UNM STUDENT, GALLUP AREA NATIVE WANTS TO IMPROVE NAVAJOS FUTURE

April 14, 2003

UNM STUDENT, GALLUP AREA NATIVE WANTS TO IMPROVE NAVAJOS FUTURE
Bitsie looks to make a difference for Navajo Community

Terri Bitsie gazes off in the distance and her eyes speak of a desire to make a difference for people of the Navajo nation.

Bitsie, whose relatives live in Greasewood Springs, Ariz., and Mexican Springs, N.M., near Gallup, wants to give back to the community. Her skills, desire and willingness to improve the area on the Navajo Reservation, combined with new skills, should bode well in the future.

Bitsie, who was born into the Red House Clan and is Navajo/Irish, will graduate with an MBA from the University of New Mexico’s Anderson Schools of Management (ASM) in May. She earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and Spanish from Purdue University (1991) in West Lafayette, Ind.

Her studies with ASM Prof. Helen Mueller have helped her explore particular issues important to the Navajo Nation and economic development efforts. Two of the projects she has worked on include a case study regarding the San Juan Pueblo Agricultural Cooperative and the Sandia Pueblo land claim.

“We focused on how the cooperative is merging the Pueblo’s traditions with modern management principles in their effort to market agricultural products in a very competitive food retail marketplace,” said Bitsie. “In the Sandia Pueblo land claim we attempted to explore how the parties to the land claim each managed their respective interests and positions given the diversity of organizations and individuals involved.”

She says a sense of obligation or eagerness to serve is commonly felt by Native American students. Her interest in giving back to the community was fueled by her parents frustration of wanting to be a part of the economy on the reservation, and looking for work, but mostly unable to find any.

“It was a terrible time for our family,” says Bitsie. “My father was always denied because he wasn’t Navajo. There was a feeling of frustration on many different levels. I became more knowledgeable about everything going on – joblessness, social problems, and a lack of educational opportunities on the reservation. ‘I thought – how can we develop an economy to support its people?’ My personal interest in Native American management and economic development came from those experiences.”

Bitsie has had a history of community involvement. She helped create improved opportunities for Navajo students as executive director of Teach for America/New Mexico in the Gallup area from 2000-02. She founded a charter program, placed corps members in schools in the Eastern Navajo reservation, raised the program’s visibility in the region, conducted fundraising efforts and built relationships with other regional organizations, the school district and community leaders. But there is still more that can be done, she says.

“I feel that the management training I’ve gained at Anderson, coupled with my intimate knowledge of the most critical challenges facing the Navajo Nation, places me in a position where I have a responsibility and duty to serve our communities back home,” said Bitsie. “I want to do something good. I have so much ambition. How can I put my hands on something tangible?”

One way is through economic development and entrepreneurship, she discovered.

“I’d like to start my own business and work with community members,” said Bitsie. “There are lots of types of businesses where people go elsewhere for services. I want to learn from other people’s mistakes and successes. There are so many problems embedded in poverty on the reservation. I feel economic development would eliminate a lot of social problems. The best way to have an impact on the community is to have a business and employ people with diverse skills. That’s one of the best ways I think I can be effective.”

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