Caitlin Johnson named among 2024 Native American 40 Under 40 honorees
Minnesota State University Moorhead Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership Dr. Caitlin Johnson has been selected for the “2024 Native American 40 Under 40” award presented by The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.
Nominated by members of their communities, this prestigious award is given to American Indians (including Canadian First Nations), Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians under the age of 40 who have demonstrated leadership, initiative, and dedication while making significant contributions in their professions and communities. This year’s class includes an Oscar nominee, a White House advisor, tribal government and business leaders, attorneys, a journalist, several working in Native American food and agriculture, and a Minnesota educator.
Lillian Sparks Robinson, Vice Chair of The National Center’s Board of Directors and head of the 40 Under 40 selection committee said of the 2024 class, “Selecting this year’s class was no easy task for the Board, but the awardees are truly the cream of the crop – across Indian Country and beyond. I look forward to honoring them at RES and following their achievements for years to come.”
Caitlin is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and grew up on her home reservation. Her journey into education is atypical.
“I always knew I wanted to give back to my home community in some way, so I took on the new challenge of being an educator when they were in a critical shortage of English Language Arts teachers on my home reservation,” Caitlin said. She taught high school English and served as department chair at the Turtle Mountain Community High School.
“I fell in love with the profession,” she said. “I was working in my home community with some of the same individuals and families who helped me learn. I wouldn’t be as successful as I am today without the educators who taught me that it was okay to learn differently and take an alternative pathway to education.”
Caitlin’s background is in teacher leadership, literacy, and cultural competency in education. She holds a Ph.D. in adult and community education from North Dakota State University, master’s degrees in curriculum, instruction, and assessment and in project management and business administration management, both from the University of Mary, and a bachelor’s degree in English, also from NDSU. Her research interests include multicultural education, indigenous education methods, culture as medicine, alternative education, and decolonizing methodologies.
She’s currently exploring the equity gap with indigenous students in higher education. Her work has been published in the Northern Plains Ethics Journal, and she received a Dille Fund for Excellence grant to fund a research project on the needs of MSUM’s indigenous student community.
“The fund allowed me to hire three indigenous student researchers to help collaborate on the project. I am learning from them just as much as they are learning from me. I wanted to create opportunities for them as students that I didn’t necessarily have while I was in school,” she said. “For instance, we are working on publishing an article from the data we collected, and the students will be presenting alongside me this June at the National Native American Student Advocacy Institute in Mystic Lake.”
Caitlin is a member of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, the National Indian Education Association, the Native American Indigenous Studies Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English. On campus, she co-chairs the university’s Diversity Equity & Inclusion Committee and serves on the Indian Education Advisory Council and Quad-College Powwow Committees.
The awards will be formally presented at the Native American 40 Under 40 Dinner Reception on Wednesday, March 13, in Las Vegas.
“I’m honored to receive this award. It means I’m making a difference in my community and that’s always been at the heart of my work,” Caitlin said. “It’s also important to the indigenous community because it recognizes Native American citizens for their leadership and contributions to Indian Country. Since it’s 40 Under 40, we are still emerging leaders in our industries and are far from done. We are just getting started.”