California Indian Legal Services Director of Marketing & Development

Director of Marketing & Development (Program-wide) – Principal Office, Escondido, CA



Founded in 1967, California Indian Legal Services (CILS)  is the oldest public interest Indian rights law firm in the country, promoting the fundamental rights of California tribes and Indians through litigation, legislative and administrative advocacy, community development, and other strategies for systemic change.  CILS is a state and national leader in protecting and advancing the rights of California Indians, and each year works with dozens of tribes in the state and thousands of Indian individuals and families.

CILS provides a full range of legal representation to California Indian tribes and Indian organizations, advocates for the rights of California Indians at the local, state, and national levels, and provides direct services and community education to low-income Indian individuals on issues related to Federal Indian Law.  Our work includes such diverse practice areas as the Indian Child Welfare Act, trust lands, Indian probate, Indian cultural and religious rights, tribal community and economic development, tribal justice systems, tribal governance, tribal social service delivery systems, protection of sacred sites, and environmental protection.

CILS has an annual operating budget of more than $1.8 million derived from a wide variety of sources, including federal and state grants, tribal donations, and tribal grants and contracts.  Escondido serves as the principal location for CILS, with branch offices in Bishop, Escondido, Eureka, and Sacramento.  The staff currently numbers 16, including 9 lawyers/advocates and 4 volunteers.  Our Board of Trustees is comprised of California Indians appointed by Indian tribes and organizations across the state, as well as representatives appointed by the State Bar of California.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Director of Marketing and Development (DMD) is responsible for the planning, development and implementation of all of the CILS’s marketing strategies, marketing communications and public relations activities, and all fundraising and development efforts, both external and internal. The DMD oversees the development and implementation of support materials and services for CILS as well as its branch offices in the areas of marketing, communications, public relations, and fundraising. The DMD works closely with the Board Development Committees and coordinates at both the strategic and tactical level with the other functions of CILS. The resulting responsibilities and duties include:

Primary Relationships

The DMD position reports to the Executive Director and serves as a member of the management team.  The DMD participates with the Board of Trustees, Executive Director and other management staff in charting the direction of CILS, assuring its accountability to all constituencies, and ensuring its effective operation.

Within CILS, the DMD has primary working relationships with the Executive Director, management team, and the Directing Attorneys.  Outside CILS, the DMD coordinates primarily with the media and both current and potential funding sources.

Principle Accountabilities

Marketing, communications and public relations

  • Responsible for creating, implementing and measuring the success of a comprehensive marketing, communications and public relations program that will enhance CILS’s image and position within the marketplace and the general public, and facilitate internal and external communications; and all CILS marketing, communications and public relations activities and materials including publications, media relations, client acquisition, etc.  
  • Ensure articulation of CILS’s desired image and position, assure consistent communication of image and position throughout CILS, and assure communication of image and position to all constituencies, both internal and external.
  • Responsible for editorial direction, design, production and distribution of all CILS print and electronic publications.
  • Coordinate media interest in CILS and ensure regular contact with target media and appropriate response to media requests.
  • Coordinate the appearance of all CILS print and electronic materials such as letterhead, use of logo, brochures, etc.
  • Develop, coordinate and oversee programs, technical assistance and resource materials to assist branch offices in the marketing, communications and positioning of their activities.
  • Ensure that CILS regularly conducts relevant market research. Coordinate and oversee this activity. Monitor trends.  
  • Lead projects as assigned, such as cause-related marketing and special events.

