Shaping Social Justice Values, an Alum Update: Deanna Mousseau

“A lot of my values were shaped when I was a teenager. That was the time in my life when I learned the things we talk about at the Encampment — how people before us created change, why they did it, and how we can continue that work.”

Hello, I am Deanna Mousseau from the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and Oglala Sioux Tribe. I was a part of the Encampment in Jackson, Mississippi, in 2015 and Amherst, Massachusetts, in 2016. I was an intern in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 2017. I am excited to share more about myself, why I think the Encampment for Citizenship program is important, and why now is the time to support our emerging young leaders.

I have a daughter, and that’s what makes me feel successful: at the end of the day, getting to spend time with her and knowing it was a good day for her and our family. She’s now a kindergartner. Her favorite class is her Lakota class — and I can see a difference: She’s really getting good at speaking Lakota. She is my and my partner’s whole world: Our favorite time is spending time together. We live on a ranch, which keeps us busy. There’s always something to do. I feel thankful that I can live on beautiful land. I can wake up every day and see the landscape and the animals, all the seasons, here in my community.

Since March, I’ve been working with a nonprofit, Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP), as their youth programs lead. I got involved as a youth, just out of college, with their Native Youth Grantmakers program. I was part of their first cohort in 2022–23, which introduced me to the field of philanthropy. I had some understanding of it before from working with nonprofits, because philanthropy and nonprofits are interconnected. It was really great for me to be part of the program. It was a good opportunity to understand the sector and different networks, start to meet people, and learn about the different organizations and the work happening specifically in native communities. That’s been my focus and my career path is to give back to native communities. It’s my hope that everything I do trickles back to my communities. The jobs I have had are centered around that focus. Throughout my early adulthood to now, my roles have been to support Native nonprofits through fundraising.

Deanna with her 2022-23 NYG peer group.

My passion project now is the work I’m doing with NAP. I get to work with Native youth from around the country. As the youth program lead, I help with driving the programs. My main focus has been launching our Indigenous Tomorrows Fund, which focuses on giving youth decision-making power in resourcing Native communities through making a participatory grantmaking model. We are now preparing for another year, as well as launching the Native Youth Grantmakers (NYG) program. I started out as a participant with NYG and now I’m a staff member, helping to run the program with the cohort next year. I’m really excited about that — it’s really full circle in many ways.

A term we used a lot in doing this work, in describing how we want to ground ourselves in our values, is social justice. When I think of social justice — what I’ve learned and what it means for me, a lot of that is rooted in my experience of the Encampment. Attending the Encampment at that age was really the beginning for me of the work I’m doing — nonprofit, community organizing and advocacy is what I got introduced to participating in the EFC. I can’t remember every trip or hours-long discussion we had as a group, but I remember what the experience left me with — what I learned.

It’s interesting to me to have started at the entry point as a 15-year-old to now, in my later 20s, learning about and helping to amplify Native youth leaders. With each participant, you learn about a new community, the history, the difficulties and challenges. Through them and their stories, you learn about the strengths. There are some strong advocates and leaders throughout our tribal communities in this country (and other countries). It’s exciting — it’s a growing and expanding community for me.

This is a good time to reflect; it’s the end of the year and my work cycle has ended in a good way. It has me reflecting about my experience as a young adult and the opportunities I have had that have shaped my values and led me to where I am. Seeing the Native youth work alongside their peers, it’s full circle because that’s how it started for me with the EFC: having conversations, learning from each other’s lived experience, and being willing to listen and be open. That’s a lot of what we did at the Encampment. That’s the strongest takeaway for me: the group of people and the mentors from the Encampment.

The Encampment is important today to support and train our youth to become the next generation of leaders — and it’s just as important that they learn to lead together. As a young person entering the workforce, or even earlier, it means a lot to know your values. Your values are personal; they’re different for everyone, and they shape who you are. Being grounded in them helps you understand how you want to show up in both your work and your daily life.

Deanna with her fellow Encampers Aaron and Akeme.

A lot of my values were shaped when I was a teenager. That was the time in my life when I learned the things we talk about at the Encampment — how people before us created change, why they did it, and how we can continue that work. I was at a good age to be part of that group, to have those experiences, and to learn what social justice means to me. It’s community organizing — people working together, building relationships, figuring out how to move toward a shared goal, and learning how to stand up for what matters. It’s about growing your voice, understanding the power of your community, and realizing that change doesn’t happen alone.

That’s why having a strong sense of community and knowing your values matters. For me, the Encampment for Citizenship was a grounding point — a place where those values and that sense of community really took root and was the starting point for the path I’m on today. Donate to support our emerging young leaders in developing their social justice values.

Click to read Deanna’s first alum story.

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