Congratulations to Tribal Services and Solutions Project Winners 2023-24

Dartmouth College launched the Tribal Services and Solutions Project (TSSP) in 2022 to provide opportunities for Dartmouth undergraduate students and recent graduates to work hand-in-hand with Native American tribal leaders and alumni to help develop community-based solutions that can be implemented within local, regional, and/or national contexts to address critical needs in three broad areas:  (1) entrepreneurship and economic development; (2) health care and public health innovation; and (3) government relations and policy.  The TSSP provides paid 1-year postbaccalaureate fellowships and 1-term internships that are service oriented and anchored in tribal communities and/or within agencies or organizations dedicated to advancing the interests of tribal nations and Native Peoples.

We are pleased to announce the 2023-24 recipients of TSSP's 1-year Postbaccalaureate Fellowships:

Ryann Cornelius (Pueblo of Zuni) '23

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Ryann Cornelius

Ryann's project will focus on developing culturally appropriate healthcare delivery plans in the areas of maternal and child healthcare within the Zuni Pueblo community in New Mexico.  The research expects to build upon extant models for maternal and child healthcare in tribal nations of the Southwest to enhance the nature and quality of healthcare delivery to women and children within the Pueblo of Zuni.

Jessica Meikle (Choctaw Nation of OK) '23

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Jessica Meikle

Working with the Cherokee Nation's Health Innovation Center in Oklahoma and related healthcare provider stakeholders, Jessica's project seeks to identify, articulate, and rank challenges and inefficiencies within the Cherokee healthcare system.  The project also seeks to identify ways to enhance health equity in rural and Indigenous communities.  Notably, this project was proposed and developed by Jay Calhoun, a '08 Tuck School graduate and signatory to the proposals that led to the formation of the TSSP.

Madison DeLaney Thornton (Coharie) '22

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Madison DeLaney Thornton

DeLaney's project will focus on enhancing North Carolina's Indian child welfare system through data collection on child placements, support and training for foster parents and conferences aimed at improving state-tribal administration of Indian child welfare policies.  She will work under the auspices of the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs.

In addition to these three fellowships, the TSSP is pleased to announce the award of a 1-term internship:

Lexie Gauthier (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) '26

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Lexie Gauthier

Lexie will work as an intern during summer 2023 with the Center for Indian Country Development (CICD) in Montana on a study that analyzes the trajectory of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' development and financial portfolio diversification.  Dartmouth alum, Casey Lozar '03, proposed this project and will serve as a supervisor to Lexie on this research.  Mr. Lozar is Vice President of the CICD for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.