Development

  • Responsible for creating, implementing and measuring the success of a comprehensive development program that will enhance CILS’s financial resources and ability to expand and strengthen services.  
  • Provide the Development Committee and Board of Trustees with current, accurate information regarding the status of fundraising activities and plans. 
  • Research and develop all required policies and procedures related to fundraising.
  • Develop the annual fundraising budget and goals for review by the Development Committee and for approval by the Board of Trustees
  • Research, identify, and cultivate possible organizational and corporate partners.
  • Write and oversee the content and production of all fundraising materials.
  • Develop, coordinate and oversee programs, technical assistance and resource materials to assist branch offices with fundraising efforts.
  • Recruit, train, and support volunteers engaged in donor cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and recognition, including the Board of Trustees.
  • Ensure that CILS keeps accurate records of all fundraising activities (including prospect/member/donor research, calls and visits) as well as all fundraising transactions.
  • Organize and lead projects as assigned, such as special events

Qualifications:

  • Required
  • Demonstrated skills, knowledge and experience in the design and execution of marketing, communications and public relations activities.
  • Strong creative, strategic, analytical, organizational and personal sales skills.
  • Experience developing and managing budgets, and recruiting, training, developing, supervising and retaining volunteers.
  • Demonstrated successful experience writing press releases, making presentations and interacting with media.
  • Experience overseeing the design and production of print materials and publications.
  • Demonstrated success with fundraising campaigns, donor development and grant writing.
  • Computer literacy in word processing, data base management and page layout.
  • Commitment to working with shared leadership and in cross-functional teams.
  • Strong oral and written communications skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple projects at a time.
  • Direct experience with event planning and execution.
  • Out-of-town, overnight travel is required.
  • Highly Desired
  • Five years’ experience in marketing, communications or public relations with demonstrated success, preferably in the not-for-profit or association sector.
  • Experience working with Indian Tribes, Tribal Organizations, and individual tribal members preferably in California.
  • Bachelor’s degree in journalism, marketing, public relations preferred. Graduate degree in a related field is desirable.
  • Experience working with volunteers.

Salary: Competitive based on experience.  Full family/partner medical, vision and dental benefits, AD&D, short & long-term disability insurances, life insurance, Section 125 Flexible Spending Account, generous leave policies and potential for annual performance incentive.


Application Procedure: Please submit letter of interest, resume and three professional references to Patricia De La Cruz-Lynas, Director of Administration, California Indian Legal Services, Re:  Director of Marketing & Development Position, 609 S. Escondido Blvd., Escondido, CA 92025.  E-mail:  hiring@calindian.org.  Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Click here for a .pdf version of this job announcement

SUCESS!!!!

SUCCESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Apparently the Principal has decided to let Bryce Baga graduate with his regalia.  You can contact Bryce on Facebook.

Please continue to contact the district to congratulate them if this is true and to remind them that this needs to be extended to ALL Native American Graduates.

Superintendent Deb Muro: 

dmuro@luhsd.k12.ca.us

http://lemoore.ca.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/scdirectory/default.php?sectiondetailid=16993&showprofile=98&showdir=97&email=form

Lemoore Union High School District Office 
5 Powell Street, Lemoore, California 93245
Phone: 559-924-6610, Fax: 559-924-9212


District Office Contact Directory

Principal Rodney Brumit:   rbrumit@luhsd.k12.ca.us

559-924-6600 ext. 214

Assistant Principal Jamie Rogers    559-924-6600 ext. 216    jrogers@luhsd.k12.ca.us

Native American Graduate Rights

BRYCE BAGA, a young Native American male student in Lemoore Union School District (Kings County, not far from Fresno, CA) is graduating today.  He’s been invited to give a speech in the Tachi-yokut language , but he has been told that he can’t wear traditional regalia and must wear his cap and gown to participate in the graduation. 

