Presenters Biographies

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and the Tribal Law and Policy Institute would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the following individuals without whom this conference would not have been possible.

Abby Abinanti (Yurok) is the Chief Judge at Yurok, where she was appointed March 1, 2007. She is a former Superior Court Commissioner in California for the city and county of San Francisco and was assigned to the Unified Family Court. She graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1973. Among her tribal court experience, Abby served as Chief Magistrate, Court of Indian Offenses for the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation from 1983 to 1986, as an Appellate Court Judge by appointment for Colorado River Indian Tribe in 1994, as a Judge by special appointment with the Hopi Tribal Court in 1986, and a Judge by special appointment with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Court in 1985. In addition, Abby is the President o f the Board of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute.

Gwen Adakai (Navajo) is a Victim Specialist with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, Tribal Justice Services, duty station in Flagstaff, Arizona. Her service area includes the following reservations: Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Tonto Apache Tribe, Yavapai Apache Nation, and Yavapai-Prescott Indian Community. As a Victim Specialist, Gwen provides direct services to victims of major crimes and includes case status updates; making referrals to agencies and support groups; providing assistance with filing Order of Protection or completing the Victim Compensation application; communicating the legal process; and accompanying the victim to court. Gwen is a member of the Navajo Nation. She holds a master of social work degree and a bachelor of social work degree from Arizona State University. Before joining the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Gwen was a social worker providing direct services to Native American tribes surrounding the Phoenix metropolitan area. Gwen has thirteen years of work experience in direct human services. She resides in Flagstaff, Arizona with her husband, Christopher.

Jacqueline Agtuca (Cherokee Descent), JD, is the Public Policy Director of Clan Star, Inc. Since 1986, Jacqueline has dedicated her legal career to enhancing protections for women by reforming tribal, state, and federal law and policy. In 1995, Jacqueline joined the newly created Violence Against Women Office, U.S. Department of Justice. In this capacity she played a critical role in establishing current federal policy and programming for tribal governments. In 1999, Jacqueline became the Deputy Director, and then Acting Director, of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Tribal Justice. This office serves as the central point of coordination for U.S. Department of Justice governmental relations with Indian tribes. In 2000, she was appointed Chief of Staff of the U.S. National Indian Gaming Commission. Jacqueline served as a member of the U.S. Department of Justice §904 Federal Advisory Committee and was reappointed to serve a second term as mandated under the Tribal Title of the Violence Against Women Act 2005. As Clan Star Director of Public Policy she is the primary partner for coordinated efforts with the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center. Jacqueline is a founding and current member of the National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Native Women.

Courtney Allensworth began direct service work with survivors of domestic violence in 2004. This led her to obtain a master of arts in women’s studies with a concentration in public policy. Courtney then worked for the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse on a grant-funded project from the federal Office on Violence Against Women. Not satisfied with the legal protections and remedies for women and elders experiencing violence, Courtney entered law school. Her research interests focus on elder abuse and domestic violence, and the efficacy of tribal law in both areas. She expects to receive her juris doctorate in May 2013 from the William Mitchell College of Law.

Genoveva Antone (Tohono O’odham) is a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation who received Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Support Training Access Resources training from the Southwest Center for Law and Policy. She lived in the small town of Ajo, Arizona, and worked for the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise for fifteen years in various areas, her last position being Executive Administrator for the Chief Executive Officer. During her employment with the Gaming Enterprise she pursued her education and received a master’s degree in business administration/human resources. She also held a position with the Tribal Employment Rights Office as a Compliance Officer for one year. Mrs. Antone volunteers her time as a Coordinator to the Native Warrior Run, a motorcycle bike ride from Arizona to Washington, D.C. through Indian country, in honor of Native Veterans. She also enjoys beading and making dream catchers in her spare time.

Arlene Armijo (Acoma Pueblo) is the Bureau of Indian Affairs Victim Specialist in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Arlene is an enrolled member of the Acoma Pueblo and has more than ten years of providing direct services to crime victims; her service area includes the pueblos in New Mexico as well as servicing the Ute Mountain Ute in Towaoc, Colorado, and White Mesa, Utah. Arlene begins working with victims and their families from the investigation continuing on through the court process; in some cases, victims and their families require additional services, so Arlene ensures that the services are made available to them. Prior to working for Bureau of Indian Affairs, Arlene worked for her tribe providing direct crime victim services primarily working with tribal court and federal court systems. While working for her tribe Arlene served as the liaison between her tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs Social Services ensuring that the child abuse referrals were addressed in a timely manner and that families had access to the resources that were needed. In addition to providing direct services, Arlene was instrumental in the development and drafting of policy and procedures as well as protocol for implementation of the Adam Walsh Act for her tribe.

