09 Jun When Generations Collaborate
Bi-annual Tribal Youth Leadership Summit connects two generations to develop our future leaders
Living in a small town on the Kenai Peninsula, as the Kenaitze Indian Tribe Youth Council coordinator, Stephanie Rodríguez works with young people who navigate two worlds.
“They could walk the side that is this corporate America world we live in, and they could also walk the side that’s traditional life,” she observed. “They could walk both sides, merge them. This age, these youth—they’re going to be the ones to do it.”
Meeting at the Summit
Stephanie’s desire to empower the youth to keep their traditions alive while growing into leaders drew her to attend her very first Tribal Youth Leadership Summit (TYLS). Each year, CITC hosts a spring and a fall summit, bringing together young people ages 18 and older with Tribal leaders to share multi-generational perspectives and innovative ideas about everything from education and civic engagement, to community and culture.
CITC believes that Alaska Native communities thrive when young voices join with Elder wisdom. This philosophy came to life at this year’s spring TYLS, held May 29, where emerging leaders gathered to explore how two generations can work together to strengthen their communities.
Bridging Generational Strengths
This combination of Elders and youth represents exactly what Stephanie hopes to achieve in her new role developing a youth council for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe.
“What I really see is that, today, young people have the voice, while Elders have the knowledge,” she described. “Historically, not speaking up was maybe a normalized thing, or Elders got bullied for speaking their language and celebrating their culture. But with the younger generation, they’re very driven, and they’re good at globalizing information—recording and sharing the knowledge. But they don’t necessarily have the knowledge. I want to bring those two forces together.”
In her new role with the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Stephanie is tasked with developing a youth council. At the TYLS, she hoped to network and connect with youth and other youth workers to learn about how other Alaska Native tribes are getting young people involved.
Growing Future Leaders
This year, one emphasis of the TYLS was CITC’s Generative Leadership program, an effort to grow future leaders by pairing young Native professionals with advisors.
“It’s basically building a connection and having a leader that you can go to when you need advice on things,” explained Kristin Stuyvesant, a youth case manager at CITC who first engaged with the organization as a youth intern.
Today, Kristin continues to serve on CITC’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC) as she develops her leadership skills.
“When I was coming here for the first time, if I hadn’t felt that support from the leaders and adults, actually caring about my future, I wouldn’t still be here,” she said. “That’s why I’ve gotten into this role as a youth case manager and on the council. I feel like it’s my turn to start giving back to the youth.”
Getting Connected and “Loud”
The day featured several dynamic sessions designed to strengthen intergenerational collaboration and highlights included a conversation about self-determination led by artist, student, and CITC YAC member Lisa (Kamahamak) Lynch and Get Out the Native Vote Director of Strategic Initiatives Michelle Sparck; a “coffee talk” about generative leadership led by CIRI President Tabetha Toloff and CIRI Shareholder and Descent Programs Coordinator Brooke Schurosky (another member of CITC’s YAC); and a session led by Kristin, who spoke about the importance of work readiness, public speaking, and building networks.
Attendees also engaged in a small-group activity that encouraged them to explore the strengths of both younger generations and Elders. They discussed how each set of strengths could work together for community progress— directly reflecting the work Stephanie Rodríguez hopes to do with the Kenaitze Tribe’s new youth council.
For Stephanie, the summit’s greatest value lay in the network of support it revealed. “What I’m getting out of this is a huge network of people that have the resources, but we’re not quite connected yet,” she reflected. “The push I want to see is connectedness—and not just quiet connectedness, but loud connectedness. We’re here, we’re supporting each other, we’re backing each other—we’re holding onto our roots.”
Get Involved
Join the next Tribal Youth Leadership Summit: CITC hosts two Tribal Youth Leadership Summits annually, once in the spring, and once in the fall. The TYLS is open to Alaska Native and American Indian young adults ages 18 and up who are interested in developing their leadership skills. To learn more about the event, which is hosted in partnership with CIRI, email CITC at TribalPartnerships@citci.org.
Kenaitze youth: If you’re looking for a way to make your voice heard in your community, consider joining the new Kenaitze Indian Tribe Youth Council! Reach out to Stephanie Rodríguez at srodriguez@kenaitze.org.
