Empowering Indigenous Youth Through Education
Nizhóní Begay (Diné and Quechua), 27, of Marina del Rey, California, has been selected as a 2025 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter. With her $20,000 Dreamstarter grant, she is launching a powerful initiative aimed at tackling the “significant barriers to accessing higher education, including limited exposure to college and career opportunities” faced by Indigenous youth.
The Vision: “Pathways” to College and Career Readiness
Her project, “Pathways: College Readiness and Career Exploration for Native Youth,” is designed to close these opportunity gaps by fostering college readiness through mentorship, leadership development, and storytelling.
“This program, led by the Lindy Waters III Foundation (her mentor organization), connects youth with inspiring Native professionals who share unconventional career paths and personal anecdotes to broaden worldview,” explains Nizhóní.
A Comprehensive and Holistic Approach
The initiative includes:
– Virtual workshops
– In-person college campus tours
– Year-round mentorship
These activities offer both academic and personal growth opportunities. The program formalizes and expands on her previous efforts while at Stanford University, where she hosted campus visits and advocated for Indigenous students.
“This project formalizes those impactful experiences and broadens the scale,” she noted in her Dreamstarter application.
About the Lindy Waters III Foundation
Founded in 2022 by NBA player Lindy Waters III (Kiowa/Cherokee) of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the foundation seeks to enhance and support Native American youth and Indigenous communities through sports, health and wellness, and leadership programs. Lindy’s sister, Loren Waters, serves as the executive director and was also a 2023 Running Strong Dreamstarter. Nizhóní is the foundation’s event and grant manager.
Personal Journey to Advocacy
Reflecting on her own experiences, Nizhóní shares, “I witnessed the systemic barriers Indigenous youth face and felt personally intimidated by the absence of representation in higher education. In high school, I was the only Indigenous student and felt diminished and invisible.”
Her mother, an educator and advocate, inspired her to persist. At Stanford, she deepened her passion for equity through her work at the King Institute, the largest repository of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s documents and civil rights research globally.
While there, she held unofficial student tours tailored to Native students. “These informal tours sparked deeper conversations about college readiness and accessibility,” she said.
After graduating in 2020 with a degree in Political Science and minors in Music and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, she served as an alumni interviewer for Stanford undergraduate applicants. “This process underscored the critical need for advocacy in higher education and the power of storytelling to challenge systemic inequities.”
Why This Work Matters
Nizhóní continues this mission at the Lindy Waters III Foundation, striving to help create educational and leadership pathways for Native youth.
“Indigenous communities face a profound challenge of access—access to resources, opportunities, and support systems that can nurture the immense potential of our youth,” she states. “Not everyone has the support they need to achieve their dream, but that shouldn’t make our youths’ dreams inaccessible.”
The Stakes: Urgent Needs and Alarming Statistics
The challenges Indigenous youth face are well documented:
– Native students are twice as likely to drop out of high school compared to their peers.
– Only 1 in 5 Native youth receive the mental health services they need.
– Suicide rates among Native youth are four times higher than any other racial or ethnic group.
– Native children live in poverty at more than twice the national average.
Yet, Nizhóní remains hopeful: “Despite these challenges, our greatest successes lie in the heart and strength of our community.”
Project Goals and Impact
The primary goal of her Dreamstarter project is “to bridge the opportunity gap for Native youth by fostering college readiness and leadership skills.” Specific objectives include:
– Monthly virtual workshops with Native professionals and students sharing their journeys and practical advice.
– Two college campus tours for Native youth and their families to experience academic and cultural opportunities.
– A year-round mentorship program connecting youth with Native leaders across diverse fields.
In its first year, the project aims to directly serve 45–50 Native youth and their families, with more benefiting indirectly through community engagement and storytelling.
Long-Term Vision: A Network of Empowered Leaders
Nizhóní envisions the creation of “a self-sustaining network of educated, empowered Native leaders who uplift their communities.”
By fostering college readiness and leadership among Native youth, the program seeks to:
– Increase college enrollment and graduation rates.
– Expand career opportunities.
– Inspire future generations to pursue their dreams.
– Strengthen Indigenous communities through cultural preservation and economic growth.
“We want our youth to feel supported, seen, and inspired by hearing the different voices in our community who all had varying experiences to what they define as ‘success,’” she says.
A Message of Hope
In closing, Nizhóní shares a personal reflection:
“I value each moment I am able to share with someone new about my existence, my community, and our struggle toward justice, visibility, and access.
Some days, it feels like I’m waving my arms up and down, jumping and screaming into a world that still doesn’t know we exist. But we do exist. Our existence in as many spaces as possible, inspiring our youth in particular, is imperative to our shared successes.
We are everywhere, and our approach is systemic because what we are up against is systemic.
T’ahdii kǫ́ǫ́ honiidlǫ́. We are still here.”