Dianne Barker Harrold, (Cherokee) an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has been working with victims of crime for more than thirty years. She has served as an Advocate, District Attorney, and Tribal Judge and has worked extensively in Indian country including serving as Attorney General and Special Advisor to the Chief for the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma and Tribal Court Judge for thirteen Indian tribes in Oklahoma. Dianne was one of the founding mothers of the domestic violence shelter, Help-in-Crisis, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, which is now in its thirty-second year of service to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. During Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October 2007, she was named Outstanding Volunteer of the Year for Help-in-Crisis. She has been a tireless advocate for battered women and victims of crime, which has earned her the Women Holding Up the World Award from the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault and both the Heart of Gold Award and the Shining Star Award from the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. She is married to a law enforcement officer and is the mother of three daughters who have blessed her with eleven grandchildren plus one great-granddaughter.

Linda Bearcrane Couture (Crow) helped develop the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services’ Victim Assistance Program. She is a Supervisory Victim Specialist and provides guidance and direction to the victim specialists that are stationed throughout Indian country. The program is specific to Indian country and provides direct victim services to victims of crime. The program serves all types of crime victims including but not limited to sexual assaults, domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, and other violent crimes.

Lanisha Bell (Mississippi Choctaw), LSW, MSM, joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services recently in July of 2012 to serve as the National Coordinator for Victim Assistance. Prior to joining OJS, Ms. Bell served as the Executive Director-Lay Advocate for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Family Violence and Victim’s Services Program, providing management of criminal and civil prosecution and litigation of domestic violence and sexual assault cases, legal advocacy, victim advocacy, therapeutic services, outreach and education, training to law enforcement, operation of the DVIP or "Batterer’s Re-Education" court-mandated program, program development and evaluation, as well as facilitating a Coordinated Community Response on the local, tribal, state, and federal level for all victims of crime. As the BIA National Coordinator for Victim Assistance, Ms. Bell, will further develop and implement strategies that are "mission essential" in protecting life in Indian Country communities.

Alyssa Ben graduated from Mississippi State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. Ms. Ben is currently the Sexual Assault Response Team Coordinator for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Ms. Ben is also the Division Leader for three programs under the Department of Family and Community Services: Choctaw Children’s Advocacy Center, Family Violence and Victims Services, and the Nittak Himmona Shelter. Ms. Ben was recently chosen as a member of the Task Force on Research on Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native American Women.

Diane Benson (Tlingit) is a lifelong Alaskan and Professor in Alaska Native Studies at the University of Alaska. In addition to running for public office, Diane is best known for her success in sharing the Elizabeth Peratrovich story, as a one-woman show performed statewide and nationally, and as a PBS documentary, For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska, with Jeff Silverman. Using her presentation and theater skills Diane has taught at the National Judicial College in Reno, keynoted nationally on Justice for Victims of Crime, assisted abused women with her Finding Your Voice workshops, served as creative team facilitator and assistant editor of the video, Pathway to Hope: Healing Child Sexual Abuse, and edited poetry for the text, Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence. Diane is an active Associate Member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, is serving her third term as President for the Alaska Native Sisterhood, Camp 87, and just completed two terms as a Commissioner with the Municipality of Anchorage’s Americans with Disabilities Act Commission, and six years with Healing Racism in Anchorage.

Doris Beresford is with the La Jolla Native Women’s Advisory Committee.

Dolores Subia BigFoot, (Caddo Nation of Oklahoma) PhD, is an enrolled member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and is an Associate Professor in the Center on Child Abuse and Neglect in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Dr. BigFoot directs the Indian Country Child Trauma Center that is part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. As a doctoral-level counseling psychologist she provides consultation, training, and technical assistance to tribal, state, and federal agencies on child maltreatment, child trauma, and cultural and traditional practices. Dr. BigFoot is recognized for her efforts to bring indigenous traditional and spiritual practices and beliefs into the formal teaching and instruction of American Indian people as well as the professionals working with indigenous populations. She directs Project Making Medicine, a national clinical training program built on the cultural adaptations of evidence-based interventions. She provides clinical services in treatment of adolescent sex offenders and parent-child interaction therapy. Dr. BigFoot has done numerous presentations on American Indian parenting practices and using traditional teachings and knowledge in mental health service delivery. Along with her adult children and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, she assisted in the establishment of the annual Northern Cheyenne Cultural Healing camp on loss and grief.

