Welcome to IEE!
Welcome to IEE! Indigenous Educators Empowerment (IEE) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Nevada that provides solutions to address the widening achievement gap for Native American children. IEE advocates for change. Our organization seeks support of Nevada Indian Education initiatives that effectively engage our students.
As Indigenous students, parents, or community members navigating the current educational system alone is not possible. We are here to support you. Our work begins engaging in those hard conversations with our local, state, and national educational leaders, politicians, and stakeholders.
In the Media
- Youth-led Powwow for the Planet Comes to UNLV April 23, 2022Las Vegas, Nevada March 30, 2022 – The Las Vegas urban Indigenous community organized a grassroots planning committee to plan a youth-led, Pow Wow [1] for the Planet, during Earth Week, April 18-22, to advocate for the protection of sacred sites, climate action, and a more sustainable world. Please join us in supporting this… Read more: Youth-led Powwow for the Planet Comes to UNLV April 23, 2022
- Effort to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day advances in one rural county, stalls in another
For the first time, Mineral County today is celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a significant move for a county in rural Nevada, where Native communities still face obstacles to getting recognized, even as Indigenous Peoples’ Day is increasingly celebrated across the nation. More - This Virtual Classroom Company Made Millions During The Pandemic While Students Languished
At the start of the first pandemic school year, Angie Richardson sat beside her 13-year-old daughter, Sharon, in their Northport, Alabama, home as she watched lessons and completed assignments on a computer program called Edgenuity, which the Tuscaloosa County School System had purchased to provide a remote learning curriculum for students. When Richardson got COVID-19 later that fall, leaving her too sick to oversee her daughter’s schooling, Sharon had to navigate the virtual courses on her own. - Colleges criticized for declining Native enrollment in Nevada
Native American enrollment is down at Nevada colleges, a trend students and professors say reflects an unwelcoming community that’s not committed to recruiting more familiar faces on campus. Data from all seven schools in the Nevada System of Higher Education show a decline from fall 2017 to spring 2021. Fall 2021 figures were not available. Schools include UNLV; University of Nevada, Reno; College of Southern Nevada; Nevada State College; Truckee Meadows Community College; Great Basin Community College; and Western Nevada College. Schools reported a decline of between 6.58 percent, at UNLV, and 34.83 percent, at CSN, during that time. - KNPR’s State of Nevada
Other Voices: Lance West On June 21, we aired a segment on AB261, a bill Governor Sisolak signed that mandates that Nevada public and charter schools include the history and contributions of minority and marginalized groups. This includes not only racial and ethnic groups but also the LGBTQ community, the disabled and religious organizations. The… Read more: KNPR’s State of Nevada - Nevada Public Radio – Native Nevada, Part 3: The Teachers
Nevada Public Radio is presented an eight-part podcast series on the culture, issues, and perseverance of Nevada’s Indigenous Peoples. Lance West, Rata Elmore, and E. Mercedes Krause were interviewed for Part 3: The Teachers. - In a small, rural school reside big hopes for Nevada’s Native students
Before class on a warm and sunny December morning, eight kindergarten students at Schurz Elementary School listened quietly as the Shoshone Indian Flag song played over their computer screens. The lyrics, translated to English from the Shoshone language, mean, “Across the big water, the red, white and blue is fluttering in the wind.… Read more: In a small, rural school reside big hopes for Nevada’s Native students
We are Indigenous
We are Educators
We are Empowered