When Rachel Yellowhair was growing up in the Navajo Nation in Arizona, she didn’t have role models who could paint a picture of what a career in medicine, engineering, or some other STEM field could look like. Still, there were teachers and employees at the coal mine where her father worked whom Yellowhair noticed. “Those are all careers to be commended,” Yellowhair says. “But they were the only role models when I was growing up. I didn’t have a doctor or an engineer or an architect who could say, ‘I’m a Navajo and you can do this too.’”

College is a time for you to explore, try new things, and learn more about yourself. Over the course of four years, you may find that your interests change, your goals look different, and your future isn’t necessarily what you thought it would be. Four years pass quickly, so use this time wisely to set yourself up for the future. Here are a few ways to do just that.

Aaron Yazzie shares many of the questions a lot of us have about the planet Mars. “Mars was once similar to Earth,” he says. “It once had water and was warmer as an early planet. It developed over billions of years in similar ways to Earth, but the question is, why did Earth develop life and Mars didn’t? Or maybe it did?”

I am Water’s Edge born for Red Running into Water. My maternal grandfather’s first clan is Mexican Clan, and my paternal grandfather’s first clan is Water’s Edge Clan. In this way, I am a Navajo woman.

When I was young, I remember being awe-inspired by large structures and how things so massive could stay standing. Then on the Navajo Reservation, where I have lots of family, I would see collapsing houses and imperfect roads. That’s when I realized civil engineering could be a way to positively impact my community and the world around me, using my math skills to improve the lives of fellow Natives. 

The countdown is on. It’s almost time for the AISES National Conference, an annual highlight for thousands of Indigenous professionals throughout North America and beyond. The conference will be making its virtual debut on a 100 percent online platform, giving participants new ways to make the most of three action-packed days. This year’s all-virtual format will include opening and closing ceremonies, a keynote address, a talking circle, expert-led topical sessions, research presentations, mixers, and Indian Country’s largest College and Career Fair. 

As a young boy, JJ Jones III loved building. He spent hours playing with Legos and k’nex and never tired of creating something new and different. What started as a young boy’s passion has become a young man’s goal. Now in his third year at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., Jones, Navajo, is majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in Native American historical studies with plans to become a mechanical engineer, helping to keep his community — and nation — safe. 

All the companies on the Winds of Change Top 50 Workplaces for Indigenous STEM Professionals list are strong supporters of diversity. But what are these workplaces doing that sets them apart? Here, we’ve taken a closer look at three of these employers to highlight some of the ways they foster an inclusive climate at work and the initiatives they have put in place to support individual staff members.

Dominque Pablito grew up in the small town of Aneth, Utah, on the Navajo Nation, and in New Mexico on the Zuni Reservation. She lived in a four-bedroom house with 13 family members, sharing a bedroom with her mother and brother, and visited relatives for extended stays. “I spent time with my great-grandmother, whose house had no running water or electricity,” she says. Because her grandparents did not speak English, Pablito learned the Zuni and Navajo languages. Pablito says that her father, an alcoholic, came in and out of her life.

Chris Greenstone's family moved around quite a lot when he was growing up — Sitka, Alaska; Gallup, N.M.; and Phoenix and Bitter Springs, Ariz.; among other places. But of all those moves, Greenstone calls Bitter Springs home. His family has lived in this small village on the Navajo Nation for many generations.