2020 WOA Government & Public Service Award Honoree
Maria Cullooyah
Homenajeada por Mujeres de Logros 2020
~ Government & Public Service Award ~
Congratulations Maria!
Gracias por vivir la misión de YWCA Spokane
At a young age, Maria understood a working knowledge of business and entrepreneurship to be key when achieving success in life. Maria’s biggest role models, her mother and late grandmother, encouraged her to get an education and return to the tribe to share her knowledge and expertise to help her community move forward. She did just that.
Maria is a Spokane Tribal member. Her parents are Francis Cullooyah, Kalispel Tribal elder, and Raymond & Valerie Peone, Spokane Tribal elders. With five biological children, 3 she has taken as her own, and 2 beautiful grandchildren, Maria pursued a degree in Native American Studies from Eastern Washington University then transferred to receive her bachelor’s and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. For the last 12 years, Maria worked for the Spokane Tribe in the planning and economic development department in various capacities. Currently, Maria works as the Director of real estate development for the Spokane Tribe of Indians and seeks to enfranchise and better the living conditions of her entire community of people who have been traditionally shut out of many mainstream development opportunities due to systemic racism.
Maria is also the Assistant Director of Planning and Economic Development. She is a woman leader both within her native community as well as in the broader community and serves as a role model for generations of women to come. Serving on boards within her community and Spokane, WA, she has continued to gain experience and able to analyze and implement missions and goals.
Maria told the Journal she continues to be inspired by Spokane Tribal Chairwoman Carol Evans, the first female to have served in the role. “I had a lot of role models growing up, and the biggest thing they taught me was that you can’t sit and wait for things to happen,” she says. “You have to go for what you want and make things happen.”
Maria has developed multiple business ventures on behalf of her tribal government. She has played a key role in several community projects including the designation of the Tribe as a federal Promise Zone, Opportunity Zone and the revitalization of the city of Wellpinit. In addition, she helped facilitate the Children of the Sun Solar Initiative which was designed to provide 650 kilowatts of solar capacity, and eventually battery storage, to tribal homes and businesses that will save more than $2.8 million in energy costs over 35 years.
Maria was also a part of a national project known as the Learning/Action Lab for Community Wealth Building that began in 2013. Funded by the Northwest Area Foundation, this program fostered a peer learning cohort involving five Native organizations, including the Spokane Tribe which lasted until 2018.
Maria is unwavering in her commitment to creating real and lasting change in our community. As a member and employee of the Spokane Tribe, Maria was a part of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) during 2018 and 2019, now known as Common Future, that centered around issues of community wealth building and leadership development. Maria has represented the region at national alternative economic development conferences, and was a founding board member of SIMBA, the Spokane Independent Metro Business Alliance which organizes to create a more equitable and inclusive local economy.
Maria is known to be tough as nails and to never give up. She possesses a quiet leadership style and often does not receive recognition for her efforts due to her reserved nature. She is an authentic and transparent leader who doesn’t hide who she is as a mother and community member while in her formal roles of leadership.
Maria has a keen ability to help people navigate uncertainty and doubt with grace. Even when Maria has had to address her own family members being impacted by the scourges of drugs and alcohol that plague her people, Maria continues to show up for herself, and her community at large in order to push the envelope for greater economic prosperity and inclusion for her tribe. At YWCA Spokane, we are truly honored to celebrate the work and accomplishments of Maria Cullooyah, 2020 Women of Achievement award honoree for Government and Public Service.
Nueva CAMPAÑA UNA MISIÓN de la YWCA
Una celebración de dos meses de quienes viven la misión de la YWCA de eliminar el racismo y empoderar a las mujeres.
Esta campaña honrará a nuestras ganadoras del premio Mujeres de Logros 2020 e invitará a la comunidad a aceptar el desafío Aprender y Dar de la YWCA centrado en inspirar cambios durante el Mes de Acción contra la Violencia Doméstica.
Del 1 de septiembre al 31 de octubre de 2020, la campaña UNA MISIÓN de la YWCA servirá para celebrar a las mujeres líderes en nuestra comunidad, crear conciencia sobre las experiencias complejas de los sobrevivientes de violencia doméstica y buscar recaudar $275,000. Las ganancias recaudadas apoyan los servicios de YWCA Spokane para víctimas de violencia doméstica y sus hijos, incluido refugio de emergencia, asesoramiento, servicios legales, preparación laboral, cuidado infantil y programas de prekínder para niños de bajos ingresos y sus familias.
Please join us as we celebrate Maria and the other 2020 award honorees through this new campaign.
Haga una donación en honor a nuestras galardonadas con el premio Women of Achievement
Considere hacer una donación en honor a las mujeres destacadas que reconocemos en esta inspiradora celebración. Como nuestra recaudación de fondos más importante y más importante del año, los premios Women of Achievement Awards benefician directamente a nuestros programas y servicios, lo que permite que nuestro alcance crezca aún más y que nuestra misión se haga realidad. En pocas palabras, ¡no podemos hacer este trabajo sin usted!
Acerca de YWCA Spokane
Durante 117 años, YWCA Spokane ha ayudado a mujeres y niños a superar barreras sociales, económicas y personales para lograr sus objetivos y lograr una vida más saludable y plena. Hoy en día, las áreas de enfoque incluyen el apoyo a las víctimas de violencia doméstica por parte de parejas íntimas, la promoción de la educación infantil temprana y el enfrentamiento de problemas de justicia social y racial que impactan negativamente a nuestros clientes y nuestra comunidad.
En 2019, YWCA atendió a más de 17.000 mujeres, niños y familias. Los servicios incluyen un continuo de apoyo integral: línea de ayuda las 24 horas y refugio seguro, centro de asesoramiento, servicios de salud mental, defensa infantil, asistencia legal civil, defensa legal y defensa del empoderamiento económico. El Programa de Asistencia y Educación para la Primera Infancia (ECEAP) de la YWCA proporciona a niños de 3 y 4 años las habilidades sociales y de aprendizaje necesarias para un ingreso exitoso al jardín de infantes.
Al trabajar en las intersecciones de la desigualdad, la pobreza y la violencia doméstica, YWCA Spokane puede alterar patrones sociales de trauma de larga data. Para obtener más información, eche un vistazo a nuestro Informe anual de impacto 2019.
¡GRACIAS A NUESTROS PATROCINADORES DE LA CAMPAÑA 2020, MUY VALORADOS!
Esta celebración de premios no sería posible sin el increíble apoyo de nuestros patrocinadores de 2020. Para aprender más sobre oportunidades de patrocinio comuníquese con Dana Morris Lee, directora de filantropía de YWCA Spokane, en danam@ywcaspokane.org o llame al 509-742-0111.
PATROCINADOR FIRMA
PATROCINADOR PRINCIPAL
PATROCINADOR HONORARIO
Socio de misión 2020
PATROCINADOR DE PRODUCCIÓN DE VIDEO
PATROCINADOR Innovación
PATROCINADOR CAMPEÓN
PATROCINADORES PIONEROS
PATROCINADORES PIONEROS
Patrocinadores corporativos
Para obtener más información sobre las oportunidades de patrocinio, comuníquese con Dana Morris Lee, directora de filantropía de YWCA Spokane, en danam@ywcaspokane.org o llame al 509-742-0111.
Por: Erica Schreiber
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