Dr. Artika Tyner Named as a 2022 Fellow by the Bush Foundation

ST. PAUL, Minn. - June 18, 2022 - PRLog -- The Bush Foundation has announced its 2022 Bush Fellows, a group of individuals whose remarkable vision and drive are transforming communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native nations that share the same geography. Dr. Artika Tyner, founder of the non-profit organization Planting People Growing Justice™ Leadership Institute (PPGJLI), is among the recipients.

"Every year, the Fellows inspire us with their immense talent and even bigger ideas to make the region work better for everyone," said Damon Shoholm, grantmaking director for the Bush Foundation. "We're thankful for the opportunity to support their growth as leaders and their bold thinking to create large-scale change."

This year, 468 people applied for the Bush Fellowship. Through an in-depth process that includes interviews and mentoring sessions with community leaders, Bush Fellow alumni, and Bush Foundation (https://www.bushfoundation.org/) staff, applicants named the impact they seek and what they need to get to the next level of their leadership.

Tyner is an accomplished educator, civil rights attorney, law professor, and award-winning children's book author who beat the odds as a child growing up surrounded by incarcerated family members. She immersed herself in books from an early age and became a first-generation college student. She now seeks to share the gift of reading with children of color who are growing up in conditions similar to those she experienced.

She sees that Minnesota's educational system continues to experience some of the most significant racial disparities in the U.S. and that those disparities show up in the people she serves in the criminal justice system. She wants to employ a cross-sector, intergenerational approach to address the literacy crisis at a statewide level.

To lead this change, Tyner will take time to strengthen her leadership and communication skills and build a professional network in the education community. She will also gain organizing skills to raise awareness and mobilize others who share her passion for racial equality.