Initiative Staff Attends 19th Annual First Nations LEAD Conference

Pictured: A-dae Romero, First Nations consultant,
with IFAI staffers Erin Shirl and Hillary Renick

This past week, Indigenous Food & Agriculture Initiative staff attended the 19th Annual LEAD Conference, sponsored by First Nations Development Institute. This year's conference, held at Tulalip Resort Casino, ran on three tracks: Youth Empowerment & Asset-Building, Nonprofit Capacity-Building, and Native Agriculture & Food Systems. The programming for each track was informative and thought-provoking, and our staff very much enjoyed this fantastic opportunity to connect with people working across Indian Country to improve their Tribal communities and economies through a variety of innovative initiatives. We were delighted to make new friends and reconnect with familiar faces while we listened to panelists talk about the wonderful work that's being done in their communities now, and the work they have planned for the future.  We are grateful to the hard-working staff at First Nations Development Institute for organizing such a great conference, and to our excellent hosts at Tulalip for the beautiful venue.