I was honored to represent the VCU RRTC Indigenous Initiatives programs at the 44th National Indian and Native American Employment and Training - WIOA Section 166 / Public Law 102-477 National Conference in Orlando Florida May 13-17, 2024.  I provided four breakout sessions presenting two training sessions at the conference. One of the sessions included a screening of the award-winning film “Remember the Children… The Multi-generational Impacts from US Boarding Schools”.

I’m the Executive Producer for this film and shared the generational negative impact of these schools that continue public health disparities leading to high disability rates for Tribal Members.  I also presented “Collaborative Efforts and Services for Indigenous Individuals with Disabilities” where I shared our development of the VCU RRTC Indigenous Initiatives efforts for the Tribal Nations in Virginia and Indigenous populations throughout the US. I met with several Department of Labor, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Tribal Workforce Development programs. It was good to see all the Tribal Nations that administer effective PL 166 and 477 Tribal Workforce programs. 

I also met with my old friend Anthony Riley Pueblo of Laguna and Hopi Tribes. I worked with him 20 years ago with the Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation programs under the Department of Education. He is currently the Acting Chief of the Division of Workforce Development at the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs - Office of Indian Services, Division of Workforce Development.

I invited Anthony to present for our Native Webinar Series at VCU RRTC where he shared his perspectives of Program and Organizational Development for Indian Country on July 10, 2024. It was a great experience expanding our VCU RRTC outreach and community engagement. 

Native Outreach Initiative Webinar Series

Our Native Outreach Webinar series is available for your continuing education and training to gain insight and indigenous perspectives about disability challenges in Indian Country.  We will continue to provide webinars through our Indigenous Initiatives Outreach and Community Engagement.  CEU’s are also available to those for continuing education credits. Here is the link for our Native Outreach Webinar Series

Thank you for joining our team to create multifaceted programs for our Tribal members with disabilities. We look forward to creating new partners and “relatives” through an indigenized approach to better serve our Tribal members with disabilities.

Pilámaya,

Jim Warne, M.S. Oglala Lakota

Disability Policy Specialist, Administrative Affiliate, VCU RRTC and Warrior Society Development, LLC