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Northern California gains Native American community leaders

By Victoire Chochezi, PR communications coordinator

A diverse new group of community leaders graduated on Aug. 21 from an extensive leadership development training program held in Mendocino County, California. The closing ceremony took place at Consolidated Tribal Health Project, Inc’s Wellness Center just outside of Ukiah.

Class of leadership program participants
look forward to improving their community

RCAC conducted the community leadership development program in partnership with Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority. The program attracted many Native American participants from a variety of tribes in several counties, including Lake County, Santa Rosa, Clearlake, Hopland, Sherwood Valley Rancheria, Lakeport, Kelseyville and other areas. Some participants were not Native American, but live among or serve tribes on and off reservations in the area. Participants ranged from college to retirement age. They have varied experience, from emerging to well-established leaders and from tribal chairs to students. The group contains a wealth of knowledge, enthusiasm, skills, abilities and backgrounds.

Taught over the course of four weekends in four months, the course involves 60 hours of classes and 16 modules designed to help participants gain skills and tools to enable them to be resourceful and effective community organizers and leaders.

As part of the training, the group conceived, designed and will execute a class project that directly benefits Northern California residents in Mendocino and surrounding counties. The 19 participants who completed the training chose to refurbish a cookshack located on the Big Valley Rancheria reservation. The cookshack is an integral part of tribal events to which tribes from the greater community contribute and it is in vital need of upgrades. Needed upgrades include a sink, a stove, new cupboards and much more. The leadership program graduates will have a year to complete the project.

The project is designed to allow participants to practice the many skills they learned in the training and achieve a visual success in the community. They will raise the money needed for the project, recruit volunteers, work together to maintain consensus and resolve conflict and involve the greater community. This group has an advantage in that a previous training was completed in the area two years earlier and the first cohort is committed to assisting this new group to succeed.

Participant comments from an evaluation survey stated

• “My lens has changed. I believe I’m more aware of concepts never before discovered. I understand, now, what it takes to create real community changes.”
• “I am aware how to be involved to make changes in my community.”
• “I look at my community with a more positive approach.”
• “Maybe seeing that a group of people, most strangers at first, can get together, come to consensus and work to complete a project, will be an inspiration for my tribe.”

To find out more about RCAC’s Leadership Training Program, visit RCAC’s website.

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