Podcast Explores Culture-Informed Approaches to Native Family Well-Being

How One Com­mu­ni­ty Is Indi­g­e­niz­ing the Par­ent Lead­er­ship Ini­tia­tive With Bewaush Bal­lot (Susie) is a recent Com­mu­ni­ty In-Site pod­cast episode pro­duced with spon­sor­ship from the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion. Guest Susie Bal­lot joins co-hosts Teco­ria Jones and Elliott Hin­kle to share how her com­mu­ni­ty reimag­ined its Indige­nous Par­ent Lead­er­ship Ini­tia­tive (IPLI).

Lis­ten to the episode

All Nations Rise, a White Earth Nation non­prof­it based in Call­away, Min­neso­ta, runs the IPLI which is help­ing res­i­dents heal from trau­ma and fos­ter com­mu­ni­ty-build­ing. White Earth Nation is a mem­ber of Thriv­ing Fam­i­lies, Safer Chil­dren. Sup­port­ed by the Casey Foun­da­tion and oth­er part­ners, the nation­al net­work of lead­ers, advo­cates and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers is ded­i­cat­ed to improv­ing well-being and help­ing fam­i­lies avoid child wel­fare involvement.

“The Indige­nous Par­ent Lead­er­ship Ini­tia­tive fos­ters cul­tur­al heal­ing and con­nec­tion and sup­ports indi­vid­ual and com­mu­ni­ty change through col­lec­tive action,” said Han­nah McIn­tire, a senior asso­ciate with the Foundation’s Fam­i­ly Well-Being Strat­e­gy Group. ​“We are proud to sup­port, learn from and share this impor­tant work as a pow­er­ful exam­ple of Thriv­ing Fam­i­lies, Safer Children’s com­mit­ment to cen­ter­ing racial equi­ty, work in com­mu­ni­ties and part­ner­ing with those who best under­stand the needs of chil­dren and families.”

Read about the Thriv­ing Fam­i­lies, Safer Chil­dren initiative

Bal­lot par­tic­i­pat­ed in the first 23-week IPLI pro­gram and now serves as a facil­i­ta­tor. In the episode, she dis­cuss­es how All Nations Rise com­bines civics and advo­ca­cy train­ing with Ojib­we and Anishi­naabe cul­tur­al and tra­di­tion­al teach­ings like nam­ing cer­e­monies and the sacred use of tobac­co. She says this allows par­tic­i­pants to ​“walk through two worlds,” devel­op­ing the skills to lead while stay­ing ground­ed in their heritage.

“That’s what this pro­gram did…help peo­ple find their voice, their pas­sion and their love for their com­mu­ni­ty — and stand up and say this is what I want to do. This is how I’m going to help my com­mu­ni­ty,” said Ballot.

Lis­ten to the episode

Learn more about Com­mu­ni­ty In-Site