Veronica Krupnick, New Mexico House of Representatives Veronica Krupnick is a Child Welfare Youth and Tribal Advocate within the state, national, and international child welfare community. She is proudly from the State of New Mexico and is a Hopi tribal member with Jemez Pueblo and Diné lineage. Drawing on her personal experience navigating the child welfare system and her extensive professional background in the field, Veronica passionately advocates for preventative services, lived experience led policy, and for the holistic well-being of children, families, and their communities. Veronica currently serves as the Legislative Director to the House Majority Whip, Representative Dayan Hochman-Vigil, in the New Mexico House of Representatives. Veronica has been instrumental in developing, implementing, and safeguarding lived experience-centered resources, policy, legislation, and trainings throughout the nation, while also providing direct peer support and mentorship to young people of diverse backgrounds. Veronica is the recipient of the 2024 Casey Excellence for Children Alumni Award, a national honor in recognition of her work to strengthen protection of tribal children and families, the Federal Indian Child Welfare Act, and to safely reduce the need for foster care countrywide. She is also the recipient of the 2024 New Mexico Children’s Law Institute’s Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Hope in Action Excellence Award, for her advocacy in her home state. Veronica’s current community roles include serving as the Vice President of the Board of Directors at CASA First and as a member of the New Mexico Partners – a collaborative tribal-led organization centered on the first Indian Child Welfare Court and the Indian Family Protect Act in New Mexico. Veronica aspires to be a role model, a supportive mentor, and a fiercely dedicated voice for those directly impacted by the child welfare system.
Women’s Resource Center recognizes FLC’s Heather Shotton with the ‘Extraordinary Woman’ Award The award recognizes Shotton’s role in strengthening institutional policies, fostering belonging for underrepresented students, and expanding educational opportunities.
FLC graduate inspires the next generation of students through art Malorie King (Mescalero Apache/Diné) curated a selection of artwork from the Center’s Museum collections as a culmination of a year of research and inquiry into creative expression of traditional knowledge sharing and intertribal values.
Second Annual Tribal Water Media Fellowship Showcase highlights stories of water This year, 11 Tribal Water Media fellows participated in the Tribal Water Media Fellowship Showcase. The fellowship provides students with the resources and opportunity to conduct their own research and create a multimedia project centered around water usage, water infrastructure, and desert communities.
Providing Tuition Assistance to Native American Students Heather Shotton, FLC's vice president of diversity affairs dicusses Indigenous student success and what it means to be a Native-ready campus. “It’s not enough just to recruit and enroll Indigenous students at our institutions, says Heather Shotton, VP for Diversity Affairs at FLC and an Indigenous Education scholar. “It’s important that institutions are ready to...
With food demonstrations, solidarity walk, FLC celebrates Indigenous People’s Day DURANGO, Colo.— About 100 people gathered around the Fort Lewis College Clocktower bowing their heads as Southern Ute Elders Elberta Thompson and Nathan Strong Elk take turns blessing attendees ahead of this year’s Solidarity Walk. Strong Elk followed the blessings with a smudging ceremony, using traditional medicinal plants to cleanse those attending. The ceremony...