I grew up in a suburb outside of Sacramento, right along the American River, that was not unlike Blue Lake: I spent my summers swimming in the river, catching frogs, exploring the trails, and riding my bike between friends' houses in the neighborhood, where we would listen to the coyotes sing at twilight. My high school, separated from the local middle school by just a soccer field, was a half mile walk from my house and my little brother could walk the short distance down the street to his elementary school under my mother's watchful gaze. We learned about the importance of balanced ecosystems with the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta system, and took regular field trips to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery to study the salmon runs. Moving to Blue Lake felt like moving back home.

This upbringing has imparted a deep reverence for access to open spaces, the ability to utilize the natural world for learning and engagement, and the duty we have to preserve this world for future generations. When I learned there was a college tucked behind the Redwood Curtain, just a couple short hours from where my family spent a week every summer camping along the Mendocino coastline, I never considered an alternative. I started studying Sociology in junior college and then transferred to Humboldt State University to pursue a degree in Political Science, where I felt I could turn my passion for advocacy into action.

While attending Humboldt State, I had a number of opportunities for action, including participation in the California Higher Education Student Summit (C.H.E.S.S.). It was here I, along with my peers, lobbied our state representatives for a number of different bills that would impact students in higher education, including the "Yes Means Yes," or Affirmative Consent, bill, which standardized the definitions and responses to sexual assault on community, state, and university campuses in California. We also lobbied for a bill that would prohibit predatory lending to low-income students, in addition to lobbying for school funding initiatives. During my last semester at Humboldt State University, I had the pleasure of serving on Sofia Pereira's first run for Arcata City Council, during which we crafted a platform dedicated to upholding social and environmental justice.

After graduating, I focused my efforts on community building with my involvement in Lost Coast Rotaract, a subsidiary of Rotary International. There I learned the value of service to others and gained firsthand insight to the issues facing our community. We worked with many wonderful organizations, such as the Pac-Out Green Team to clean up our breathtaking coastline, the Betty Kwan Chinn Day Center to provide care packages to those in need and funding to Betty's efforts, the Raven Project to provide resources for homeless children and teenagers in need, and Food For People to pack and distribute bags of groceries to food-insecure elementary-aged students. I developed my own skills as a leader with this group, to whom I am forever grateful, by serving as Public Relations Chair, Secretary, President-Elect, and then President.

I bring this experience to the TEA, where I commit to ensuring safe, accessible, quality education and resources for all students. I also pledge to uphold the TEA's mission of centering indigenous experiences in our curriculum, to celebrate the diversity of the tribes of the North Coast, and to reclaim a system that has relegated many of these tribes to the footnotes of history. I will work to support curriculum in renewable energy technology and sustainability, which I believe will provide much-needed and competitive skills to our community, and which I believe is our imperative to provide as responsible and compassionate stewards of this planet.

It is my honor and my privilege to be yours in service.

CONTACT: Kelsay Shackelford