This week, the Cheyenne River Youth Project’s executive director, Julie Garreau, is participating as a delegate in the Cordes Fellowship’s Opportunity Collaboration in Cancún, Mexico. Garreau was awarded the fellowship last year, one of 50 winners out of 500 applicants, but was unable to attend the fall 2015 event in Ixtapa.

Cordes Fellowships are designed for exceptional social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders who are engaged in poverty alleviation and economic justice enterprises. The purpose of the fellowship program is to open doors, minds and networks for emerging social entrepreneurs and nonprofit executives; enrich the Opportunity Collaboration with new, emerging leaders; and infuse the collaborative discussions with a diversity of perspectives.

Ren Dietel of family-owned philanthropic advising firm Dietel Partners, who attends the Opportunity Collaboration each year, nominated Garreau for the fellowship opportunity. She said Garreau exemplifies the kind of citizen leader that Dietel Partners strongly believes in and supports.

“Julie’s perseverance and long-term dedication to CRYP’s mission, her love and respect for the youth of the community, her commitment to the ongoing development of the staff, and her drive to provide innovative programming make her an outstanding leader,” Dietel explained. “We have been honored to partner with Julie and CRYP over the years and felt she would make an exceptional Cordes Fellow. She will bring a new and important perspective to this gathering of emerging social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders from around the globe.”

Founded in 2007, Dietel Partners provides individuals and families with philanthropic strategy, counsel and grants management services. It has the privilege of working with multigenerational family clients who passionately believe in the power of philanthropy to support positive change in the world. Together with its clients, Dietel Partners provides financial and other resources to enhance human rights, improve the lives of women and children, preserve cultural diversity and ensure the environmental health of the planet. It has offices in Maine, Virginia, and Seattle, Washington. For more information, visit www.dietelpartners.com

To stay up to date on the latest CRYP news and events, follow the youth project on Facebook (/LakotaYouth), Twitter (@LakotaYouth) and Instagram (@waniyetuwowapi).

The Cheyenne River Youth Project, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.