About Us

MARGARET DUNNE, Founder and President

Maggie Dunne founded Lakota Pine Ridge Children’s Enrichment Project, Ltd. (LPRCEP) in 2008, after her second service trip to the Reservation. Since then, LPRCEP has provided steady assistance to children, families and schools. In order to spread awareness, Maggie has written several commentaries about the Lakota, some of which are linked to our Commentary Tab.

Maggie is a Junior at Colgate University, majoring in Native American Studies, and founded the affiliated Project PEACE (Pine RidgE Aid for ChildrEn), a student group that works to support the Lakota community. Last year, among other projects, LPRCEP and Project PEACE worked together to fund a pilot summer camp for Middle School children on Pine Ridge in May, 2011.  Project PEACE received a Social Change Award from Colgate University in 2011 for its impact on and off campus.

Maggie has spent the last three summers in Bangladesh, studying the microfinance operations and social businesses of the Grameen Bank (bankers to the poor); and then learning to read, write and speak Bengali through United States Department of State Critical Language Scholarships. She is fluent in English, Bangla and Spanish.

Maggie is spending the Fall 2011 semester in Santa Fe, New Mexico on a study group with Colgate’s Native American Studies Department.  Maggie will Intern in a tribal government office helping research and write grants for health care, housing and land rights initiatives.

Over the last two years Maggie has worked very closely with classmate Kelsey John, who has demonstrated a great commitment to the initiatives of LPRCEP and Project PEACE.  Kelsey was a natural choice for the position of Vice President and her background in education adds an important perspective to the team.

KELSEY JOHN, Vice President

Kelsey John is a Junior at Colgate University, majoring in Education. Kelsey is half Navajo and has taken many trips to the Navajo Reservation to explore her heritage. At Colgate, Kelsey became involved with the Native American Student Association (NASA) where she met Maggie Dunne, and their similar passions lead them to work together to organize several events supporting Native American pride, cultures and traditions. Kelsey went to the Pine Ridge Reservation twice in 2011, for a Spring break service trip and then again in May to participate in a pilot summer camp for Middle School children.

As Co-President of Colgate’s affiliated group, Project PEACE, Kelsey has helped organize fundraisers, an alternative spring break trip to the Pine Ridge Reservation, brown bag discussions, a letter writing campaign, a series of supply drives, and a pilot summer camp.

In the Summer of 2011, Kelsey worked as an Apprentice Teacher through the Aspire Program in Cleveland, OH. Currently, she is spending the Fall 2011 semester in Seoul, South Korea, studying multi-racial and urban education.

Kelsey has a strong commitment to social justice issues involving Native Americans, and it is her passion to bring Native Americans into higher education while also bringing awareness about native people to the scholarly world. Kelsey is honored to serve as Vice President of LPRCEP, is committed to its initiatives, and is looking forward to having a leadership role in its future efforts.

You can contact us at LakotaKids@gmail.com
Lists of Activities, Awards and Publications are available upon request.

Share