"I believe wholeheartedly in the ability of the arts and cultural connectedness to create strong and thriving communities, and that starts with cultivating individual relationships in which people feel seen, heard, and valued. Over my twenty years in the arts & culture impact sector, here are a handful of the projects that continue to wow me the most."

Outreach

​By creating and fostering genuine and positive connections with individuals, tribes, and Indigenous communities throughout the MidAtlantic region, my community outreach efforts increased American Indian and Alaska Native engagement in culturally-centered Urban Indian Health services at Native American LifeLines (Baltimore, MD) by 1000% over a three year period.


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Cross Cultural Collaboration

Selected by the Circle Legacy Center Board of Directors, I currently serve as Community Fellow for Franklin & Marshall College's Reckoning with Lancaster Project: Settler Colonialism, Indigeneity & the Land Question, a Mellon Foundation Humanities for All Times initiative, working alongside CLC President MaryAnn Robins and faculty co-leads Mary Ann Levine and Eric Hirsch. This initiative seeks to engage in new research, curricular interventions, and community partnerships to grapple with Lancaster and F&M's history and shape its future with Indigenous people.


Through thoughtful listening, cultural humility, and careful advocacy, I have stewarded the continuing collaboration between Mennonite and Indigenous communities of the Lower Susquehanna, allowing shared histories to be told with respect toward efforts at Honor and Healing. Led by Mennonite Life and the Circle Legacy Center, the 1719 Museum in Willow Street, PA, embodies these ongoing efforts.

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​Advocating for the acknowledgement and inclusion of contemporary and urban Indigenous histories, perspectives, priorities, and voices, including unrecognized and detribalized historical communities, I have served as an advisor or collaborator to...
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• the Maryland State Arts Council's award winning state land acknowledgement resource project
• the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies' efforts to formulate guidance and best practices for state arts agencies in engaging and supporting Indigenous artists, tribes, communities, and organizations in their states
• Maryland's Montgomery College and Fredrick Community College to introduce human centered strengths based strategies to create supportive learning environments for Indigenous students, entrepreneurs, and life-long learners 
• and coordinated the first survey course exploring MidAtlantic Contemporary Indigenous Life at Maryland Folklife Center, Common Ground on the Hill, at Maryland's McDaniel College.

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​Mentorship & Education

Working with the Cultural Alliance of York County to innovate equitable grant making and create communities of support around our artists, I serve as an artist navigator guiding artists and creative entrepreneurs toward strategies to not only utilize funds but set goals and locate additional resources to accelerate growth. 

Working with Indigenous youth, adult and two-spirit groups, I have created and co-created programming to strengthen individual identity and expression, build social supports, increase community cohesion, and deepen cultural-connectedness, improving key protective factors in the health and wellbeing of Indigenous communities.

​Eager to learn and share skills, I have hosted fine art, craft, and life skills workshops in partnership with galleries, museums, and cultural centers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and Massachusetts.

Serving as Community Fellow for the Reckoning with Lancaster Project at Franklin & Marshall College I work to mentor undergraduates and faculty and co-teach interdisciplinary humanities courses focused on Indigenous Lancaster and people of the lower Susquehanna. 

Past and present partnerships include...
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• 1719 Museum
• Baltimore American Indian Center
• Common Ground on the Hill
• Eastern 2 Spirit & Indigiqueer Gathering
• Franklin & Marshall College 
• Iron Hill Museum & Science Center
• KID Museum
• lowercase gallery
• Native American LifeLines
• Plimoth Patuxet Museums 

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Leadership

Placing high value on critique and willingness to grow and change, as Finance Director at Native American LifeLines, I implemented operational and policy changes, created strategies and implemented controls that radically improved financial health of a federally contracted public provider, critical to the wellbeing of dramatically underserved Urban American Indian/Alaska Native populations. A culturally centered approach to responsible and ethical fiscal management in a health and social services setting is unique to my leadership.

Recognizing the strengths and frustrations of teams, I have facilitated a number of strategic initiatives in Native nonprofits from board and staff development to strategic planning to increase board, staff, and volunteer engagement and reignite care, compassion, inspiration and renewed direction among individuals serving a common mission. 

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​My quiet, careful leadership seeks to balance and amplify the strengths of those around me while steadily advancing the missions important to uplifting our communities.

Additional Partners

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Copyright Jess McPherson, 2024.