If you would like to contact them try:

Superintendent Deb Muro

dmuro@luhsd.k12.ca.us

http://lemoore.ca.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/scdirectory/default.php?sectiondetailid=16993&showprofile=98&showdir=97&email=form

Lemoore Union High School District Office 
5 Powell Street, Lemoore, California 93245
Phone: 559-924-6610, Fax: 559-924-9212


District Office Contact Directory

Principal Rodney Brumit

rbrumit@luhsd.k12.ca.us

559-924-6600 ext. 214

Assistant Principal Jamie Rogers    559-924-6600 ext. 216    jrogers@luhsd.k12.ca.us

Watch Your Red-skinned Back (racism)

‘Watch Your Red-skinned Back’: Racist Notes Surface in California Schools

3/18/14

Notes reading “Watch Your Redskinned Back” and “White Pride Bitch” were left March 4 in the lockers of two Pit River Tribe students at a Northern California high school where parents have alleged for months there is systemic, racially charged abuse of their children.

The notes were reported by parents to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, and deputies are investigating whether it constitutes a hate crime. Believing that the atmosphere at Burney Junior-Senior High School has become too toxic and dangerous, two Pit River parents have already transferred their children to the neighboring schools 16 miles away in Fall River Mills.

“I have to protect my daughter. (The administration) should have done something at the beginning, but they sat on their hands,” said Matilda Wilson, whose daughter Sarah, 12, received one of the notes and has been the subject of regular racial taunting. “They have been calling the Native kids names like ‘dirty rotten Indians’ and ‘wagon burners’, but the staff just passes it off as if ‘it’s just kids being kids.’ But then it escalates.”

Pit River tribal member Sharon Elmore’s daughter, Alexis Elmore, 12, received one of the notes. Elmore said the incident made her cry as she remembered suffering similar bullying when she was the same age, a sentiment echoed by many other parents who say racism in the schools has persisted for generations.

“When I heard about the notes, I was really scared. I dropped out in ninth grade because of how bad the racism was, and it’s sad it has never really stopped,” Elmore said. “They’re just randomly attacking our Native kids, and the teachers are looking the other way.”

Elmore believes the notes are related to white students reportedly creating a “Redneck Club” as a response to the Pit River students holding elections for their Native Youth Council. Many running for council had posted “Native Pride” stickers on their lockers, which were later defaced, Elmore said.

Fall River Unified School District Superintendent Greg Hawkins said he met with Burney Junior-Senior High’s principal and vice principal about the incident and they are taking the matter seriously. He said he was unaware of any previous reports of racial issues at the school and said they had not made any decisions whether specific action was necessary to address the situation.

“We value our relationship with the Native American community members, and it’s our goal to have a safe school for everyone,” he said. “But the bottom line is we have to know what’s going on to fix it. We encourage the students and parents to contact the administration if there’s a problem.”

However, Pit River parents have been talking withIndian Country Today Media Networkabout the racist bullying and the alleged lack of response by administrators since December, and their allegations are remarkably similar to those in recent legal complaints filed in December by the American Civil Liberties Union, Yurok Tribe and Wiyot Tribe of Table Bluff Rancheria against two Humboldt County school districts.

RELATED:Lawsuit Against California Districts Allege Abuse of Native Students

These allegations are being made in a region that is not far removed from the genocide suffered by Northern California tribes during the Gold Rush era when Indians were hunted by government funded militias, forced into slavery under California law and later sent to boarding schools to be converted to Christianity.

“The cowboys and Indians days have never ended (in Northern California),” Elmore said.

In the Humboldt complaints, parents alleged staff ignored their concerns of racist bullying until the Indian students reacted out of frustration, leading to detentions and suspensions while the bullies were relatively unpunished. This led to a cycle, the complaints allege, of Native students regularly being disproportionately suspended and being pushed into continuation schools, where college preparatory classes are unavailable.

Pit River parents shared similar concerns about Burney schools during a January 31 meeting at the Pit River tribal offices, where Elmore and others gathered to discuss her meeting with the high school’s principal, Ray Guerrero. The previous day, Elmore had sent a letter notifying him of her daughter Alexis being sexually harassed by other students during what is known at the school “Slap Ass Friday” and “Crotch Shot Thursday”, which had forced Alexis to change for gym in a teacher’s office in order to feel safe.

