OUR CREDO...
It is personal...
We are friends, neighbors, relatives...
We are different AND we we are not afraid to do things differently...
We are grassroots, quirky, committed, resilient, and passionate...
We believe that our families, neighborhoods, and communities have the wisdom, creativity, and capacity to resolve our own challenges...together and in a good way.
We are care-full and conscientious, and endeavoring to be mindful, relational, respectful, and responsible in all we do.
We are inclusive and consensus-based.
We are committed to the well-being of our whole community...natural world, too.
We want each other to succeed, and we enjoy helping each other do so.
We are a learning community…learning, changing, and growing as we go…
We are working to build stronger communities, neighborhoods, and families.

We Value:
Relationships: a renewed sense of connection and responsibility to the people and places where we live.

Real-Life Learning: hands-on and experiential learning opportunities that are meaningful and transformative.

Resiliency: new and innovative opportunities to tell our own stories, celebrate our successes, build on our strengths, learn and share knowledge and practical wisdom across borders, strengthen future generations, and support collective well-being.

Resourcefulness:  creatively and collaboratively meet our own challenges and grow the stability of our families, neighborhoods, and communities.

Collective Well-being:  nurture and support the health and well-being of all.

Principles of Sustainability:

We are guided by and grounded in the Principles of Sustainability:

Local:  This is fundamentally a local endeavor, and we know the best mitigation is local.

Whole-some: We work to maintain & enhance the way of life and quality of life of ALL residents, human and non-human, and to maintain a healthy environment.

Life-Nourishing: Our efforts enhance local vitality and viability by helping our community members, families, neighborhoods, organizations, and community thrive.

Organic, Comprehensive, and Engaging: We rely on a local, consensus-building, participatory process.

Our Process:

​We engage in work that transforms lives through real life learning, supports well-being for all, and strengthens communities, neighborhoods, and families .

We support hands-on, “Real-Life Learning in Real-Life Places with Real-Life People."

We engage in work that makes a difference in our own neighborhood and community.

We provide opportunities for our own stories to be told and heard and to explore and share the value of the region including the history, challenges, successes, cultures, natural beauty, wisdom, and uniqueness.

We are committed to nurturing our collective well-being, resiliency, and sustainability.

---

Our Organizational Chart

Celebrating a Vibrant History of Community-based, Real-life Learning

Stewardship
CommUNITY Learning Network was born in a Hoghan in Tse daakaan, Dinetah.
​We are blessed to work with and be advised and supported by circles of amazing, talented, caring, intelligent human beings who are full of integrity, creativity, energy, and enthusiasm. ​Thank you all for your wisdom, initiative, and support! We are grateful to work and play together!

Meet Our Board of Directors

​Larry Emerson (In Memorium)
Co-founder and Board Emeritus, 
Dine' Farmer, Relative, Educator, Researcher, Counselor, 
Activist, Artist,  Writer, Friend
Transformational Learning and Community Dialogue Facilitator

Jennifer Nevarez
Co-founder and Board Member,
Director and Lead Educator,
Relative, Friend, Community Weaver, 
​Super Connector, Licensed Teacher, ​
Transformational Learning and Community Dialogue Facilitator

Katie Teague
Board President,
Relative, Friend,
​Community Educator,
​Documentary Film-maker,
and founder of
StormCloud Media

​​Mary Hekman
Board Secretary
Relative, Friend,
Community Advisor,
Program Development
and ​Support,
​General Counsel

​Meet some of our Community Advisory Circle:

Alicia Eisenstadt  - Consultant and Visionary
Brandon Benallie - Ke' InfoShop
Christine Caruso - International Educator and Consultant
Dawn Wink - Author,Director, Teacher Preparation, SFCC
Derrick Ballard - Engineer
​Ek Ong Kaar - Community Educator
Emigdio Ballon - Tesuque Pueblo, Farm Director
Erin Coffey - Educator and Community Activist
Erwin Rivera - Community Educator,  Enlace, Northern NM
Ferdi Serim - Claro Consulting
Giovanna and AnnaMaria Cardinalli - Community Educators
Glenda Stephens - Accounting
Gloria Emerson - Dine' artist, poet, activist, elder, Community Educator
JC Ramirez - Rainy Media, Community Educator
John DiRuggiero - GIS Director and Engineer
Lynne Gahan - Community Advocate and Educator
Lynne Hendrick - Artist and Community Educator
Lynn Roanhorse - Jicarilla Apache Nation, Community Educator
Marlin Garrett (In memorium) - Tsalagi, Energy Industry Engineer
Marty and Betsy Anderson - Community Advocate
​Mary O'Connor - International Consultant
Matt and Kristen Kennedy - Community Advocate
Pat McCabe - Dine', Woman Stands Shining, Community Educator
Rebecca Belleto - Community Advocate and Educator
Ryan Begay - Dine', Film Maker
Sharna Langlais - Seek, Spark, Shine
Stephanie Brown -Educator
Steve Herera - Educator,Deacon, Archdiocese of San Jose
Steven Nevarez - Engineer
Tash Deschenie - Dine, Educator and Community Activist
Tej Kaur - Community Educator
and many more... 

Larry Emerson - "Chei"

In Memorium
​we honor the life and work of Dr. Larry Emerson,
who co-founded the CommUNITY Learning Network (CLN)
and co-facilitated the Hoghan Dialogues ​and TDK Learning Community ​in Navajo Nation
which were an integral and foundational  part of CLN's commUNITY work and philosophy.

Photo by Katie Teague, Storm Cloud Media

Message from Jennifer Nevarez: Larry Emerson made a difference in my life and in the lives of many. I deeply value him and appreciate all we accomplished together. The development of TDK Learning Community in TseDaKaan, Dinetah (Navajo Nation), Hoghan Dialogues, and the real-life learning programs we facilitated together were deeply meaningful and important work. In the spirit of kinship and the lifelong connections and transformations that were and always will be the heart of TDK, we hope you will consider sharing a few reflections or highlights from your experience with us or offer any stories of how your time and experience may have influenced your life. Please include the year you visited and the name of the school or group you may have been with or how you came to TDK. You can share reflections and join us in honoring his life by sending comments by email to casenevarez@yahoo.com or share comments below:

---

Learn More about TDK Learning Community

Visit Larry Emerson's memorial Website