Member Education Sessions: Next Gen Now

Kelley Mitchell has worked in education since 2010, serving Native American students at both the college and high school levels. She is an expert in Tribal education, holistic student support, and college access and success programming.

In her current role, Mitchell leads the College Fund’s work in college access, and scholar retention and completion. Each year, her team fulfills the responsibility of serving over 1,200 scholars with culturally relevant programming to support American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students attending over 100 institutions of higher education across the U.S., including all 35 Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). Additionally, she oversees college access work in high schools on or near Tribal reservations with over 60 schools and partners annually. Mitchell leads this work with a deep understanding of the AI/AN experience since she comes from a family of TCU graduates, including herself.
Mitchell received her bachelor’s degree in museum studies from the Institute of American Indian Arts, a TCU in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she also served as an admissions recruiter following her graduation. She is passionate about Tribally centered education, having served as a college engagement counselor for the Native American Community Academy (NACA), a K-12 charter school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and as a founding board member for the American Indian Academy of Denver in Colorado. Kelley continues to support AI/AN student college access and encourages students to make their mark with confidence in themselves and their cultural identity as Native people.

In 2022, Mitchell was named the Inventive Innovator at the College Fund, which celebrates an employee who solves problems with unique and creative solutions. In 2023, Kelley received the Clever Communicator award, an achievement given to those who best present information in a precise, effective, and original manner.

Dr. Amanda R. Tachine is Navajo from Ganado, Arizona. She is Náneesht’ézhí Táchii’nii (Zuni Red Running into Water) born for Tł’ízí łání (Many Goats). She is an Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership & Innovation at Arizona State University. Amanda’s research explores the relationship between systemic and structural histories of settler colonialism, and the ongoing erasure of Indigenous presence and belonging in college settings using qualitative Indigenous methodologies. She is the author of, Native Presence and Sovereignty in College and co-editor of Weaving an Otherwise: In-relations Methodological Practice. She has published in the Journal of Higher Education, Qualitative Inquiry, International Review of Qualitative Research, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, and other scholarly outlets. She also has published thought pieces in the Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, The Hill, Teen Vogue, Indian Country Today, Inside Higher Ed, and Navajo Times where she advances ideas regarding discriminatory actions, educational policies, and inspirational movements. 

Vernon Miller is a member of the Thunder Clan from the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska & Iowa. Vernon is currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked in the field of education for over 19 years. Prior work includes higher education administration at Tufts University, Cornell University, Kansas State University, and as a former teacher at Omaha Nation Public Schools.  In addition, as a former Tribal leader, Vernon has served as the Omaha Tribal Chairman and President of the Omaha Nation Public Schools Board of Education. Miller is also a previous National Racial Equity & Healing Fellow with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and is on the National Diversity & Inclusion Board for the University of Nebraska.

Miller received his Master of Science in Counseling & Student Development from Kansas State University and his Bachelor of Science in Business Education from the University of Nebraska.

Tesia Zientek is a Citizen of the Potawatomi Nation. With help from a Gates Millennium Scholarship, she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 2009 with her B.A. in English. After graduation, Tesia spent two years teaching and running an afterschool program in Puerto Rico before pursuing her M.A. in Education Policy from Stanford University in 2013. To celebrate her achievements, Tesia has received the Howard Yackus Memorial, NextGen 30 Under 30, NCAIED Native American 40 Under 40, and Oklahoma Magazine 40 Under 40 awards. In 2015, she established her Tribe’s first Department of Education and served as Director through 2023. For ten years, Tesia also served as Potawatomi Leadership Program Advisor, building curriculum for the Harvard Honoring Nations Award-winning internship program. Tesia currently works for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) as Senior Director of Programs to promote the advancement of Indigenous people in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). She serves as President of the National Indian Education Association and President of the Oklahoma Council for Indian Education.