Ray Burns is the Tribal Partnerships Manager for the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in North Dakota (ND EPSCoR). Moreover, at the time that the conversation featured in this episode was recorded, Ray was the President of Leech Lake Tribal College in Cass Lake, MN.

During the second half of the conversation I had with Ray, he told me more about tribal colleges, the role they play in nation rebuilding, what non-tribal institutions might learn from tribal institutions, and the sorts of partnerships that he thinks might be fruitful in regards to building greater equity and access in higher-education.

Links: https://www.ndepscor.ndus.edu/

https://tribalcollegejournal.org/map-of-tribal-colleges/leech-lake-tribal-college/

https://students.morris.umn.edu/equity-diversity-intercultural-programs/pathways/native-american-student-success-program-nass