Primavera Reza-Nakonechny, M.S.

(She/ Her/ Ella)

Director, First Peoples Native Center 

Pialli, hello! 

As an Indigenous mother, wife, sister, daughter, Tia, niece, educator, and leader, I work to dismantle settler colonialism and center the liberation of Native and Indigenous communities in higher education. My ancestors derive from the Tarahumara or Rarámuri peoples of the unceded lands of what is today known as Chihuahua, Mexico. Identifying as both Native and Indigenous, I know very well the complexities of intersecting identities. My prior research and presentations include missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW), intersecting identities within Native and Indigenous cultural centers and Indigenizing higher education as a form of climate justice. I am currently in my dissertation writing phase with a focus on upending colonial harm and centering Native presence in the community college context, where I work as the inaugural director of a First Peoples Native Center.

I previously earned my Associates degree from Glendale Community College, and I am proud to say that my husband is a Mt. SAC alum, my Bachelors in History from CSU Los Angeles, Masters in Counseling and Student Development from Azusa Pacific University, and am currently completing my Doctor of Education degree also at APU, with a focus on Indigenous ways of knowing. With my work rooted in social justice and equity, I plan for seven generations ahead.