FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2020
Media Contact: Cassidy Rue | 623.692.6818
Cassidy@uriascommunications.com
UNITY and Nike N7 to Host “Hear Us. See Us. Rise Together” Webinar with Native American Athletes
The webinar featuring Native American athletes Shauna Long, Madison Hammond and Lindy Waters III will focus on using sports to create positive change
Mesa, AZ – As part of its fall educational webinar series, United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc. (UNITY) will hold a virtual summit with Native American athletes including Shauna Long, Madison Hammond and Lindy Waters III to discuss how sports have positively impacted their lives and communities. The webinar on Tuesday, November 17, at 3 p.m. PST // 6pm EST is sponsored in honor of National Native American Heritage Month. This will be conducted via Zoom, with the theme “Hear Us. See Us. Rise Together.
“This fall webinar series has helped further our mission to foster the spiritual, mental, physical and social development of our youth, and to stay connected with one another,” said UNITY Executive Director Mary Kim Titla. “Thanks to sponsors like Nike N7, we are remaining engaged with Native Youth on the topics that are most relevant to them today.”
Basketball players Shauna Long (Standing Rock Sioux) and Lindy Waters III (Kiowa and Cherokee), and others will share their experiences as Native American athletes, discussing how, through athletics, youth can gain the confidence, platform, and opportunities to create positive change in their communities, while honoring and staying connected to their heritage.
Nike N7 started in 2000, when Sam McCracken, a former Nike warehouse worker, became manager of Nike’s Native American business. He developed a plan that focused on building relationships between Nike and tribes that had received diabetes education grants, and schools enrolled in the Office of Indian Education Programs.
“Through activity, competition, and play, kids grow up active, healthy, and more self-confident, enabling them to be a force for change in their communities, and to lead happier, healthier, more successful lives,” said McCracken. “My vision was to bring sports and all of the benefits that come with it to Native American communities.”
- Thursday, November 19, at 1:30 p.m. EST – How to Host Virtual Events for Native Youth
- Tuesday, December 1, at 6 p.m. EST – Native Youth Perspectives on the 2020 Elections
- Thursday, December 3, at 3 p.m EST. – Digital Storytelling: UNITY TikTok & Video Communications for Native Youth
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ABOUT UNITY
Founded in 1976, United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc. (UNITY) is a national network organization promoting personal development, citizenship, and leadership among Native Youth. UNITY’s mission is to foster the spiritual, mental, physical, and social development of American Indian and Alaska Native youth ages 14 -24, and to help build a strong, unified, and self-reliant Native America through greater youth involvement. UNITY’s network currently includes 320 affiliated youth councils in 36 states. Youth Councils are sponsored by Tribes, Alaska Native villages, high schools, colleges, urban centers, and others.