STEPHEN CORNELL AND THE NATIVE

NATIONS INSTITUTE HONORED WITH

PRESTIGIOUS AWARD FROM NCAI

The National Congress of American Indians recently announced that it is honoring Stephen Cornell and the work of the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy (NNI) for outstanding leadership and commitment to American Indians and Alaska Natives. The award was given at NCAI's 12th Annual Leadership Awards Banquet, on March 1, 2010. The banquet was held in conjunction with NCAI's 2008 Executive Council Winter Session.

NNI was cofounded by the Udall Foundation and the University of Arizona in 2001. It serves as a self-determination, development, and self-governance resource to Indian nations. Cornell is a faculty associate with NNI and director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona, where NNI is located. He also is codirector of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, a research program headquartered at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University that he co-founded in the late 1980s with Professor Joseph P. Kalt. NNI's programs build on a body of research developed by NNI and the Harvard Project. Kalt and the Harvard Project are also being honored this year by NCAI.

Every year, NCAI recognizes friends and partners that have worked hard to support tribes and protect their sovereignty. It is generally recognized that honorees have "gone the extra mile" to support the efforts of NCAI and tribes across the country. Additional honorees this year included Elouise Cobell, the named plaintiff in recently settled litigation against the Department of the Interior over alleged mismanagement of tribal trust funds; Dr. Eric Broderick, of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Congressman Xavier Becerra of California and vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus; and Marie Howard, staff director of the Office of Indian Affairs, Committee on Natural Resources of the U.S. House of Representatives. Past honorees include numerous U.S. senators and U.S. representatives, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.