Four Bands Expands Team for Renewed Focus on Youth
September 20, 2016
Four Bands recently added two new staff members to support our renewed focus on delivering programs designed to increase financial capability and entrepreneurial skills of the youth population on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.
Alissa Benoist (Cheyenne River Sioux), selected as Four Bands’ Program Coordinator, will manage our Wicoicage Sakowin kin un Wicakagapi (Building for the Seventh Generation) program that builds long-term employment and life skills of Reservation youth. She has also been tasked with coordinating other program-related activities, grants management and reporting, and partner relationship building. Kesse Deal (Cheyenne River Sioux) has been hired on as the new Client Services Coordinator where she will be responsible for recruiting and enrolling participants in our programs, as well as working with clients to ensure they are connected with the appropriate services.
“We are excited to have two talented and experienced individuals join our team at Four Bands. Both, Alissa and Kesse, will play an integral role in our youth program delivery,” says Lakota Mowrer, our Executive Director.
Both new staff members will be delivering our Native Youth Community Enterprise Incubator Program, a new 2-year initiative supported by funding from the Citi Foundation. The program aims to help youth overcome challenges associated with living in an economically distressed area by instilling foundational knowledge in the areas of personal finance, secondary education, workforce development, saving and goal setting, business development, and leadership through a newly developed curriculum comprised of six learning modules.
“Citi has been a long-time partner and continues to support our work here on Cheyenne River. We are grateful for this most recent round of funding that will be invested in our most valuable asset – our youth,” comments Lakota.
The Native Youth Community Enterprise Incubator Program curriculum is currently under development with a test pilot phase scheduled for early next year. The completed curriculum will be launched through a new online portal in Spring of 2017 and is expected to help improve the skills of over 200 youth.