Elisha Sneddy
Placed at Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services
What excites you about being part of the Pathwaves Fellowship? What are you hoping to gain from the experience?
I am excited to be part of this inspiring community of leaders and being surrounded by others who are committed to working collaboratively and intentionally to dismantle the system that enables and perpetuates structural and systemic racism that lead to adverse health outcomes among our children, families, and communities. Communities of color, specifically Indigenous birthing families have historically and continue to be failed due to the colonial systems that this country is built on. It is very clear the U.S systems are failing our children and communities. I am tired of seeing my people being viewed through a deficit model or lens. I am hoping to gain new perspectives, skills, and expertise to strategically examine health and social justice issues through an anti-racism framework. As an Indigenous scholar, advocate, and future policymaker, I am eager to eradicate the racial inequities and health injustices many Indigenous birthing families face today.
Share a little about your journey and why you are excited about early childhood policy work.
I am a proud member of the Navajo Nation Tribe. I grew up on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. I graduated with my Bachelors in Native American Studies and Psychology from the University of New Mexico. I received my Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with a concentration in Social & Behavioral Sciences. I am the first granddaughter of my family and the oldest daughter of a beautiful diverse family of six! At an early age, my family instilled in me the knowledge, importance, and beauty of my Navajo culture and traditional values. Our traditional and cultural ways continue to guide us, as they have for many generations and have helped many continue to live in peace and harmony. I am the product of generations of strong, resilient, and powerful Navajo matriarchs who have shown me what perseverance, strength, and courage looks like. We have always carried ourselves with an abundance mindset. Currently, many systems use a top-down, deficit focused, and a one size fits all approach, addressing symptoms rather than root causes of social issues. I am excited about this work because I intend to lead community-driven solutions that empower communities by building upon their strengths and assets, rather than focusing on deficits. For too many generations, the negative outcomes in early childhood Indigenous populations are a direct result of a colonial and patriarchal systems that has continued to plague our communities. I am most excited about ensuring our Indigenous voices, and perspectives are the core foundation to the policy solutions we bring forward and ensuring Indigenous communities are part of every step of the dialogue, from the planning to all the way to the policy implementation.
What are you looking forward to doing at your placement site?
With my new role as Policy Auntie at Hummingbird Indigenous Family Service, I am looking forward to being present with the community and working through an abundance and generosity mindset. I look forward to learning from our youth, elders, aunties, and cultural teachers to ensure I am leading with our Indigenous knowledge systems at the core. The community’s involvement and presence is so critical and fundamental to this work because it allows all voices to be heard and honored so that we can collectively dismantle structural racism in all forms. I aim to become an expert and a fierce advocate in the public health policy field to advance health outcomes for Indigenous birthing families so we can all health and achieve long-term wellness.
What are two things that most people don’t know about you?
- I love watching sports (mostly Basketball and Football)!
- My absolute favorite movie snack combo is Pickles and Popcorn
