Dec. 6—A longtime early childhood educator and a member of the Navajo Nation will serve as the next assistant secretary of Native American education for the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department.

Cotillion Sneddy will consult with nations, tribes and pueblos across state as the department aims to place a higher priority on Indigenous communities, languages and cultures, according to a news release Monday. The agency has already requested a heavier investment in tribal programs for the coming year.

Sneddy will succeed Jovanna Archuleta, who held the position throughout the department's first two years.

Early Childhood Education and Care Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky said in the news release Sneddy's "extensive and varied education and experience in Native American early education is a huge asset to ECECD as we seek too advance the goals and priorities of New Mexico's 23 tribes, pueblos and nations and build culturally and linguistically responsive early education and care opportunities for Native American families and young children."

Groginsky highlighted the need for intergovernmental collaboration during a budget presentation Monday before the Legislative Education Study Committee.

The agency's strategic plan, which outlines its objectives through 2027, lists six major goals, including improving relationships with tribes, building an Indigenous early childhood education workforce and expanding culturally and linguistically diverse programs.

Groginsky requested a $750,000 increase in allocations for tribal programs from the Early Childhood Trust Fund for fiscal year 2024.

Sneddy brings 24 years of experience in early childhood education, including as a teacher's assistant and home visitor with Head Start, an early literacy coordinator and coach, supervisor of student teacher programs at the University of New Mexico and director of early childhood programs in Canada's Northwest Territories.

Sneddy is a doctoral candidate at the University of New Mexico, researching culturally relevant pedagogy, materials and texts in early childhood environments, and is enrolled in the public health training certificate program for Native American health professionals at Johns Hopkins University.

"I feel fortunate to be able to serve in such a forward-thinking administration that has been so successful in establishing the [Early Childhood Education and Care Department] and prompting systemic change in supporting our early childhood professionals, children and their families in New Mexico," Sneddy said. "I am ecstatic to be working with Secretary Groginsky and department staff."