Jaynie Parrish MC/MPA 2011 grew up in Window Rock, a small community on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Today, Parrish is founder and director of Arizona Native Vote, a nonprofit helping to boost Native American democratic and civic participation. “Every tribe has a similar concept, but for us it starts with how we treat one another. How do we talk to one another? How do we show up for one another, not just our families, but the community?” Parrish asks.

There is a renaissance among native communities throughout the world. In the United States, that resurgence has been powered by the energy and determination of the country’s more than 570 American Indian nations. Since 1987, those efforts have been supported by the Project on Indigenous Governance and Development, a program housed at the Ash Center and founded and led by Professor Joe Kalt.

Stay in touch with your classmates and peers

More than five decades of Harvard Kennedy School alumni come together to share their stories and achievements. Stay in touch by reading their classnotes. And don't forget to submit your own.

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