Members of NNI's Tribal Professionals Cohort 2022 had the opportunity to meet in person at the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s Casino Del Sol for their 3^rd Quarterly seminar. Six out of the nine members of the cohort traveled from their homes to continue Native Nation Building seminars in person in Tucson.

During the first seminar, titled “Preparing for Change,” NNI Executive Director Joan Timeche offered real-life examples of how Tribes have successfully implemented change in their governments. Cohort members participated in an activity that generated discussions and new ideas to bring back to their communities.

Another way to prepare for (and enact) change is to gather the opinions of all members of a community and synthesize that information into a plan that everyone believes in and can confidently contribute to. Finding consensus in a group of people with a wide range of experience, ideas, and motivations can be very difficult. The next day, the TPC was joined by the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy staff (NNI and the Environmental Policy Program) for a day-long seminar on techniques to successfully accomplish this challenging feat. Our skilled facilitators, Leslie and Paul Kabotie of Indigenous Collaboration Inc., demonstrated facilitation techniques and useful tools for community engagement. The fun interactive exercises we learned will improve the effectiveness of meetings by building group problem-solving and consensus-finding skills in each of our community members. All participants had the opportunity to practice their new-found skills and then received constructive feedback from the facilitators and each other.

Applications for the Tribal Professionals Cohort 2023 are now open:

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