Pictured from left are Michele LaMirande Tyler LaMirande Alexis Elmore and Mikaela Gali-LaMirande and Sharon Elmore have reported systemic bullying that targeted Indian students at Burney Junior-Senior High School in Northern California Marc Dadigan
Pictured, from left, are Michele LaMirande, Tyler LaMirande, Alexis Elmore and Mikaela Gali-LaMirande and Sharon Elmore have reported systemic bullying that targeted Indian students at Burney Junior-Senior High School in Northern California. (Marc Dadigan)

Parents at that meeting said racism began to escalate about a year ago when Pit River 7thgrader Tyler LaMirande, his two siblings and his mother Michele LaMirande had moved back to the Pit River Tribe’s reservation from the Bay Area after Tyler’s father had passed away from kidney disease.

Tyler had grown his hair long in honor of his father, and students would pull him down by the hair in gym class as well as call him a “long-haired freak” and homosexual slurs, Tyler and LaMirande said. When Tyler was suspended in October after fighting a student who ridiculed his hair, Guerrero told her that she should cut Tyler’s hair to stop the bullying, LaMirande said.

“I can already see Tyler is becoming bitter towards people and angrier. He was a relatively happy kid before he came here,” LaMirande said.

As was reported in the Humboldt county complaints, many of the Pit River students are suffering from depression and anxiety due to the school environments, they and their parents said.

Morning Star Gali, the Pit River Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, transferred her 4thgrade daughter, Talissa, from Burney Elementary because she had begun plucking out her own eyelashes from the stress of school. Part of her stress, Gali said, related from teachers being harshly critical or dismissive of her daughter’s perspectives based on her tribal values and history, a problem also raised by many other Pit River parents and students.

“It was concerning that she wasn’t encouraged to go against the grain and that her opinion wasn’t respected when she was the only Native student in the class,” Gali said. “They know better, but they seem like they just want to teach what they want and not go outside of that.”


Read more athttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/03/18/watch-your-red-skinned-back-racist-notes-surface-california-schools-154036

Losing a Nisqually Leader

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRfC0SA7OEs


Billy Frank Jr., Nisqually elder who fought for treaty rights, dies

Posted by Craig Welch
Fish manager Billy Frank who played a key role in the fisheries effort on the Nisqually river is seen here on the river

Billy Frank. who played a key role in the fisheries effort on the Nisqually River, is seen here on the river. (Photo by Ann Yow / The Seattle Times, 1983)

Billy Frank Jr., a Nisqually elder and fisherman who served for more than half a century as the charismatic voice of Northwest tribes fighting to exercise their treaty rights, died early Monday, tribal officials and his family confirmed Monday.

Mr. Frank was 83.

“We are all stunned and not prepared for this,” said W. Ron Allen, Jamestown S’Klallam tribal chairman, who has worked with Mr. Frank since the early 1980s. “He was bigger than life. It’s a very sad day for all of us.”

Mr. Frank was first arrested for salmon fishing as a boy in 1945. He was beaten and jailed repeatedly as he and others staged “fish ins” demanding the right to collect Chinook and other salmon in their historical waters, as guaranteed under treaties when they ceded land to settlers in the 19th century. By the time celebrities like Marlon Brando showed up on the Nisqually River to assist them in 1964, the salmon wars had raged for decades.

In 1974, U.S. District Judge George Boldt affirmed the tribes’ right to half of the fish harvest — and the nation’s obligation to honor the old treaties. In 1993, another court decision extended that affirmation to the harvest of shellfish.

By then Mr. Frank already had become one of the nation’s most eloquent and influential tribal champions.

He fought in Olympia and Washington, D.C., to protect forests and salmon streams from excessive timber harvest and development. He battled in court, in endless public meetings and in private conversations with anyone who would listen. With his soft voice, strong handshake and endless stories, he disarmed senators and presidents.

“He wanted all these tribes to understand that if they worked together we could do anything,” his son, Willie Frank, said.

