Laguna Pueblo woman named director for Teach for America

Ashley Sarracino to help lead efforts focused on educational equity in Native communities as director of the organization’s Native Alliance Initiative

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Teach For America recently named Ashley Sarracino as director of the nonprofit’s Native Alliance Initiative. A native of New Mexico and a graduate of Stanford University, Sarracino will be responsible for helping to lead the Initiative, working hand-in-hand with Native communities to expand educational opportunities for Native students that help them achieve their full potential. Ashley will also aid the Initiative in its work to recruit more Native leaders to the teaching profession, incorporate tribal and community culture into the classroom, and build a sustainable alumni leadership pipeline committed to advocating for and building with Native communities and children.

Sarracino grew up in a small village of 100 people on the Pueblo of Laguna reservation in New Mexico attending schools run by her tribe and by the Bureau of Indian Education. She graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in cultural anthropology and a M.A. in education.

Sarracino has more than ten years of experience in fundraising, serving in the capacities of coordinator, facilitator, director, and trainer. As an advocate for improving access to an excellent education for all students, Sarracino has worked for the American Indian College Fund, First Nations Oweesta Corporation, and previously served as the director of development for Teach For America−New Mexico. Additionally, she has worked with grassroots nonprofits in Hawai’i and New Mexico, and was instrumental in creating the nonprofit Acoma Haak’u Foundation for the Pueblo of Acoma. She currently serves on the Advisory Council for Teach For America’s Native Alliance Initiative and is on the Governance Council for Coral Community Charter School.

“Education is critical for Native students and tribes, and it’s the foundation of self-determination, self-governance, and tribal sovereignty,” said Sarracino. “I am passionate and excited about education for Native communities. I look forward to working tirelessly in an effort to address educational inequity in our Native communities while focusing on the goals of the Native Alliance Initiative.”

Too often in the U.S., a child’s access to a quality education is determined by their zip code. This opportunity gap disproportionately affects Native students: only 49 percent of Native students graduate from high school and just 11 percent obtain a college degree, compared to the national averages of 86 percent and 29 percent, respectively. Additionally, individuals who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native comprise less than 1 percent of public school teachers nationwide.

Teach For America launched its Native Alliance Initiative in 2010 to combat such statistics. This July, the Native Alliance Initiative celebrates five years of working in partnership with tribal communities to provide an additional source of effective teachers, advance student achievement, and increase student opportunities through culturally responsive teaching.

“Along with supporting the tremendous work of our Native Alliance Initiative, we partner with parents, families, and a wide spectrum of community partners to help provide educational opportunity for Native students,” said Robert Cook, senior managing director of Teach For America’s Native Alliance Initiative. “Ashley’s expertise and experience will be an incredible asset to the initiative’s efforts to work alongside the students, families, and educators in Native communities.”

While Teach For America has seen its most effective teachers come from all backgrounds, because teachers who share the backgrounds of their students can often serve as critical mentors and role models, Teach For America places an emphasis on recruiting teachers of Native heritage. Over the last five years, the number of corps members and alumni from Native backgrounds has grown from 22 to 200, and those teachers are working in partnership with families and tribal communities to increase educational opportunities for students. Teach For America’s South Dakota region has received formal Resolutions of Support from the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, and Teach For America is now recognized by the Bureau of Indian Education as an additional teacher pipeline in all Bureau-operated schools.

During the 2014-15 school year, 400 Teach For America corps members taught more than 9,000 children from Native backgrounds across New Mexico, Hawai’i, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Washington, and Minnesota.

 

About Teach For America: Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding college graduates and professionals to make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. Today, 10,600 corps members are teaching in 50 urban and rural regions across the country while more than 37,000 alumni work across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. Teach For America is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.