Grotto Foundation Participates in American Indian, Maori Leadership Exchange

Grotto Foundation program officer Gabrielle Strong was part of a delegation of U.S. foundation representatives and educators that participated in an American Indian and Maori leadership exchange in February 2004 in New Zealand. The main goal of the exchange was to examine Maori total immersion language initiative models.

The delegation visited several pioneering immersion Maori language schools. Another highlight of the trip was a ceremony honoring the Maori Queen of New Zealand.

The exchange was sponsored by the Advancement of Maori Opportunity (AMO), a newly established nonprofit advocacy organization that shares the four principles of relationships, responsibility, reciprocity and redistribution with Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO). AMO seeks to influence the world and take an active stand for universal peace, harmony and empowerment by sharing fundamental Maori practices and values with indigenous peoples around the world. AIO and AMO have developed a partnership to foster transnational indigenous interaction and promote indigenous leadership in a global context.

The Grotto Foundation, St. Paul, operates a Native Language Revitalization Initiative that is now in its fourth year. For more information on the initiative, visit the foundation's Web site. 

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