In celebration of Native American Heritage month, the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching is proud to partner with the Office of Inclusion and Human Dignity to welcome Leya Hale, award-winning producer for Twin Cities PBS, to Saint Mary’s University for a virtual event.  Join Ms. Hale as she explores the power of storytelling to help Indigenous communities reclaim their power and enable the next generation to embrace their role in shaping the world of tomorrow.

Leya Hale comes from the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and Diné Nations. She makes her home in Saint Paul, Minnesota with her companion and children. She is a producer for Twin Cities PBS and is best known for her first feature documentary, The People’s Protectors, a Vision Maker Media grant production and winner of the 2019 Upper Midwest Emmy Award for Outstanding Cultural Documentary. In 2020, Leya was awarded the Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship for Indigenous Artists and attended the 2020 Berlinale European Film Market as a NATIVe Fellow. Leya is currently working on her second feature, Bring Her Home, a documentary that follows three Indigenous women fighting to vindicate and honor their missing and murdered relatives. When not producing feature documentaries, Leya works on a variety of short form content in efforts to create social change within the mid-west region.

View Bring Her Home trailer here