President’s Welcome Letter

Dear NICWA Members and Conference Attendees,

On behalf of the National Indian Child Welfare Association Board of Directors, I am pleased to welcome you to the 40th Annual Protecting Our Children Conference. I hope you enjoy your time with us.

Though the last few years have been difficult for many of us and our communities, I am grateful that we are able to gather together virtually for this year’s Protecting Our Children conference. Throughout the plenary sessions, workshops, and opportunities for relationship-building during the virtual conference, I hope you are able to learn from and connect with each other. Our conference theme, “Homecoming: 40 Years of Connecting for Our Children,” speaks to the powerful pull that home has on all of us. It is my hope that this conference can be a professional home for all of us who work for a better future for Native children and families, a future where Native children can grow up connected to their homes, their communities, and their culture.

I am grateful for the opportunity to thank the many people who have worked hard to make this year’s virtual conference a success: our presenters, sponsors, board members, staff, and especially all of you, our conference attendees. Your efforts on behalf of Native children and families, especially during times as challenging as the last few years we’ve experienced together, are important acts of service for our people. Together we are improving practice and expanding service delivery in Indian Country, and together we are strengthening the well-being of American Indian and Alaska Native children, families, and communities.

As I share each year, I am honored to serve this organization, and you, as NICWA’s board president. I sincerely hope you find our time gathered together virtually valuable, enjoyable, and beneficial to the vital work that you do, and I hope that you leave the Protecting Our Children conference inspired to carry our work forward in service of the well-being of our children, families, and communities.

Thank you,

Gil Vigil (Tesuque Pueblo) President, Board of Directors National Indian Child Welfare Association