Gail Cheney
M.S. Management*, 2005
Current student, Antioch Ph.D. in Leadership and Change program
When she completed her bachelor's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Gail Cheney considered the University of Washington and Stanford University for graduate studies in management.
"I didn't like the programs, though, because I wanted a place where the connections among related disciplines were an integral and interdependent part of the curriculum, like they are at Antioch University Seattle.
"The cohort model is so realistic. ... This model resonated with me as a Native person with deep ties to community."
"My Native way of understanding and learning seeks an interconnectedness. That's a real way of looking at the world. Antioch's Center for Creative Change makes a lot of very real connections among its areas of study. They are thoughtful in what they want you to learn at Antioch," says Cheney, a member of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes from Southeast Alaska.
In her management program at Antioch, she found a lot of other students who wanted to learn how to use their values and passions to make a difference in organizations.
"I already knew my passion and pathway. My passion is to integrate Native values into organizations," she says, "values such as sustainability and community."
She explored her Native thinking process while in the management program and developed a richer understanding of how sacred relationships are in Native American culture. She learned to articulate that these sacred relationships include the environment as well as people.
Cheney realized the Native practice of storytelling is vital to helping connect people to each other and a larger vision as well.
"Story encourages openness, vulnerability and reflection in both the teller and the listener and builds foundations for strong and lasting relationships. Stories translate values that are hard to articulate in other ways," she says.
She has found it especially helpful to be working full time while a student so she always has a structure where she can experiment with new thinking. Today, Cheney is office manager for Sealaska Environmental Services, a subsidiary of Native-owned Sealaska Corp. based in Seattle. She says her work at Sealaska makes use of her skills in strategic planning, organizational development and change.
Cheney has a desire to create organizations where employees are welcome to bring their whole selves to the job and their culture is interdependent with the work. "They don't have to leave part of themselves at the door," she says. "Native people love community. They know what it means to grow and learn in that space."
She says that's one of the reasons Antioch's cohort model appealed to her.
"The cohort model is so realistic. It's a community of learners that you build. You give one another support. Sometimes you might have to carry more of the weight in your cohort, and when life intrudes on you, then you receive help. This model resonated with me as a Native person with deep ties to community."
She warns Antioch isn't a breeze.
"Some people might have the impression Antioch is easy, but it's hard work," she says, "you need to be willing to work to articulate your passion and create your own path of study while you meet the competency and skill requirements of the program."
After completing her M.S. in Management, Cheney chose to enter Antioch's University-wide Ph.D. program in leadership and change, where she continues her studies in organizational culture and how to bring about change by integrating Native values.
*In 2010, the name of the Management program changed into "Management and Leadership."
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