plp.potawatomi.orgPotawatomi Leadership Program – Get involved and learn more about your cultural heritage!

Citizen Potawatomi Nation ABOUT DETAILS HISTORY CONTACT ALUMNI ARCHIVES RESOURCES INTERESTED TRIBES APPLY BLOG "We can always hire specialists and the right technical staff. We can’t hire leaders. Our leaders come from our youth, and it is our responsibility to prepare them." POTAWATOMI LEADERSHIP PROGRAM Learn More Apply! - Chairman Barrett "We can always hire specialists and the right technical staff. We can’t hire leaders. Our leaders come from our youth, and it is our responsibility to prepare them." POTAWATOMI LEADERSHIP PROGRAM Learn More Apply! - Chairman Barrett "We can always hire specialists and the right technical staff. We can’t hire leaders. Our leaders come from our youth, and it is our responsibility to prepare them." POTAWATOMI LEADERSHIP PROGRAM Learn More Apply! - Chairman Barrett APPLY NOW FOR FREE APPLY NOW WHAT IS THE POTAWATOMI LEADERSHIP PROGRAM? Cultural Understanding The six-week Potawatomi Leadership Program brings a group of 8-10 promising young tribal members from around the world to Shawnee, Oklahoma to learn about the government, culture, and economic development of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. At its core, the Potawatomi Leadership Program strives to give interns an accurate perception of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation as a whole and cultivate talent from within to ensure that younger generations are prepared for a role in the future governance of their tribe. WONDERING WHAT THE PLP IS REALLY LIKE? Check out our blog for a look into the daily life of a PLP student! Read Now! PROGRAM DETAILS Here you will find almost everything you need to know about the Potawatomi Leadership Program! Eligibility How do I know if I’m eligible for this program? Program Details Tell me more about what I would actually be doing. Travel Arrangements I live practically across the country. How will I get there? Local Transportation I’m going to be there all summer. How will I get around? Food What will I do about food? Housing Where exactly would I be staying? Healthcare What if I lose a limb? Finance Will I be paid? HONORING NATIONS AWARD WINNING Honoring Nations Google Earth Voyager Story PLP Receives High Honors Award 2014 2014 High Honors Award Press Release A BRIEF HISTORY A quick look at how this program came to be. A discussion shared by the members of the 2003 Citizen Potawatomi Nation Business Committee sparked the idea for the Potawatomi Leadership Program. Though they expressed pride that the number of college scholarships provided for young tribal members had notably increased, they also recognized a cause for concern. Despite the growing population of tribal scholarship recipients, the leaders realized that few of the students had a strong grasp on their tribe’s heritage, governance, or economic structures. In fact, encounters with several students had indicated that the majority knew little about the Tribe at all. Considering the Tribe’s prolonged history of removal, this lack of connection was not surprising. Following the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s removal from its original Great Lakes homeland in the 1830s and its purchase of a 900 square mile reservation in Oklahoma in the late 1800s, land runs and other pressures scattered tribal members throughout the United States and abroad. In modern times, roughly two-thirds of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation population resides outside of Oklahoma. This wide dispersal led to a literal disconnect for countless tribal members, many of whom had never traveled to Oklahoma and were physically separated from tribal headquarters by long distances. Furthermore, prior to the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s extensive constitutional reform passed in 2007, tribal members living outside of the former reservation in Oklahoma had no formal legislative representation and consequently enjoyed few opportunities to feel invested in their tribe. With these barriers to a tribal connection in place for such a long period of time, the young college students in 2003 were perhaps inevitably disengaged. However, this issue posed a threat beyond a diminished sense of tribal identity. If the Tribe’s young people lacked a foundational understanding of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, where would its future leaders come from? Only enrolled members of the Tribe are eligible for elected leadership. The Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s current leaders, Chairman John "Rocky" Barrett and Vice-Chairman Linda Capps, have served in their positions since 1985 and 1989 respectively. As Chairman Barrett has said, "We can always hire specialists and the right technical staff. We can’t hire leaders. Our leaders come from our youth, and it is our responsibility to prepare them." When tribal leaders begin to shift responsibility to younger generations, a passionate and knowledgeable leadership pool must be readily available. In 2003, the members of the Business Committee worried that the dearth of eligible potential leaders might impair the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s ability to govern successfully. In response to the paucity of tribally-aware young people, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation established the Potawatomi Leadership Program in 2003 with the following mission: to educate, inform, and encourage qualified Potawatomi students and to develop within the tribal membership at large a more accurate perception of the tribe and its operations. Each summer since 2003, an average of seven students have traveled from as far as New Zealand to Shawnee, Oklahoma to learn about the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and develop as leaders. IMPORTANT DATES The application will be open on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. CST. The deadline to apply is Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. CST. All students will be notified with a decision vie email by Monday, April 15, 2024. This year, the in-person program is slated to run from Friday, June 14 – Saturday, July 27, 2024; please note that should the format change to virtual, the program dates may change. Don’t waste any time! Apply Now HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? If you or your parents have any questions, please fill out the form below, or call. Your Name (required) Your Email (required) Subject Your Message Δ Contact Information Citizen Potawatomi Nation Attn.: Rachel Watson 1601 S. Gordon Cooper Dr. Shawnee, OK 74801 (800) 880-9880 ext 1141 rachel.watson@potawatomi.org Facebook Instagram Copyright 2016 Citizen Potawatomi Nation. All Rights Reserved. Your Name (required) Your Email (required) Subject Your Message Δ Eligibility You must meet all of the following eligibility criteria to be considered for the Potawatomi Leadership Program: 1. Be an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation , and 2. Have a current GPA of 3.0 or better , and 3. Be 18-20 years of age by the program start date, and 4. Have graduated high school by the program’s start date, and 5. Be enrolled in college or vocational school at any level Program participants are selected without regard to race, color, religious creed, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin. Although the only restrictions for applying are meeting the eligibility criteria listed above, please consider whether you are comfortable meeting program conditions with or without any special accommodations. The conditions of this program include but are not limited to the following: Prolonged periods of sitting and standing Shared living quarters Shared bathrooms and shower spaces Two-story living accommodations × Details Tribal members who are 18-20 years old are selected for the six-week program based on academic qualifications, a series of essays, and a letter of recommendation. Arriving before the annual Family Reunion Festival, students spend their workdays visiting tribal directors and hearing employees explain their role. Between departmental sessions, students tour tribal enterprises and attend board meetings. In the evenings and on weekends, students connect culturally by attending language classes, participating in tribal...