FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   
Contact: Janelle Bird, Director of Community Relations & Communication                                             
Phone/Email: 707.468.3012/jbird@mendocino.edu                       

May 18, 2018   
Rebecca "Maggie" Magdalena Escobedo-Steele, the founder of Seventh Generation Warriors for Peace, will deliver the commencement key note address to the Mendocino College Class of 2018. The commencement ceremony is scheduled for May 25 at 6:30 p.m. on the Stadium Field at the Ukiah campus.

Steele is Apache and Chicana, and promotes healing and wellness through grass roots organizing and transformative cultural teachings. Her work is well known and respected in Native American and inner-city communities throughout California and the nation. She has worked with communities and tribes as well as students from other diverse cultures and says she has been “honored and blessed to work in Pomo country for over 20 years, while sharing powerful words of inspiration and rare cultural teachings.”

The Seventh Generation Warriors for Peace is dedicated to working with communities and youth to prevent violence, gang conflict, and to promote healing and empowerment. Through this organization, Steele has implemented leadership programs and youth events, and has been recognized for her excellence and innovation by the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution. She received a B.A in Sociology and a Minor in Dispute Resolution from Humboldt State University and is a Certified Mediator. Steele is a distinguished professional mediator/peacemaker, served as the Director of Youth Leadership at the Million Mom March Foundation, and is currently a Senior Consultant for the Community Prevention Initiative. She was recognized by the Violence Prevention Coalition of Orange County as the 2012 Ambassador for Peace, and was awarded the prestigious Mary Parker Follet Award by the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution. She was selected as a Community Fellow for the California Wellness Foundation Violence Prevention Initiative, serving as an advocate and mentor to Native American youth from all over California.

Steele is also an accomplished artist, story teller, poet, and singer. She is originally from San Diego, CA and currently resides in Sacramento, CA.