For Stephen Silva-Brave, education is tied to community. A citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, Silva-Brave credits his current path to his Grandmother Eleanor Brave. She was raised on the Rosebud Indian Reservation but moved to Dallas as a young woman through the BIA Urban Relocation Program. She then split her time between Texas and South Dakota, and her grandson continued this tradition, visiting relatives on the Rosebud Reservation throughout his life.

Silva-Brave pursued his education in Texas but found his purpose through his Native