MMIW-Chahta hosts 2nd annual Women in Leadership Conference

DURANT, Okla. (KXII) -“These women are a force to be reckoned with,” said guest speaker, Taylor Stewart.

For the second year, the Chahta chapter, Missing Murdered Indigenous Women held a Women in Leadership Conference.

“We had seven speakers last year and they had all been through some trauma, but they had all gotten out of it, this year we wanted to be a little bit more inspirational and more educational,” said Karrisa Hodge, President and founder of Missing Murdered Indigenous Women-Chahta.

Like the Choctaw Nation’s lead prosecutor Kara Bacon, “We cannot change the landscape overnight but what we can do is educate people, keep people informed of what they can do to ensure that we not only find missing and murdered indigenous persons but that we prevent that from happening in the future.”

They want this event to show people no matter your background or trauma, you can start a new life and reach your goals.

“I have 14 siblings, and we were very poor,” said guest speaker Brenda Golden, “I am the only person in my family to have advanced educational degrees.”

Golden said it’s never too late in life to go after what you want, “I survived an abusive relationship that I was in for several years before I got out and now I’m a successful attorney.”

She graduated law school at the age of 51 and now owns her own firm, “Only 13% of American Indians have bachelor’s degrees so I’m one of the outliers,” Golden.

According to the National Congress of American Indians, 4 in 5 women experience violence in their lifetime, more than 50% of those experiences are sexual.

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