Iisaaksiichaa Ross Braine, director of and the 91探花Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity鈥檚 tribal liaison, will be honored as one of five Distinguished Staff Award recipients at the UW鈥檚 on Thur., June 11, at 3:30 p.m., in Meany Hall Auditorium.
Established in 1997, the award recognizes individuals or teams based on their extraordinary accomplishments and contributions to their departments and the University.
Braine (Apsaalooke Nation), 鈥�09, 鈥�15, is the first director of the that is as a multi-service learning and gathering space for Native American students, faculty and staff, as well as the greater 91探花community. Braine played a key role in the recent efforts to complete the first phase of the 40-plus year project and manages all aspects of the building operation.
As the UW鈥檚 tribal liaison since 2012, Braine fosters relationships with Native American communities and tribal sovereign governments of the Pacific Northwest. He travels throughout the region to conduct outreach activities for K-12 Native students in collaboration with various OMA&D and 91探花partners. He also mentors current 91探花students and organizes the annual 91探花Tribal Leadership Summit, a government-to-government conversation between University and regional tribal leaders. In May 2012, Braine moderated a on how to improve urban Indian education. The session was a White House initiative in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education.
This week, Braine will receive a master of science in information management degree.
According to one of his nominators, 鈥淩oss鈥� dedicated work and advocacy with Native American student and faculty groups not only enriches OMA&D, but our entire campus. It also enriches the entire community given his extensive involvement with outreach and volunteering.鈥�
Prior to his current roles, Braine worked as a counselor with OMA&D鈥檚 , a federally-funded program that provides support services to limited-income and first-generation college bound students in Skagit, Snohomish and Yakima counties.
Also receiving the 2015 91探花Distinguished Staff Awards are Carolyn Chow (director of admissions and multicultural student affairs, Nursing), Katy Folk-Way (associate director, Creative Communications), Irawati Lam (registered nurse, Radiation Oncology) and Stephen Weber (access services supervisor, University Libraries).
Learn more about the other 2015 91探花Awards of Excellence Recipients on the