Upcoming Events
Murdered and Missing Native American Women: Tearing the Fabric of Generations
Thursday May 20, from 5pm to 6pm PST
Please join us for the next in our series of conversations on how to harness the power of women across Washington to create a just and equal future for all women. For our May event we will discuss the needs and concerns of Native American women and how their issues impact us all.
Register today.
Panelists
Joanne Shenandoah, is a Grammy award winning performing artist, lecturer, and educator. She is a founding board member of Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Knowledge, a non-profit educational institution based on Iroquois principles. In 2014 she served as Co-Chair for the Attorney General’s National Task Force of Children Exposed to Violence for the Department of Justice.
Emily Washines, is an enrolled Yakama with Cree and Skokomish lineage, is the founder of the blog Native Friends. On her blog, she focuses on the history and culture of Native Americans and making connections. Her goal of building understanding and support for Native Americans is evident in her films, writing, speaking, and exhibits. Her research topics include the Yakama War, women’s rights, traditional knowledge, and fishing rights. She is an instructor at Yakima Valley College.
She has a Master of Public Administration from The Evergreen State College. She lives on the Yakama reservation with her husband and three children.
Patti Gosch, is born and raised in southwest Washington and is a boarding school descendant of St Mary’s Mission, where her grandmother Leah Champagne attended. As a former ICWA foster parent, and advocate for tribal children in state care, these experiences as well as kinships have connected her to Indian Country and continue to fuel her mission to engage tribal and non-tribal partners.
Ms. Gosch has made a career in civil service for Washington State. She worked with Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (NWHIDTA) program funded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) under her mentor, NWHIDTA Director Dave Rodriguez. During her two decades at NWHIDTA she held the position of the lead Criminal Intelligence Specialist and Tribal Liaison to Washington State communities. As the Tribal Liaison she was a persuasive advocate for Tribal Law Enforcement at the State and National levels where she helped build bridges between tribal and non-tribal law enforcement, creating long standing partnerships.
In 2009 she authored the report, “Criminal Exploitation of Washington State Tribal Lands.” One of the first documents of its type, it has been described as a living document, a copy of which was requested in Washington DC before it was published.
Under the recommendation of a native interview panel including MMIW families and advocates, Patti was selected and accepted the position as Tribal Liaison in November 2019. She focuses on the MMIW program, while acknowledging and expanding the support to men and boys as well.
Moderator
Kara Briggs, is a Sauk-Suiattle Tribal member, is a former chair of the Center for Women & Democracy. She has worked as an investigative reporter for regional newspapers and as a national columnist. She also has worked in fund development, strategic communications, and government relations for state and tribal governments. In her own consulting firm, Red Hummingbird, she worked with Tribes, foundations, and other organizations from Alaska to Arizona as well as the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian during its first decade on the National Mall. She is a past president of the Native American Journalists Association and currently co-chairs the Washington State Democrats’ Redistricting Committee.
Reserve your spot by registering today.
If you missed an event, or want to revisit a discussion, you can play recordings of our past events:
CWD Panel: Supporting Asian American and Pacific Islander Women April 2021
CWD Panel: Concerns and insights from Women in Rural Washington