My Nonprofit Reviews

I just went to my first AISES Annual Conference (2023 Spokane, WA), and I didn't know what to expect. My reaction after four intense days, going to sessions, and meeting dozens of individuals: I was dazzled. I got to meet Indigenous scientists and engineers, from ages 8 to 80+. I spent two hours with an Indigenous astronaut -- the first Native American in space. I interviewed the President of AISES. I met dozens of other people, some famous, some just beginning their careers. But they all embodied a single ethic: Share, encourage, lift up, support, challenge, stretch, improve, do good. In my decades-long career as an author, TV commentator, and educator, I've never seen an organization more single-minded, more noble, or more effective than AISES. It's as if all 3,300 people at the conference gelled into a support net(work) and trampoline designed to raise up an entire community. I was impressed with AISES's laser-like theme: return to your home community, get to work, and do good. "Outreach" was the message. Get better, share your knowledge, and raise up others. This ethos was apparent in every individual that I interviewed. People, all the way to the AISES president, impressed me as modest, businesslike, competent, and driven to help others. These people were quiet, low-key, effective agents of change -- in the corporations, colleges, universities, and communities that they would return to. In an age in which I see division, polarization, intolerance, and lack of constructive purpose all around me, this AISES community gave me a cause for hope. AISES keeps growing, and the hope it gives to its Indigenous constituency -- and to all of us -- grows along with it. I wish AISES the best. Our country needs more organizations like AISES to grapple with the daunting challenges that lie ahead.