Youth Reinvestment Program
Youth Reinvestment Program
Pinoleville Pomo Nation collaborates with local Tribes, the school district, local probation office and Arbor Youth Center to implement programs to divert Native American Youth in Mendocino County with a high risk of juvenile arrest or experience initial contact with the juvenile justice system. Using culturally relevant, trauma informed and health-based intervention, the program aims to engage of Native students in the Ukiah Unified School District in Native Cultural education and teach staff in understanding trauma informed care, we also offer free individual tutoring and career counseling to increase graduation rate. We also continue to recruit Native youth to participate in group and/or individual mentoring, along with offer families culturally-rich, healthy based community events.
Meet the Staff
I am the Project Director for the Pinoleville Pomo Nation Youth Reinvestment Grant. I oversee cultural education, academic support services, and the NAYA mentoring program. Another major focus of my work is developing new projects with other departments and expanding their funding sources. I have over 20 years of experience in grant writing, project management, and program evaluation. Within the last 6 years, I have lead various grant teams at Pinoleville Pomo Nation and secured 10 million dollars in grant funding for housing, education, renewable energy, health and wellness, disease prevention and positive youth development. My greatest joy comes from planning, collaborating, and bringing out the best in people. Outside work, I like spending time with my family, hiking in forests, arranging flowers, and learning about mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest.
Ke shi eh (my name is) Corine Pearce (She/her) I am basket weaver, artist, herbalist, dancer, storyteller and cultural educator with ancestry from Lake and Mendocino County. I have been active in the continuation and preservation of Pomo/Native culture starting at a very young age. I have been teaching classes that focus on traditional uses of native plants, land stewardships and fire ecology, as well as basket weaving and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) for over 25 years through local tribes, tribal entities, museums, gatherings and native businesses. I’ve had the honor of beeing featured in numerous news articles, art galleries and museum exhibits all over the United States. I was recently a guest presenter at the 40th annual EcoFarm conference. I am the Author of Pomo Cradle Baskets: An Introduction, and have been featured in the PBS program Craft in America ‘California’ episode. In 2019 I was nominated for the United States Artist Fellowship. I am a 2020 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit award recipient as well as 2020 inaugural Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow.
Most recently, I was a presenter for the Northern California Tribal Court Coalition and a guest speaker on the radio program Native America Calling. Currently I am the featured artist for the 2020 California Indian Conference 2020 digital exhibition “California American Indian Culture and Art as Pedagogy: A Teaching and Learning Exhibit” site with you all. Please find the link here: https://cic.library.fresnostate.edu/.
