1998

lthe Mississippi Band of C~octaw Indians in Philadelphia. In her work, she outlines federa lj policy concerns raised by the tribal gov– ernment to members of the Con– gressional delegation, emphpsizing the importance of local control and tribal sovereignty. I Rogers began her career wi~MBCI as a teacher in and later director of the federal government gave tribes the opportunity to operate their own programs rather than have the Bu– reauoflndian Affairs do it for them. The Choctaw tribe chose adtilt edu– cation as its first contract program. She later left the Choctaw program and moved to Cambridge, Massa– chusetts, ~ he:e she worked for the Boston indian Center de\-elopmg ~ducation programs for adults and later for children and the elder!~ During this period, she also began working for other tribes as a con– sultant, sening up educattonaJ pro– grams and traveling to a number of reservations and urban indian cen– ters. ln her work, she developed and evaluated community-based ~duca-' tion programs, including some pro– grams for lndian-controlle com– munjty colleges. Rogers returned to MBCI in 1981 as a planner and later congre~sional liaison. As a planner, ~ogers worked with her tribal colleagues in planning the Choctaw Tribal School System, which is the jargest tribally-contro lled reservation 'ichoo\ c;ystcm in the country, in compacting the tribal health care system and in pr.::paring successful grant applications for funds for a wide range ofeducation, health and construction projects. Now, she pri- marily follows and analyzes legis- lation a.J'ld meets with members of congressional c;"..affs or with repre- sentatives from fderal agencies. depending on the issue. I

an organization composed of triba and non-tribal people associate• with adult literacy and GED pro– grams. She is also a former member an co-chair of the Mississippi State Alumni Committee on Diversity and served three years on the Mis· sissippi Task Force on Reducing fl. literacy. She was aU.S. Senate ap– pointee to the White House Confer– ence on Indian Education in 199:? and she recently completed a term on the Mississippi Workforce De– velopment Council which works to coordinate workforce training with business and indusuy to make sun; that training is consistent with thl needs of industr}. In addition, she is a technical re– ,;e~er for several programs within the U S. Deparunent of Education and for t:he Women's Equity in Edu· cation Center and has worked as r consultant for the U.S. Departmem of the Interior in developing stan– dards for preschool and adult edu· cation and procedures for the plan– ning, design, and construction oi educational facilities. A 1965 Neshoba Central High School graduate, Rogers received a bachelor's degree in English and a master's in education from Missis– sippi State University.

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Nell Allen Rogers "1998 Alumna of the Year" Rogers, who attended East Central dpring the 1965-66 college term, serves as congressional liaison fro

Between her work for the mbe and her travels, Rogers has also found time to serve on 'arious other boards and assoctations

She ser. ed as a member of:heMis– siss ;:."? Sta:e Bo...-d fo: Co.7- ~ - 1- se-'• -b :!:S • • 0! c.:::a;; :.K :::JC L 5- ,• E s 96 term. As a board member, she

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was responsible for helping ap~rove programs and make policif!S con– cerning Mississippi's com! nity and junior colleges. Rogers is a member of the eri– can Educational Resea.-c.. . -\ssocL3- ·' - ' .. • .. • • .... .A