Jessica Glidden: Fostering Native Leadership

Native Lights is a weekly, half-hour radio program hosted by Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members and siblings, Leah Lemm and Cole Premo. Native Lights is a space for people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce — a.k.a. Minnesota — to tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community.

Today Leah and Cole chat with Jessica Glidden (Bois Forte). Jessica is the Program Manager at the Native Governance Center (NGC). She shares her thoughts about Native identity, moving away from colonized ways and the Native Rebuilders cohort. Native Rebuilders is a leadership development program for Indigenous changemakers. The program aims to strengthen Native leaders and changemakers and gives them the tools to better their communities.

The Native Governance Center is a native-led nonprofit that aids Native nations in the region, strengthening their own governance systems and capacity to exercise sovereignty. Find NGC online at: https://nativegov.org/

Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine is produced by Minnesota Native News and Ampers, Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.

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