Motivational Speaking Topics

  • finding your heartwork,
  • turning pain into power, trauma into healing,
  • the importance of higher education,
  • the importance of family/community support in success,
  • the power in pursuing passions,
  • why teaching poetry is necessary for survival,
  • publishing/writing,
  • pursuing writing as a career,
  • working with Indigenous youth,
  • writing as tool for healing,
  • decolonizing the narrative (the importance of storytelling)
  • the role mentorship plays in opportunities,
  • creating the spaces we need in life,
  • starting a literary journal,
  • the advantages and challenges of majoring in English,
  • and many other topics.

Examples of Previous Talks

  • TEDxABQ – Igniting Healing. Popejoy Hall at University of New Mexico.
  • What’s Fear Got to Do with It? – 26th annual Basketball Against Drugs and Alcohol (BAAD) Tournament. Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Pendleton, OR.
  • Keynote Speaker. Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, Inc. 48th Annual Convention. Reno. NV.
  • Featured Artist. COLORES KNME New Mexico PBS. Albuquerque, NM
  • Keynote Speaker. YWCA New Mexico Women in Leadership. Albuquerque, NM.
  • 2018  –Keynote. MMIW Awareness Week, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD
  • 2018 –Keynote. Urban Native Education Conference, Chicago, IL
  • 2018 – Keynote. American Educational Research Association’s Indigenous Peoples of Americas (IPA) and Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific (IPP) Pre-conference, NYC
  • 2018 – Keynote. American College Personnel Association (ACPA), Houston, TX
  • 2017  – Escalante Canyon Arts Festival, Escalante, UT
  • 2017   –Building Bridges, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD
  • 2017 – Poetry Out Loud State Finals, Bismarck, ND
  • 2017  – Native Education Raising Dedicated Students (NERDS), Jackson, CA
  • 2016 – Native American Community Academy, Albuquerque, NM.
  • 2016  – Annual Tulalip Wellness Conference, Tulalip, WA.
  • 2016 – Native Education Forum, Colorado State University. Fort Collins, CO
  • 2016 – Symposium of the American Indian, Northeastern State Univ. Tahlequah, OK.
  • 2016 – Building Bridges Conference, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD.
  • 2016  – Las Vegas Higher Education, Las Vegas, NV.
  • 2016  – St. Louis College of Pharmacy, St. Louis, MO.
  • 2016  – Indigenous Book Fair, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
  • 2016  – American Indian College Fund. Denver, CO
  • 2015 – Humboldt State University. Arcata, CA
  • 2015 –  United States Department of State. Washington, DC
  • 2015  – University of Illinois-Chicago. Chicago, IL
  • 2015  – Fanshawe College. London, Ontario, Canada
  • 2015  – Western University. London, Ontario, Canada
  • 2015  – Cal Poly Pomona. Pomona, CA
  • 2015  – National Indian Education Association. Portland, OR
  • 2015  –  Montessori in the Mountains. Estes Park, CO
  • 2015  – Keynote, STEAM-H, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
  • 2015  – Keynote, 3rd Annual Prevention Conference. Tulalip, WA
  • 2015  – Presenter, Youth Event. Leech Lake, MN
  • 2015  – Panelist, Indigenous Writers Caucus, Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference. Minneapolis, MN
  • 2015 – Panelist, Diversity in Publishing, Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference. Minneapolis,MN
  • 2015  – Presenter, Beyond Bars: Working With and Against the Carceral System through Creative Writing, Color of Violence 4 Conference. Chicago, IL
  • 2015 – Featured Presenter, Basketball Against Drugs and Alcohol (BAAD) Tournament. Mission, OR.
  • 2015 – Featured Artist, Red Lake Middle School. Red Lake, MN
  • 2015  – Presenter, Sing Our Rivers Red, NDSU Fargo, ND.
  • 2015 – Keynote Speaker, Native Education Raising Dedicated Students (NERDS) 2nd Annual Conference. Jackson, California
  • 2015  – Keynote Speaker, Nevada Department of Education Annual American Indian/Alaska Native Education Summit. Reno, NV.
  • 2014  – Keynote Speaker, Gates Millennium Scholars Leadership Conference. Virginia.
  • 2014 – Keynote Speaker, Nixyaawii Community School Graduation. Pendleton, OR.
  • 2014 – Keynote Speaker, Native American Graduation. University of Colorado at Boulder. Boulder, CO.
  • 2014  -Guest Speaker, Southwest Writers Meet Up. Albuquerque, NM.
  • 2014 – Featured Artist, COLORES KNME New Mexico PBS. Albuquerque, NM.
  • 2014   – Guest Speaker, 26th Annual Basketball Against Alcohol & Drugs (BAAD) Tournament. Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Oregon
  • 2014 – Keynote Speaker, YWCA New Mexico Women in Leadership Brunch. Albuquerque, NM.
  • 2013 – Keynote speaker, Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, Inc. 48th AnnualConvention. Reno, NV
  • 2013 – Proceed with Conviction Nixyaawii Community School Umatilla Reservation OR
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