First Person Radio Sep 29: ELONA-STREET-STEWART: Native Life in Education

This week’s guest is Elona Street-Stewart, chair of the St. Paul Board of Education. Street-Stewart is the first American Indian elected to the Saint Paul School Board and the first to serve on an urban school district board in Minnesota. She also chairs theAmerican Indian Family Center. Her focus has long been on multicultural and cross-cultural issues.

Street-Stewart was cited this year by WomenWinning , an organization dedicated to electing women to public office, as being committed to providing a respectful, safe, nurturing and equitable learning environment where a diverse student body can meet the highest district and state standards. She is also devoted to helping students understand the relationship between their lives and the lives of others, and the relevance of their educational experience to their roles in society.

An elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and an advocate for racial justice, peace and equal opportunity, she has served at all levels of the church, becoming one of four women honored July 4th of this year for their passion, dedication and faithfulness at the church’s annual Women of Faith Awards breakfast at the 219th General Assembly (2010).