Gov. Jay Inslee called Mr. Frank not just a tribal leader but a state leader.

“We can’t overstate how long-lasting his legacy will be,” Inslee said in an interview. “He pushed the state when he needed to push the state. And he reminded the state when it needed reminding. His legacy is going to be with us for generations. My grandkids are going to benefit from his work.”

Steve Robinson, who worked side-by-side with Mr. Frank for 30 years, serving as his spokesman and writer starting in the mid-1980s, said Mr. Frank would never hesitate to do battle over what he believed. But he also had the instincts and skills of a diplomat.

Mr. Frank more than anyone else, Robinson said, could convince people that the way to prosperity was through a healthy environment, because Mr. Frank believed it. Robinson called Mr. Frank “the greatest man I’ve ever known.”

“When he walked into the room, he just had such a power and presence,” Robinson said. “We would have visitors from Russia, Asia, South America, and he’d delight them all. He’d travel to Barrow or Kamchatka and kids would line up to see him. But he was always humble. He knew no strangers and hugged everybody.”

Pat Stevenson, the environmental manager for the Stillaguamish Tribe, said Mr. Frank was selfless, rather than focused on his own accomplishments, and always used words like “we” and “us” and “the tribes.”

“He was there to make it better for everybody,” Stevenson said.

Mr. Frank was a fighter to the very end, said his son, who woke his father around 6 a.m. Monday to get ready for another meeting.

Mr. Frank showered and dressed but when Willie went back to check in, his father was hunched over in bed.

“I asked him every day if he was feeling good, but he would never tell me if he wasn’t,” Willie said. “He wouldn’t want people to worry about him.”

American Indian Males: K-12 Education for Postsecondary Success (education, opportunity)

Hello Everyone! I hope that you are all enjoying our Springtime! I am writing to remind you that of our webinar on Monday, May 5, 2014 at 10:30 a.m.  We are very happy to present Dr. Bryan Brayboy from Arizona State University. He will be presenting on the topic: American Indian Males: K-12 Education for Postsecondary Success.


Attached are testing directions to set up your computers to ensure that your computers are compatible with the WebEx system. Please do this before the webinar so that we can start promptly on Monday. We will also send you the powerpoint presentation on tomorrow and the final connection directions for Monday as well.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Cordially,
Rose


Rose Owens-West, Ph.D.
Director 
Region IX Equity Assistance Center at WestEd
www.WestEd.org/EAC
300 Lakeside Drive, 25th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
510.302.4246 phone

State to officially recognize indigenous languages

Full story at: http://bit.ly/AlaskaNativeLanguages

Supporters of a bill to make 20 Alaska Native languages official state languages organized a 15 hour sit-in protest at the Capitol on Sunday. Their dedication paid off early this morning, when the Alaska Senate passed the measure on an 18-2 vote.

The Alaska House passed the bill last week, 38-0. It now heads to Governor Sean Parnell for his signature.

Dozens of people of all ages and races, many wearing their Easter finest,  gathered in the hall outside Sen. Lesil McGuire’s office. The Anchorage Republican and chair of the Senate Rules Committee had the power to put House Bill 216 on the Senate’s calendar. But with end of the legislative session looming, the bill’s supporters worried it was getting caught up in last-minute, behind-the-scenes politics.

The group started their vigil just after noon, singing, dancing, and playing drums, and talking about why Alaska Native languages are so important.


