Welcome to the Spring 2022 issue of Winds of Change! Here at AISES, this time of year finds us thinking a lot about how leadership can be transformative — for individuals, organizations, and entire communities. For several years now, I’ve been privileged to witness the impact of emerging leadership at the annual AISES Leadership Summit. At this year’s event, held April 10–12 at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif., students and professionals prepared to become change makers by participating in leadership training as well as sessions on personal and professional development.
Leadership is a theme that echoes throughout this issue as well. The much-anticipated annual feature on the Top 50 Workplaces for Indigenous STEM Professionals, has researched a roster of organizations that are DEI leaders. The article includes profiles of employees at some of these organizations, and each is a portrait of individual leadership. Take Nikki DuPuy, a software test engineer at General Motors. She launched a chapter of GM’s Indigenous People’s Network ERG and set out to recruit a core group of members from Native staff and non-Native allies to support their ambitious service activities.
Leadership is a theme that echoes throughout this issue.
The article on the intersection of science and business stresses the importance of developing leadership skills for a rapidly changing world — a place where STEM careers are increasingly interconnected with business. Besides acquiring the hard skills to solve technical problems, says Dr. Lena Booth of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, to succeed in a global organization you need “soft skills — leadership, interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills.” It’s interesting reading about the role of leadership in our rapidly unfolding future.
You’ll find news of AISES and its members in “AISES Notebook” and stories about individual members in “AISES People” . And for an inspiring story about leadership in action, turn to this issue's “Last Word” column. In “On the Long Texas Road to High School American Indian Studies,” Dr. Ken Roemer of the University of Texas at Arlington and his colleagues write about their committee, which has led the effort to design a ground-breaking curriculum that would be required in public high schools across the state. I hope you will join me and the entire AISES family in cheering on all these change makers and their examples of leadership in action.
Ta’ Tura Tsiksu (With Much Respect),
Sarah EchoHawkPawnee Nation of OklahomaAISES Chief Executive Officer