Tyler Shea Allen (She/Her)

My journey working for American Indian Student Success Services during Fall 2021

Creativity has always been one of my strengths, which I try to incorporate into my life on a daily basis. Recently as a working learner in American Indian Student Support Services (AISSS), I have taken the opportunity to learn more about technology and how to use it creatively in my work. Through my position at AISSS I had the chance to be a part of the Arizona State University Native American Heritage Month committee. I even became the Downtown student vice chair, as well as the marketing chair for the committee. For these positions, I challenged myself to learn new tech skills like hosting Zoom meetings/events, and graphic design using the Adobe Creative Suite. Using Adobe Illustrator, I submitted an Indigenous-inspired logo design into the student artwork contest for ASU Native American History Month and won 2^nd place!

As marketing chair, I was responsible for the social media campaign for ASU Native American Heritage month. In order to create eye-catching graphics for posters and Instagram posts efficiently, I learned to use Adobe Spark. I worked with the ASU Online marketing team to create a social marketing strategy leveraging multiple accounts on Instagram and Facebook. My favorite part of the social media campaign was a weekly feature I created raising awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). I collaborated with Chris Sharp, from the ASU School of Social Work and the Office of American Indian Projects, and Dr. Kate Fox Director of the Research on Violent Victimization (ROVV) Lab. I learned about their work, partnering with Native leaders across Arizona as part of the Senate Bill HB2570, to address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). I created multiple graphics highlighting their work to share each Wednesday. We also encouraged students and staff to wear red and share their pictures online. These posts ended up being the most popular feature we had each week! It meant a lot to me to publicize the important work done by ASU graduate students and faculty to benefit the Indigenous community. I truly value the special connections I made within the ASU community.