Lorraine Orosco

I am a member of the Kumeyaay Nation and am Kumeyaay-Ipai from the San Pasqual Band. I grew up on San Pasqual Indian Reservation and I continue to live on the reservation with my family. Growing up on the reservation I had the honor of learning my culture from my family, community and especially the elders of the local tribes. My family instilled the values of our culture, education and giving back to the community. My grandfather taught my father, and he taught me to contribute to the tribe, for the betterment of our Tribe and community. He taught us that a tribe can only survive and be strong when its members contribute and work together. This is why I serve on the Native Youth Foundation Board. I studied at the University of California, San Diego. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Ethnic Studies. I also have a Master’s degree in Education.I have been working in Native American Education in Southern California for over 30 years and currently work for my Tribe. My passion is to encourage and support higher education to the Native American community and all underrepresented communities, while preserving and promoting Kumeyaay traditional knowledge, language and history. As a Kumeyaay person I feel it is important to tell our story. It is important to serve and develop programs which will empower and contribute to the development of our Native Youth.During my career I have been instrumental in developing an array of sustained Native youth programs, such as the Southern California Tribal Graduation Feather Ceremony. I also coordinated Native Youth Leadership programs and Reservation based sport programs. Currently I serve on the following boards: the University of California, San Diego Chancellor’s Community Advisory Board, California State University San Marcos Native American Advisory Board, Kumeyaay Community College Board of Trustees, the Native Youth Foundation Board and Inter Tribal Sports Board.I currently teach college courses for Cuyamaca Community College in the Kumeyaay Studies Department. I have been published in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Race and Education: Language Revitalization TACKLE and Kumeyaay affiliation confirmation. I am part of the Kumeyaay Visual Storytelling Project (KVSP) and with this project I co-authored Beyond Gaming, and Our Past, Present, and Future.