The middle child of five siblings, Jeanette Kinlichinii was born to a Navajo mother and a French Canadian/Chippewa father and was raised on the on the Navajo Nation until she was 13 years old. Since then, she has lived in southern and northern California, central Michigan, the Colorado Rockies, Portland, Oregon, and western and eastern Washington. Currently, she is residing in Moxee, WA, “The Hops Capital”.
She is the Director of the Altera Upward Bound Math Science (UBMS) program, with the support of her staff, she oversees five school districts, Wapato, White Swan, Highland, Quincy and Oroville, high schools. She enjoys working with her staff and students. She is grateful to her staff, as they bring with them their own special skills to the program.
Jeanette earned her AA degree in Fine Arts from Ferris State University in Michigan and received her Chemical Dependency certificate from UC Santa Cruz. She earned a BA in Psychology and a Master’s in Education, both at Heritage University. Jeanette is very proud of her educational achievements and has utilized her educational background, in her various work experiences.
Her proudest personal achievement has been the birth of her daughter, who is now grown and the mother of four wonderful grandsons. Jeanette continues to be inspired by her own mother, maternal grandmother, and maternal great grandparents, who instilled in her the value of always knowing who she is, where she has been, and where she is going.
When she is ready to retire, Jeanette hopes to return to her maternal land on the Navajo reservation. She enjoys traveling and hopes to visit Sweden and Norway again. She enjoys visiting historical sites and she will stop to take in the landscape, sometimes taking a “walkabout”. She likes adventure so, sometimes she will take the long way home or get off the beaten path.
“With Beauty, above me, behind me, before me and all around me, I walk”