Cody Blackbird (Eastern Band Cherokee and Dakota Decent) is one of Indian country’s fastest-rising stars becoming the youngest flutist in the industry to be recognized by the Native American Music Awards and to have a global listening audience. Cody tours internationally on a full-time basis not only performing his award-winning music but also reaching out to communities and youth to tackle subjects such as suicide prevention, drug and alcohol awareness, cultural revitalization, and breaking past the barrier and borders of stereotypes put on us as Native peoples. Cody is also the founder of the Cody Blackbird American Indian Student College Fund, a $2,000 annual scholarship awarded to one recipient per year who wishes to achieve the goal of higher education. Cody was also just recently selected as one of the headlining musicians for the American Indian Presidential Ball in Washington, D.C. If you would like to meet or have your picture taken with Cody he will be set up throughout the conference with CDs available for purchase—all proceeds benefit the scholarship fund.

Elsie Boudreau (Yup’ik Eskimo), a Licensed Master Social Worker, is a proud Yup’ik Eskimo from the village of St. Mary’s, Alaska. She helped establish and operates an Alaska Native Unit within Alaska CARES, a child advocacy center. In that role, she provides advocacy services and therapy for Alaska Native and American Indian families whose child(ren) have been severely physically or sexually abused and conducts forensic interviews of children. As a prior Children’s Justice Act Project Coordinator for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, she helped develop an educational video project highlighting child sexual abuse in Alaska, grasping the wisdom of Elders, and identifying ways of healing to apply to such traumatic experiences. She has also worked with law firms Manly & Stewart and Cooke Roosa Law Group as a Victims Advocate providing support to approximately three hundred victims of clergy child sexual abuse in Alaska, South Dakota, Oregon, and Montana. Elsie has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Carroll College in Helena, Montana, and a master of social work degree from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Alaska CARES provides sexual and physical abuse evaluations for children, newborn to age eighteen years, and twenty-four-hour on-call services for cases that are considered emergent. She is married and has three children.

The Boyz (HoChunk, Lakota, Ojibwe, Cree, Potawatomi, Warm Springs, Yakima, Otoe, Kickapoo, Ponca, Hopi, Shinnecock, Oneida, Menomonie, and Navajo) is a traditional Native singing group within the northern contemporary style singing category. The fifteen members represent several tribal nations including HoChunk, Lakota, Ojibwe, Cree, Potawatomi, Warm Springs, Yakima, Otoe, Kickapoo, Ponca, Hopi, Shinnecock, Oneida, Menomonie, and Navajo. The group was formed nearly twenty years ago in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a way to keep these young boys off the streets. They have evolved into a highly accomplished singing group, winning many top honors such as the Aboriginal People's Choice Music Award for Best Contemporary Drum Group in 2007, Gathering of Nations World Champion 2007, and Schemitzun Connecticut World Class Champion Singers in 2008. Their CD Boyz Will Be Boyz won Best Pow-wow Contemporary CD at the 2010 Aboriginal People’s Choice Awards in Winnipeg, Ontario. They were also nominated for a Native American Music Award.

Bruce Bridges is a Senior Account Manager in the Public Safety Group at Appriss, Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky, where he has been helping state and local agencies establish and manage automated victim notification programs. Since 1994, Appriss has provided innovative software-based services that help hundreds of local, state, and federal criminal justice agencies keep communities safe and informed. Appriss’ various technology solutions range from automated victim notification (VINE, the flagship service), to criminal justice information sharing, electronic document storage, protective order and court notification services, electronic citation and warrant systems, and more. In fact, the Wisconsin statewide VINE program includes the Menomonee Tribal Detention Facility in Keshena. Bruce has undergraduate degrees in Management from the University of Texas and Recording Industry Management from Middle Tennessee State University as well as an M.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Tennessee.

Alison Brooks is a Research Associate with the National Institute of Justice at the Office of Justice Programs. Ms. Brooks works in the Office of Research and Evaluation and is primarily responsible for assisting with the planning, development, and implementation of the research program on violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women authorized under Title IX, Section 904 of the 2005 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Ms. Brooks is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Justice, Law, and Society at American University in Washington, D.C. She received her master’s degree in justice, law, and society from American University and her bachelor of science in public policy and administration from James Madison University.