Del Norte Indian Education Center Director Job Opening (opportunity)

OPEN UNTILL FILLED--Return completed applications to NCIDC 1607 Fifth Street-Crescent City, CA 95531

Job Opportunity

Del Norte Indian Education Center Director • Crescent City, CA
$31,200-$37,128 annually FT. Benefits (Life, Medical, Disability, Vision, Dental, Retirement)

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
·         Associate of Arts degree
·         Two years of practical experience in a position, which demonstrates the required knowledge, skills, and abilities with an understanding of education programs, child development and Native American education programs.
·         California Driver’s License (DMV record required)
·         Insurable driver (proof required)
·         Pass finger print and background checks
·         Negative T.B. test (proof submitted)

DESIRED QUALITIES:
• Bachelors Degree preferred in Education, Social Service or related field.
• Five years of experience working in an education setting.
• Working knowledge of applicable federal, state and local laws or regulations concerning Indian people.
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing with demonstrated ability in writing successful grants.
• Familiarity with the cultures and traditions of the Native American tribes of Northwest California
• Computer literate  (preferably Macintosh) including word-processing, spreadsheets and databases.
•
Full Job Description Attached below:

Specter of racism still haunts US sports (mascot)

The furor surrounding comments attributed to Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has again cast an unfavorable light on racism in American sport.

Sixty-seven years after Jackie Robinson famously broke baseball's "color line" when he went to bat for the Brooklyn Dodgers, the specter of racism still looms large over US professional sport -- from outspoken billionaire franchise owners to foul-mouthed players and bigoted fans who spew xenophobic nonsense behind the anonymity of Twitter avatars.

"Racism remains a problem throughout our society as a whole, and sports merely reflects that," said Ray Halbritter, who has been leading a campaign for the Washington Redskins to drop their racially charged name.

"The good news in the Sterling situation is that everybody acknowledges that his statements are unacceptable," Halbritter, representative of the Oneida Native American nation in upstate New York, told AFP.

Sterling, 80, has yet to apologize for a recording in which he reputedly asks a twenty-something female friend to stop bringing African-American friends to Clipper games and stop posting their photos on her Instagram feed.

"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have to?" says a male voice on the recording, which Sterling's estranged wife has confirmed as his.

"You can sleep with (black people). You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it... and not to bring them to my games."

President Barack Obama, the first African-American to be elected US president and also a well-known basketball fan, swiftly denounced the comments as "incredibly offensive racist statements," while basketball legend Magic Johnson questioned whether Sterling was fit to own a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise.

- Redskins controversy -

Sterling, a real estate mogul estimated by Forbes business magazine to be worth $1.9 billion, is by no means the first US sports franchise proprietor to come under fire for racism.

In the 1990s, Marge Schott of baseball's Cincinnati Reds offended just about everyone with her casual use of racist language, her mocking Japanese accent, her admiration for Hitler and her belief that men with earrings were "fruity."

She sold her majority stake in the Reds in 1999, three years after she was banned by Major League Baseball from her close involvement in the team's day-to-day operations.

More recently, in the US capital, Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder has stubbornly resisted pressure from Native Americans and their allies to rebrand his National Football League (NFL) team.

"While Sterling has tried to retroactively disassociate himself with the abhorrent comments in question, Dan Snyder proudly defends his own continued promotion of a dictionary-defined racial slur," Halbritter said.

In November, in the NFL, the Miami Dolphins suspended Richie Incognito over the racially tinged harassment of a black team-mate, while in 2013 the Philadelphia Eagles suspended Riley Cooper after a video emerged of him using racially abusing a bouncer at a Kenny Chesney country music concert.

- 'Pervasive problem' -

Social media has meanwhile enabled some fans to anonymously churn out bigoted sentiments, such as in July 2013 when chart-topping Latino singer Marc Anthony sang "God Bless America" at baseball's All-Star classic.

"Welcome to america where god bless america is sung at our national pastime by a mexican," sneered one of many Twitter mentions that overlooked the fact that Anthony was born in New York to Puerto Rican, and thus American, parents.

Debra Nixon, a professor at Nova Southeastern University in Florida who specializes in diversity issues, said racism in American sports, and indeed throughout American society, remains "a pervasive problem."

"And it's going to keep happening until we really begin to do something constructive (about discussing race in America)," she told AFP, "as opposed to just having someone apologize until somebody else messes up."


(h/t to @GregGehr)