Los Angeles—The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development is proud to announce the award winners of the 2005 Indian Progress In Business Achievement Awards. The awards presented include: The Jay Silverheels Award, The First American Enterprise Award, The First American National Recognition Award, The Joseph C. Angello Scholarship Award, and The American Indian Fellowship in Business Scholarship Awards. The awards will be presented at the 30th Annual Indian Progress in Business Achievement Awards banquet (INPRO 2005) in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, September 22, 2005 at the elegant Millennium Biltmore Hotel. The theme of INPRO 2005 is “A Tribute to Realizing the Vision”.
An important award presentation at INPRO, this year, is The First American National Recognition Award. This award is presented to an American Indian champion whose gallant efforts and accomplishments have generated honor and pride for American Indians and all Americans nationwide. The National Center is proud to recognize the late US Army Specialist Lori Ann Piestewa of The Hopi Tribe with this award. Lori Piestewa is the first Native American woman to lose her life, fighting for her country, on foreign soil. Accepting the award, on behalf of Lori, are her mother and father, Percilla and Terry Piestewa, and Lori’s two children Brandon Whiterock and Carla Piestewa.
The recipient of the 2005 Jay Silverheels Award, the highest award bestowed by the National Center, is Wayne Taylor, Jr., Chairman of The Hopi Tribe. The Jay Silverheels award is presented each year to an American Indian man or woman who has achieved personal and professional success while making significant contributions to the community. Chairman Taylor is serving his second four-year term as the Chairman of The Hopi Tribe. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Hopi Tribe and is of the Sun Clan from the Village of Shungopavy. Wayne Taylor’s political career began when he was elected at-large by the Hopi people as Vice Chairman from 1994-1997. During Chairman Taylor’s administrations, several key projects or initiatives were completed including: Youth and Elderly Offices, the Hopi Health Care Center, First Mesa Elementary School, resolution of the Mineral Tax case, closure to the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute, Wellness Conference Center, Hopi Education Endowment Fund, First Village-Wide Strategic Plan, Hopi Telecommunications, Economic Development Corporation and the acquisition of off-reservation businesses.
The National Center is also proud to announce the winner of the 2005 First American Enterprise Award: The Boeing Company. The First American Enterprise award was established in 1989 as an annual award which recognize corporations whose leadership has demonstrated an exemplary commitment to economic progress for Indian people. Accepting the award on behalf of Boeing is Richard “Rick” Stephens, Senior Vice President, Internal Services, The Boeing Company.
The recipients of five annual National Center student scholarships were also announced. American Indian business student scholarship applications were evaluated (based on a point system) and the top five students, with the highest point values, were identified by a scholarship selection committee comprised of four corporate representatives and two NCAIED representatives.
The top scholarship award, the National Center’s Joseph C. Angello Scholarship Award, will be presented to Justin Lee Edmiston, University of Oklahoma, of the Muscogee Creek Nation. The National Center’s American Indian Fellowship in Business Scholarship Awards will be presented to four deserving American Indian business students. Congratulations to: Victoria Ann Robison-Young, Oklahoma State University (Choctaw), Jessica Tyner, Portland State University (Cherokee), Jerome Clarke, Arizona State University School of Law (Navajo), Charisse Arce, Seattle University (Iliamna Alaskan).
INPRO is an evening of tribute to honor the diversity, economic success & achievement of American Indians. The event benefits The American Indian Fellowship in Business Scholarship Program and The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED). “The National Center is committed to Business Development for Indian People nationwide. At our annual INPRO event, we celebrate and recognize the achievements of American Indian leaders and entrepreneurs, present and future. Together we contribute to the prosperity of all Americans and know that our efforts will flourish for future generations” states Ken Robbins, President and CEO of the organization and member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Jana will serve as the Master of Ceremonies and as the featured entertainment for the INPRO 2005 awards ceremony. Jana, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, is a contemporary singer-song writer and a Native American youth motivational speaker. Jana has won the prestigious Native American Music Award for her first three singles. Her Nammy Awards include: Best Pop Performer, Song of the Year, and Female Artist of the Year.
Gary Bailey, Vice President Material Management,for Lockheed Martin’s Small Business Programs, will serve as the INPRO 2005 Dinner Chair and Title Sponsor. Other major event sponsors include: Flintco, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Ak Chin Indian Community, Boeing, Southern California Edison, The Walt Disney Company, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. , and other American Indian business development advocates.
About NCAIED
Founded in 1969, The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development is a non-profit 501(c)(3) American Indian specific business and economic development organization. Their mission is simple: To increase the American Indian private sector. By October 2005 the National Center, along with its supporting non-profits, will have nine offices nationwide.
For more information on INPRO 2005, Sponsorship Opportunities, or The National Center, please call (800) 462-2433, or visit the NCAIED web site at www.ncaied.org.
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