Hesperus hosted its inaugural National Forum at the Verizon Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. on November 3, 2022. Celebrating Native American Heritage Month and Veterans Day, the Forum was designed to bring together government officials, corporate leaders, Native American artists, and non-profit leaders to highlight the contributions of Native American and Alaska Natives. Through stories, panels, and conversation, our attendees came away with a sense of the Warrior Ethos that infuses Native American and Alaska Native military service, the challenges facing our veterans in tribal communities, the opportunities to educate our native children in digital literacy and STEM throughout Indian communities and the legacy and influence of Native AmericanÂart throughout American culture.
John Bailon and his brother Cheston (Navajo and Santo Domingo), both United States Marine Corps combat veterans, opened our conference with a discussion of their experiences as post-9/11 combat warriors in Iraq,Âthe Warrior Ethos, and the heritage of Navajo service in the United States Marine Corps. We followed up with a discussion, moderated by Victor LaGroon, Chief Diversity Officer of the Veterans Administration, around creating education and employment opportunities for Native American and Alaska Native veterans in tribal communities with Matt Brogdon, Executive Director of Hesperus; Derek Eagle Lee Williams, Senior Program Manager, Indigenous Programs at Amazon; and David Camporeale, Director of the Office of Policy and Research, Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS), US Department of Labor.
After lunch our panel series continued withÂthe challenges and successes of STEM education and access in tribal communities, moderated by Matt Brogdon, included Navy pilot and NASA astronaut John Herrington (Chickasaw) and University of New Mexico Regent Sandra Begay (Navajo), both members of the Hesperus Advisory Board. Highlighting our partnership with Dell Technologies and the Girls Who Game Program, John Sun, Vice President of Health and Human Services at Philips Corporation moderated our panel on digital literacy and the next generation and creating education and employment paths with Dr. Tara Nattrass, Senior Education Strategist at Dell Technologies; Lieutenant Colonel Ashlie Christian, Director of Operations for the Center for Leadership and Diversity and STEM at the United States Military Academy; Malachi Hammonds, the Global Co-lead of Native Americans of Verizon; and Christopher Key, Hesperus Board Member.
