Midwest Region

MIDWEST REGION

Angelina Serna, Midwest Regional Representative

National UNITY Council Executive Committee

Midwest@unityinc.org

Who is the Midwest Representative and how do I get in contact with them? 

Angelina Serna, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians/ Oneida Nation 

Email: midwest@unityinc.org or angelina.serna3@gmail.com 

Who does the UNITY Midwest Region Represent?

The UNITY Midwest Region Represents Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri. Our goal is to provide a voice for the youth of the Midwest and uphold UNITY’s mission of fostering the spiritual, mental, physical, and social development of American Indian and Alaska Native youth. 

Biography of Midwest Regional Representative Angelina Serna 

Angelina is from the Oneida Nation and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. Angelina, a student-athlete, has just completed her 4th year as a Varsity starter and Captain for Volleyball, Soccer, and Cheerleading teams. She is the Lead tumbler and Captain for the Varsity           Cheerleading Team, which won the 2020 and 2022 Noble Conference Championships and the 2020 and 2022 Co-Ed Cheerleading Champions for Chicago Public Schools. Angelina was named Athlete of the Year and named the most decorated athlete in school history. While she takes athletics very seriously, she is also a dedicated student who has taken all Honors/AP classes and has maintained four straight years of the High Honor Roll with a GPA of 4.22. She has     recently graduated in the Top 10 Percent of her class from Pritzker College Prep High School in Chicago, IL. Angelina is the Founder and President of Chicago’s Indigenous Tribal Youth (C.I.T.Y.) Council, who won Youth Council of the Year at the 2021 UNITY Conference in Dallas, Texas. She was also selected to be a member of the 2020 Class of Native Jump Start Program at the University of California-Berkeley and was also a participant in the 2020 World Affairs Youth Seminar at Auburn University and participated in the 2021 Dartmouth Indigenous Fly-In Program. Currently, she completed her work with curators at the Chicago Field Museum, where she is now featured in the new Native American Hall on Chicago’s Indigenous Youth called “  Native Truths, Our Voices, Our Stories.” Angelina and her youth council have partnered with the American Indian Center of Chicago to co-create the “I Support Lateral Kindness” Campaign, which focuses on combating lateral violence and other issues facing Indian Country through kindness and humanity. She has led workshops at the UNITY Mid-year Conference and the UNITY National Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Angelina participates actively in the community by volunteering her time with the Pandemic Food Distribution, “Food Is Medicine” program, Senior Luncheons, Indigenous I-STEAM summer Camp, fundraisers, and various community cultural classes and events. Angelina will attend Cornell University in the fall to double major in Public Policy and Government with a minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies. 

She is also a recipient of the prestigious Meining Family Cornell National Scholar award; this award is for students who show extraordinary scholarly and leadership qualities and will receive the utmost development during their time at Cornell University. This program will help students gain the tools they need to become leaders in an ever-changing world. Her hope is to return to the community to aid in shaping policy that impacts the urban Native community.