{"id":40498,"date":"2024-09-06T15:30:50","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T19:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=40498"},"modified":"2024-09-06T15:32:05","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T19:32:05","slug":"center-for-native-american-youth-parts-ways-with-executive-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/09\/06\/center-for-native-american-youth-parts-ways-with-executive-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Center for Native American Youth parts ways with executive director"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Nikki<\/a>
Nikki Santos, then serving as executive director of the Center for Native American Youth, addresses the winter session of the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, D.C., on February 13, 2024. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Center for Native American Youth parts ways with executive director<\/div>\r\n
Friday, September 6, 2024<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. —\r\nAnother organization serving Indian Country is without a top staffer and, again, it’s for unspecified reasons.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Center for Native American Youth<\/a> (CNAY) has parted ways with Nikki Santos<\/a>, a citizen of the Coeur d\u2019Alene Tribe who had worked there for more than six years, including four as executive director. But the organization, which is housed at the Aspen Institute<\/a> in the nation’s capital, did not say why its highest-ranking staffer is gone.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“After more than six years of service at the Center for Native American Youth (CNAY), Nikki Santos has decided to pursue new opportunities outside of the Aspen Institute, having served as Executive Director for the last four years,” the organization told Indianz.Com in a statement on Friday.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“During her tenure at CNAY, she worked alongside countless Native youth from across the country, and we wish her success in the next chapter of her career,” the statement continued.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nSantos also confirmed her departure from CNAY, which was founded by former U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan<\/a> to advocate for the issues and needs of American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian youth. She too did not offer an explanation.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“It has been the honor of a lifetime to work towards advancing such an incredible mission\r\nand meaningful cause for our youth, all of which would not be possible without partners\r\nin the work,” Santos told Indianz.Com on Friday. “I was taught that a good leader knows when to lead, create space, and when to step aside to allow the next leader to carry the work further, and believe it was my time.”\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

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