white paper on our mentorship model, I want to share my experience and growth in different mentorship roles at I Am Why. During October of 2022, I was granted the wonderful opportunity to co-lead the I...
Throughout my life, I have had many mentoring relationships. I have been both the mentee and the mentor. However, the mentorships I’ve had with I Am Why were the most transformative. My I Am Why mentorships were with individuals I had little to no connection with. We...
How does Reproductive Justice affect your life? Being born female means being the first-born daughter, granddaughter, niece, and great-granddaughter of my family. This has always meant I should achieve the most because it was expected that I would grow up while...
A controversial issue in my hometown of Espanola, New Mexico, has been the dark side of New Mexican history, specifically the Spanish conquest of the Indigenous communities that were long established. The man who led it was a Spanish conquistador named Juan De Onate....
What does my current work as an I Am Why consultant look like? I participate in the Motherhood Support Group and am a member of the Speak On Us and Self Advocacy Learning Pods while co-leading the Embracing Creative Freedom Pod. In these spaces, I’ve developed my...
Meet Apsaalooke Back in June, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Haalandd V. Brackeen affirming the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). ICWA is a federal law passed in 1978 that governs the removal and out-of-home placement of Indigenous children and youth....
For many people, February 2023 was a time to learn about Black history by uplifting important figures of the past and present-day times. At I Am Why our Justice Initiatives team decided to give reverence to Black culture by taking time to acknowledge the past while...
In honor of Indigenous Heritage Month Trusting one another, Respecting what is being shared, A teaching moment, Direct from ancestors that were forced Into institutions, That created friction and diminished our cultures. Initiating our heritage and being Open to...
Part 2: Modern day genocide, they are doing this all over again to us. The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed in 1978 because Indigenous children and youth were being removed from their homes at far higher rates than other children and youth. Research from the...
Part 1: Modern day genocide, they are doing this all over again to us. ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) helps us fight to preserve the connection between a child and his or her tribe. If it is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the children stand to lose so much...
