Emily grew up in a small town on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. This is where her passion for building positive connections began. Emily is Anishinaabe-Ojibwe and proud of the beautiful culture that helped weave the fabric of her life. Emily holds a BA in Human Services & Psychology with an emphasis in Human Development & Educational Leadership. For nearly two decades she has been dedicated to advocating for equity & inclusivity within youth development programming & education. Emily is ecstatic to be on the MENTOR Minnesota Team and serves as Senior Director of Operations. Through this role she uplifts the community through consulting & systems change work. Emily envisions her work as a vessel to help expand, and support mentoring programmatic opportunities for young people, build strong community partnerships statewide-both in urban and rural communities and facilitate valuable contributions through a lens of cultural humility and authenticity. And it was through this lens, Emily co-developed The Indigenous Youth Work Collective, which is an immersive movement to engage, involve and transform youth work by and for Indigenous youth workers. Alongside her fellow Indigenous leaders, this professional network of youth workers was built and grounded in Indigenous theories and goals. To activate the network, their collective knowledge to transform systems began to expand upon and reimagine youth studies scholarship and youth work/youth development practices. In 2023, the Indigenous Youth Work Collective embarked on an experiential and relational gathering to experience culturally sustaining youth work and engage in collective generation of knowledge & understandings about Indigenous youth and culturally sustaining youth work. And the outcomes from this experiential learning were immeasurable.