Tribal Professionals Cohort Alumni

Current Members (2023)

  • Dr. Joshua Brown (Fort Belknap Indian Community)
  • Danya Carroll (Diné (Navajo) & White Mountain Apache)
  • Dr. Nicole Halmai (Diné (Navajo))
  • Renee Hutchens (Diné (Navajo))
  • Meredith Jolin (Catawba Indian Nation)
  • Danielle McLean (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina)

2022

  • Darrien Benally (Navajo Nation)
  • Laverne Dallas (Hopi Tribe of Arizona)
  • Richard Di Valentino (White Mountain Apache Tribe)
  • Lydia Locklear (Lumbee Tribe)
  • Heather Mars-Martins (Narragansett Indian Nation)
  • Daraxa Mattice (Tolowa/Maidu/Yurok)
  • Alli Moran (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe)
  • Crystal O’Grady (Monacan Indian Nation)
  • Thor Peterson (Pueblos of Acoma/Laguna)
  • Marie Zephire  (Oglala Sioux Tribe)  

2021

  • Elizabeth Drost (Minnesota Chippewa Tribe-Grand Portage Band)
  • Jeffrey Harris (Catawba Indian Nation)
  • Marnella Kucate-Yepa (Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation)
  • Danielle Mayberry (Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada)
  • Cynthia Naha (Hopi Tribe of Arizona)
  • Natalia Sells (Navajo Nation)
  • Kim Zahne-Tacheene (Hopi Tribe of Arizona)

2020

  • Levi Brown (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), Tribal Affairs Director, Minnesota Department of Transportation
  • Greta Conica (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe), Cannonball District Chairwoman, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe/Cannonball District
  • Devery Fairbanks (White Earth Ojibwe), Faculty, Red Lake Nation College
  • Daniel Guzman (Oneida Nation), Councilman, Oneida Nation
  • Shandiin Herrera (Navajo Nation), Policy Analyst & Project Consultant, Lead for America Hometown Fellowship/ Oljato Chapter of the Navajo Nation
  • Candida Hunter (Hualapai Tribe), Senior Director of Tribal Affairs, First Things First
  • Jamie Navenma (Hopi Tribe), Executive Director, Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority
  • Chastity Sandoval (Navajo Nation), Victim Advocate, Nambe Pueblo Healthy Families Services
  • Melissa Tso (Navajo Nation), Social Worker, Albuquerque Public Schools Title 1 McKinney-Vento Program

2019

  • Cesar Alvarez (Three Affiliated Tribes, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation), Intergovernmental Affairs, Three Affiliated Tribes, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation
  • Melissa Borton (Chignik Lagoon Tribe), Tribal Administrator, Chignik Lagoon Tribe
  • Thomasene Cardona (Yavapai-Apache Nation), Tribal Councilmember, Yavapai-Apache Nation
  • Derrick Leslie (White Mountain Apache Nation), Higher Education Coordinator, White Mountain Apache Nation
  • Pah-tu Pitt (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs) Community Engagement Specialist, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
  • Vanessa Vance (Wichita and Affiliated Tribes), Tribal Treasurer, Wichita and Affiliated Tribes

2018

  • Leonard Bruce (Gila River Indian Community), Program Evaluator, Gila River Indian Community
  • Shelly Diaz (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), Commissioner of Administration, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
  • Bradley Harrington (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), Commissioner of Natural Resources, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
  • Bridget Valenzuela (Pascua Yaqui Tribe), MSPI Coordinator, Pascua Yaqui Tribe / Centered Spirit
  • Desirie Wilson (Red Lake Nation), Administrative Officer, Red Lake Nation

2017

  • Valerie Melendez (Northern Paiute, Reno-Sparks Indian Colony), Tribal Economic Development Director, Northern Nevada Development Authority
  • Nicole Charley (Confederated Tribe of Warm Springs), Admin. Assistant, Fish Management, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
  • Carmenlita Chief (Navajo Nation), Research Specialist, University of Arizona
  • Mikhail Sundust (Akimel O’otham, Pee Posh), Reporter, Gila River Indian Community
  • Juanita Francis (Navajo Nation), Faculty Member, Diné College
  • Rachel Hood (Yavapai-Apache Nation), Councilwoman, Yavapai-Apache Nation

2016

  • Eleanor YellowRobe (White Clay Gros Ventre), President, Native Assets Accounting
  • Wayne Martin (Tohono O'odham/Navajo), Vice Chairman for Pisinemo District, Tohono O'odham Nation
  • Rosa Long (Cocopah Indian Tribe), Councilwoman, Cocopah Indian Tribe
  • Adrian Dotson (Navajo) Outreach Specialist for ETD, Inc., and Media Relations Partner for Rez Media 

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