Browning Neddeau
CCSS 2026 ELECTION
At-Large Candidate
Browning Neddeau
Bio
Browning Neddeau, M.A., Ed.D. (he/him/his) is enrolled in the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. He is a Jointly Appointed Associate Professor of Elementary Teacher Education and American Indian Studies at California State University, Chico. In 2019, he was awarded the California Council for the Social Studies’ Diversity and Social Justice Award. His publications and presentations internationally, nationally, statewide, and locally include topics in social studies education, Ethnic Studies, and arts education. Dr. Neddeau served the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Partnership and Engagement Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program as an Advisor on American Indian and Alaska Native Cultures. Additionally, he served on the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education’s National Advisory Council as the Vice Chair of Faculty Interests and Needs. He led the National Art Education Association’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commission in the following roles: Past Chair, Chair, Inaugural Associate Chair, and Inaugural Commissioner. Dr. Neddeau has the following academic credentials: Ed.D. in Learning & Instruction, M.A. in Teaching, B.A. in Child & Adolescent Development with a minor in Political Science, California Clear Teaching Credential: Multiple Subject, and Certificate of Eligibility Administrative Services.
Position Statement
I would not be where I am today without my ancestors who came before me. As I continue to honor my ancestors and prepare generations behind me, I think of how my identities drive how I step in and step aside in organizations. It is important for me to know when it is my turn to listen, lean in, and/or lead. I am cognizant of historically oppressed narratives and lived experiences. I am proud that CCSS has intentionally uplifted such experiences under Dawniell Black’s tutelage. This representation has made me interested in increasing my CCSS engagement. There is a sense of belonging in CCSS. It is important that we honor who walked before us while planning to support who comes next. My work in education has increasingly emphasized the power and importance of storytelling. In today’s political climate, my work has been scrutinized inside and outside of the classroom. Uplifting stories from the “margins” does not have wide support in a society that has thrived on the talents from the very margins. Some individuals, however, have actively sought to understand the margins without cultural [mis]appropriation. My work sits in this space of [dis]comfort and exploration. Providing spaces for difficult conversations and intergroup dialogue with actionable steps toward transformative change is where I see my work in CCSS. We can invite people in to experience alternative pedagogical approaches to praxis instead of oppressive behaviors in curriculum and instruction.
What strengths will I bring to the CCSS Board of Directors?
I describe my leadership as collaborative and situational. I am a firm believer in collectivism. My areas of expertise include experience in professional organization leadership, strategic planning, and program evaluation. In terms of professional organization leadership and strategic planning, I have had the honor to serve on the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education’s (NCORE) National Advisory Council as the Vice Chair of Faculty Interests and Needs. Within NCORE, I was also a leader in the Native Delegates of NCORE where I assisted the Chair of the Native Delegation to create and implement conference programming and participant sense of belonging. I also served on the National Art Education Association’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commission in the following roles: Past Chair, Chair, Inaugural Associate Chair, and Inaugural Commissioner. In these roles, I created workflow, delegated tasks, and managed the lifecycle of projects and initiatives. Furthermore, I helped create conference programming, webinars, webcasts, conference workshops, and contributed to website details. My responsibilities included participating on committees and presenting reports to governance councils. The above outlines two of my leadership experiences. I am happy to elaborate on either experience and/or share additional leadership experiences that I would bring to the CCSS Board of Directors. Program evaluation is another area of expertise I would bring to the CCSS Board of Directors. I am a current member of the American Evaluation Association (https://www.eval.org/) where I participate in the Educational Evaluation Topical Interest Group. I have doctoral-level training in program evaluation as well as lived experiences in positions that lean on my program evaluation expertise. More recently, I have added the following certificates to strengthen my program evaluation work, specifically relating to project management: Google Project Management Professional Certificate, Google Workspace with Gemini Specialization Certificate, and Google AI Professional Certificate. I have also completed the Agile with Atlassian Jira Course Certificate which helps with understanding Jira as a tool for agile project management. While I bring experiences in leadership, strategic planning, and program evaluation, I am also interested in the Board of Directors position to help me remain connected to preK-12 teachers. Among my fears when shifting from teaching preK-12 to university education was the potential gap between teaching in the preK-12 classroom and teacher education. I would appreciate support from my fellow CCSS Board of Directors with keeping connected to current preK-12 classrooms and collaborating with preK-12 teachers on projects and initiatives. Fellow CCSS Board of Directors would hopefully come from diverse backgrounds and communities which would allow me to build bridges with my rural setting in Northern California that is much less diverse than other parts of California. An area I would like to grow in from my fellow CCSS Board of Directors is civic engagement. I believe service as a Board of Director is a beginning, but not an end to how I can grow in my civic engagement. I am very involved in my Tribal community and I would like to increase my civic engagement relating to social studies education.