Preparing and Developing Leaders for Indigenous-Serving Schools via the Holistic Blessing of POLLEN's Leadership Tree

Faculty in a flagship university in the U.S. Southwest collaborated with Indigenous stakeholders to design and implement an educational leadership program for aspiring leaders of Indigenous-serving schools. This study explores the perceptions of participants in that leadership program. The study utilizes data collected through an external program evaluation that employed focus group interviews with graduate students and interviews with faculty. Data were collected and analyzed in a process of coding and generating themes. Results indicate that the educational leadership program for Indigenous students was most useful and relevant when centered on social/relational content, linked to spiritual/cultural roots, in harmony with Indigenous wisdom, and grounded in place and well-being. The lessons learned sustained the project through enrollment of three cohorts and may have broader implications for funders who wish to support leadership programs for longer-term influence, as well as universities who aim to make a greater investment in their Indigenous communities.