The nonprofit Northwest Arkansas Council works to identify challenges and champion solutions to enhance the prosperity of the Northwest Arkansas region.

Key initiatives include work to advance quality of life, attract talent, improve the region’s workforce, create job opportunities, upgrade infrastructure and keep up with the region’s impressive growth. The Council's "Life Works Here" campaign aims to better tell the story of Northwest Arkansas to tech talent around the country.

Northwest Arkansas is home to three Fortune 500 companies (Walmart, Tyson Foods and J.B. Hunt), the University of Arkansas, numerous successful businesses and a growing startup culture. The region boasts a vibrant arts scene and an incredible outdoor recreation economy that includes 500+ miles of world-class bike trails.

This week's speaker, Nelson Peacock, will discuss how the campaign came about and what it seeks to accomplish.

Peacock joined the Northwest Arkansas Council as president and CEO after working as a senior vice president of government affairs for the University of California Office of the President.

Prior to that, Nelson was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the Office of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where was responsible for all aspects of the department’s interactions with Congress on issues related to counter terrorism, immigration, cyber security and natural disasters. Nelson oversaw the congressional teams of seven operational agencies of Homeland Security, including the Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Administration. Nelson also served as senior counsel to Senator Joe Biden on the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate where he advised the future President on homeland security, crime and intellectual property issues.

Nelson has a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas and Masters of Law from the George Washington University School of Law.

To learn more, go to:

The Northwest Arkansas Council - https://nwacouncil.org

Finding NWA - https://findingnwa.com

This episode refers to a number of visuals that are in the video version which can be seen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ezxqZIuL6OMFHC7dYLhNK or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/01m4ESMbn6s

We believe this story is an important one, even if you do not watch the video, and hope that you will enjoy this and every episode of our series.

Sueños started as an afterschool program in Antigua Guatemala for the children of street vendors, mostly migrant, indigenous families from rural regions.

Due to the pandemic, in which 95% of Sueños students didn’t have contact with a teacher, the program has blossomed into a small school, where we implement community-centered education.

This talk explores how Sueños has adapted its model in order to respond to the needs of the community, specifically through community-centered education.

We'll discuss what community-centered education looks like at Sueños from the bilingual, Spanish-Ki'che, classroom, to the Community Facilitators who implement programs, as well as the importance of parent participation.

Katie Korsyn is the founder and Executive Director of Sueños. She received her bachelor's degree in international affairs with a focus on international development and a minor in Spanish from The George Washington University in 2013. Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she moved to Guatemala in 2013.

While living in Guatemala, she has taught preschool and elementary school, and has been involved in various education projects, where she specializes in pedagogic coaching. Katie has worked with Division Educativa as an Education Specialist collaborating with organizations such as United Way, Child Aid, and the Guatemala Ministry of Education. She has worked with Teachers2Teachers-Global as the Education Leadership Coordinator where she focused on mathematics education.

Learn more about Katie's work and Sueños:

http://www.suenosgt.org

http://facebook.com/suenosgt

http://instagram.com/suenosgt

In Kaqchikel, a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala, "Natün" means to unite, come together, or align behind a common cause.

Natün Guatemala is a majority Maya-led organization passionate about elevating Indigenous leadership, rights and capacity. They equip local change agents and use existing local resources to effectively and sustainably build healthy, vibrant Maya communities.

To view a video this podcast see: https://youtu.be/IOHmuIG5bVw

Natün has been through a period of intense transition in the last few years, moving from a problematic model of external intervention, hand-outs, and short-term thinking, to embody a locally-led, long-term systemic change model which centers Indigenous culture and expertise. Along the way, they have failed, learned, evolved, and ultimately stepped into doing impactful development work.

Our speaker, Elena Wason, has been Natün Guatemala’s Executive Director since 2023, after having worked in leadership in the organization for four years.

Prior to leading Natün, Elena served as Programs Director and Strategy and Operations Director in nonprofits in Guatemala, spent two years working on the ground in Honduras as a Field Facilitator, as well as multiple years in the UK’s non-profit sector and think tanks in roles ranging from fundraising to policy.

Elena holds a Masters’ degree in Governance, Development and Public Policy from the Institute of Development Studies as part of the University of Sussex. She has published a book and numerous articles about the development struggles faced by communities in Central America.

They post regular updates on our Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages, where you can find out how to get involved:

https://www.facebook.com/gtnatun

https://www.instagram.com/natunguatemala/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/natunguatemala