Louie Gong is a Native American of mixed heritage (Nooksack, Chinese, French, Scottish) who was raised by his grandparents, father, step-mom, and extended family both in Ruskin, B.C. and in the Nooksack tribal community. He is totally overwhelmed by recent media recognition (MSNBC and Blur Digital) of his activism on behalf of people who walk in multiple worlds.

Since graduating from Western Washington University’s School Counseling program in 1999, he has worked as a teacher, child and family therapist, and counseling program coordinator. In all these roles, and in his current position as Education Resource Coordinator for Muckleshoot Tribal College, Louie’s work reflects the need to recognize the dynamic realities of modern life while maintaining a strong cultural identity. This value is also interwoven into his work as adjunct faculty for Northwest Indian College and Evergreen State College, where he teaches classes such a “The Native American Higher Education Experience” and “Mixed Heritage: Thinking outside the box about tribal communities.”
 
Louie is also a veteran of the nonprofit hustle, and he currently serves on the Executive Committee for the Washington State Native American Higher Education Consortium (WSNAHEC) and as President of the MAVIN Foundation, one of the nation’s leading institutional advocates for mixed heritage people and families. In his work with the MAVIN Foundation, Louie is co-developer of the Mixed Heritage Center, the largest online resource for mixed heritage people and families in the nation, and the guy who kicked off “What are YouTube?,” an online challenge to people of mixed heritage to reclaim the question “What are you?”  His commentary on issues related to the racial identity has appeared in dozens of major news media, including the New York Times, MSNBC.com, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Education Week and many others.

Louie is also a frequent speaker at conferences and community events.

08/04/08   National Institute of Native Leadership in Higher Education
09/08/08   Antioch University
10/06/08   National Urban Indian Family Coalition
10/23/08   National Indian Education Association
11/12/08   University of Washington School of Education
12/05/08   Kitsap County Council for Human Rights
12/19/08   Muckleshoot Tribal College
01/16/09   Muckleshoot Tribal College
01/30/09   Muckleshoot Tribal College
02/14/09   Western Washington Native American Education Consortium Conference
03/07/09   Washington Education Association
04/01/09   (Break to work on Native Cases Project)
06/21/09   North Kitsap Opportunity Conference, Keynote
07/23/09   2009 National Tribal TANF Institute, Keynote

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"Sometimes you just have to pee in a sink."

-Bukowski