Cohort 8
Rachel Davis
EDUCATION • M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling UW-Stout • B.S. in Psychology UW-Stevens Point
ENROLLED • Cohort 8
LOCATION • Kronenwetter, Wis.
Rachel J. Davis is an advocate for restorative justice and elevating Indigenous values, communities, individuals and worldviews to bring about the many goals of educational sustainability. Rachel was disconnected from the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, the tribe that she is an enrolled member of. Rachel’s grandmother made her proud of her heritage and she wanted to participate, but there was not much opportunity. Because of forced removal and impacts of residential boarding schools and other Federal Indian Policy, there was a gap in the cultural transfer that had been going on for thousands of years. Because of this gap Rachel had to learn some hard lessons as a youth and cultivated a more realistic sense of indigenous identity and the modern issues that Indigenous communities faced. Through mentorship, service and persistence, Rachel has been working with Wisconsin Indigenous Communities for over 15 years and is currently the sole staff of the Native American Center at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Rachel is dedicated to bringing awareness, representation and support to Native students. Part of the journey to the Ed.D. in Educational Sustainability has been her time as an AmeriCorps member and getting her Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master’s. The impact of feelings and interconnections between service, community, wellbeing, identity, culture and nature. There is an upward positive loop of “do good, feel good” that was cemented in her values and connected with the Indigenous ways of knowing that she had been working on. As an Indigenous advocate, mental health clinician, university Indigenous student support coordinator and tribal liaison, Rachel finds a lot of purpose and meaning in her work. It is her experience that fostering growth mindset experiences, where people can find their strengths, callings and connections to identity is when individuals and communities thrive. Which is the only way true sustainability is possible. Building relationships with each other and nature is our way forward together and Rachel looks forward to being a part of that action around change.
UW-Stevens Point
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