WHAT WE DO

Executive Education FAQs

What is an executive education session?

The two-day seminar, "Nation Building: Leadership, Governance, and Economic Policy," is explicitly designed to equip tribal leaders with knowledge and tools for nation building: enhancing the capacity of Native nations to determine their own futures, to exercise self-governing powers effectively, and to build sustainable economies. Sessions address our core research findings of what works and what doesn’t work in Indian Country, as well as constitutions, economic policy, program management, the role of council members, strategic planning, and next steps, to name a few. We provide a draft agenda once we have confirmed the date and location of a session.

Who should attend a session?

This will depend upon the requesting group, but executive education sessions are designed for tribal leaders. Leadership and council members, of course, are critical. Other individuals, such as program directors, attorneys, and judges, may find the session to be extremely valuable to them in implementing goals and directives, and will help ensure a common ground from which the nation can grow. We highly recommend the inclusion of key staff in the seminar. We also recommend the size of the group be approximately 25-30 participants for optimum interaction.

What is needed to arrange a session?

The process begins when a group, nation, or community requests a session. This can be done by contacting Renée Goldtooth at hozho@email.arizona.edu at NNI or by submitting a Request Form (PDF 281 kb). Once we have arranged to conduct a session for a particular group, we need three primary things:

• confirmation of the session dates
• commitment from the current leadership and council to participate in the executive education seminar
• a meeting facility

Can I see a model agenda from a past session?

For an example of a recent executive education session, you are welcome to review the brochure from our April 2007 session (PDF 505 kb), which includes an agenda and additional detail.