Center for Native American Youth

Youth250: Our Declaration
2026-02-17 10:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA, 19106, United States
Youth250: Our Declaration is a once-in-a-generation gathering of young adults shaping America’s future — the founders of our next chapter. As the nation looks toward its 250th anniversary in 2026, this in-person event places Gen Z at the center of the conversation, spotlighting their creativity, leadership and vision for what comes next.

12th Annual Wiring the Rez: Innovation Across Indian Country
2026-02-18 - 2026-02-20 | Wild Horse Pass Resort & Casino, 5040 Wild Horse Pass Blvd, Chandler, AZ, 85226, United States
Across Indian Country, American Indian Nations and Native entrepreneurs are using technology to break through geographic and infrastructure barriers, opening doors to new business sectors and expanding digital sovereignty. As communities continue “wiring the rez,” online enterprises are becoming powerful drivers of economic self-determination—but they also bring complex legal, regulatory and operational questions.
For twelve years, Wiring the Rez has united Tribal leaders, Native business owners, scholars, technologists, and industry experts committed to strengthening sovereignty in a rapidly changing digital landscape. Together, the conference community examines the next generation of opportunities and challenges—from e-commerce to artificial intelligence—and charts pathways for resilient, self-determined digital futures across Indian Country.

2026 CNAY Fellowship Convening
2026-03-26 - 2026-03-29 | Palm Springs, CA, Palm Springs, CA, United States
Fellows from all three 2026 cohorts (announcement forthcoming) — Brave Heart, CA Native Youth Collective & Remembering Our Sisters — will come together to build community and kick off the program in a good way.

Protecting Our Children Conference
2026-03-29 - 2026-04-01 | Oklahoma City Convention Center, 100 Mick Cornett Dr, Oklahoma, 73109, United States
National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) hosts the largest national gathering on Native child advocacy issues. With over 2,000 attendees, this three-day conference is the premier national event addressing Tribal child welfare and well-being.
On Monday, March 30 at 1:30pm CST, Tahnee Poafpybitty & Roxy Sprowl will be presenting — alongside Anita Horner from Casey Family Programs — Building Communities of Hope: A Training Guide to Bridge Lived Experience with Practice.
This workshop explores how culturally grounded leadership and resilience mechanisms support the well-being of Native youth in foster care. Participants will learn about CNAY’s co-created Native Foster Youth Well-Being curriculum, which transforms lived experience into advocacy and systemic change. Through discussion, reflection, youth-led insights, storytelling and a brief cultural activity, we will examine how culture, identity and good medicine can strengthen resilience and leadership. This session highlights how centering Native lived experience experts creates pathways for child welfare systems reforms to promote the advancement of Indian child welfare and culturally rooted wellness across communities.

Native Americans in Philanthropy 2026 Annual Conference
2026-04-14 - 2026-04-16 | Riverside Convention Center, 3637 5th St., Riverside, CA, 92501, United States
The Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP) 2026 Annual Conference brings together a community of leaders, practitioners, and learners at the intersection of philanthropy, Native advocacy and Tribal sovereignty to collaborate on ways to be involved in the movement to Indigenize Philanthropy.
With a firm grounding in Indigenous cultures, the NAP conference honors the past, celebrates the present and charts the map to the future — together. CNAY will be in attendance with youth representation, including Youth Advisory Board executive committee members Katie Lynch & Tayler Higgins.

2026 Skoll World Forum
2026-04-21 - 2026-04-24 | Oxford, UK, Oxford, United Kingdom
The Forum shines a spotlight on some of the most promising solutions and impactful social innovations and connects leaders who are driving social progress around the world. Attendance is curated by the Skoll Foundation team, with free virtual participation open to everyone.
The 2026 Skoll World Forum will take place April 21–24 in Oxford, U.K. and online. Join us to learn and collaborate with innovative leaders from across the globe. Inspired by the cycles of regeneration found in the natural world, the Forum will remind us of our innate capacity for renewal. In a moment defined by the need for collective healing and resilience, we will come together to solve the most urgent challenges before us and reimagine a future that enables people and planet to thrive.

VA250 | America's Semiquincentennial Celebration: Inspiring a Season of Civic Renewal
2026-04-25 | Colonial Williamsburg, 101 Visitor Center Dr., Williamsburg, VA, 23185, United States
VA250 signature events unite Virginians and visitors alike in celebrating the pivotal moments leading to our nation’s independence on July 4, 1776.
On April 25, we will come together to commemorate “Our Inherently Sovereign Status & Existence as Tribal Nations: Exploring and Understanding a Unique, Complicated, and Intertwined Diplomatic Relationship with the United States.”

Historic Second Global Summit on Indigenous Peacebuilding
2026-04-25 - 2026-04-26 | New York, NY, New York, NY, United States
Indigenous leaders from across the world will convene to advance recognition and inclusion of Indigenous approaches to peacebuilding and to ensure these approaches shape global responses to conflict
and ecological crisis.
Two years after the inaugural gathering, the Second Global Summit on Indigenous peacebuilding in New York City (Lenapehoking) will convene to reflect, strengthen, and operationalize this transformative agenda. It aims to advance a global movement where Indigenous Peoples are not only peace recipients but recognized as peace architects and guardians of our planet’s balance.