Roe Bubar, JD, is an Indigenous Studies Scholar and Associate Professor jointly appointed in the Department of Ethnic Studies and the School of Social Work at Colorado State University. She teaches Indigenous and Gender Studies courses. Her current research agenda considers intersectionality and sexual violence, health disparities, child maltreatment in tribal communities, and Native youth and sexually transmitted disease and infections messaging. Roe has more than twenty years of experience in the field and continues to work with tribes, states, federal agencies, and nongovernmental organizations in tribal communities on a variety of research issues, child sexual abuse cases, and other related projects.

Danette Buskovick has been the Director of Training, Research, and Communications in the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Justice Programs for the past seven years. Danette’s research experience includes multiple recidivism studies for the state of Minnesota, an analysis of juvenile substance abuse and interventions in Minnesota, and numerous program evaluations, including youth intervention and reentry programs. Danette is responsible for completing the biennial statewide report on human trafficking for the Minnesota legislature. She was also lead staff to the statewide task force on trafficking between 2006 and 2011.Currently, Danette is working with a variety of stakeholders to develop a statewide victim-services model for serving sex-trafficked youth.

Kasey Cadwell, Education Specialist, has worked in the field of domestic violence and sexual assault for four years as a victim advocate and in the last three years as an education specialist. Currently, Ms. Cadwell is attending Lower Brule Community College and working on becoming a counselor. Ms. Cadwell is the mother of two sons and one daughter.

Joetta Cajero-Keevama (Jemez Pueblo) is an enrolled member of Jemez Pueblo. She is a Licensed Realtor in the state of New Mexico. She specializes in helping Native Americans realize the dream of home ownership and works with lenders that are eligible to process the Section 184 Native American mortgage loan program. Joetta does a great deal of work in Indian country, by teaching home-buyer classes. These classes are designed to help Native Americans better understand the mortgage process both on and off tribal lands. Joetta is part of the New Mexico Tribal Homeownership Coalition dedicated to improving housing in Indian country.

James R. (Bob) Cantrall joined the Office for Victims of Crime in the Office of Justice Programs in January 2011. Prior to that, he served with the United States Department of State as the Senior Rule of Law Advisor for Babil Province, Iraq. In this position, he assisted local Iraqi’s in all aspects of the reconstruction of their legal system. From 1988 to 2009, Mr. Cantrall served as an active duty judge advocate in the United States Air Force. His tours of duty included assignments as the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for Second Air Force at Keesler AFB, Mississippi, and Chief Circuit Defense Counsel for the European Circuit at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. During his career, Mr. Cantrall was deployed multiple times to Kuwait, Bosnia, Qatar, and Afghanistan. He retired on October 1, 2009 in the grade of Lieutenant Colonel. Mr. Cantrall received his B.A. from Washington and Lee University, and his J.D. from George Mason University.

Bethany Case is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker hailing from Louisiana and has been a Visiting Fellow at Office for Victims of Crime since the fall of 2008. Her work experience prior to moving to Washington, D.C., for the fellowship includes Forensic Interviewer at a Children’s Advocacy Center, Mental Health Provider in a high school setting, and State Child Protection Investigator. Bethany received her bachelor of arts degree in social work from Southeastern Louisiana University and her master of social work degree from Louisiana State University. She is currently licensed to practice clinical social work in Louisiana and the District of Columbia. Coming from a background of direct services with children and families, Bethany currently applies her skills in the context of policy, program, and resource development at the Office for Victims of Crime. She works on a variety of child victimization–related efforts and initiatives, including Attorney General Holder’s Defending Childhood Initiative and the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction workgroup. Bethany also works closely with the Office for Victims of Crime staff to provide technical assistance and subject-matter expertise on a number of the Office for Victims of Crime–funded training and technical assistance projects.

Robyn Cenizal, CFLE, is the Project Director for the National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families. She was previously the Project Director for the TANF/Faith-based and Community Organizations Collaboration Institute, a research to practice project, which focused on developing and strengthening public and private partnerships to build capacity of TANF agencies. In addition to her work in the healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood fields, she also brings with her more than twenty-six years of government experience specializing in strategic public and private partnerships to address community issues including broad expertise with family strengthening, child welfare, workforce development, domestic violence, and poverty reduction.

Ira J. Chasnoff, MD, is President of the Children’s Research Triangle and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. Dr. Chasnoff is one of the nation’s leading researchers in the field of child development and the multiple risk factors that affect children’s long-term outcome. His research projects include a study of the long-term cognitive, behavioral, and educational developmental effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol, cocaine, and other drugs; the impact of early trauma on a child’s psychosocial development; and innovative intervention and treatment approaches for high-risk children. In November 2008, Dr. Chasnoff was appointed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Interagency Coordinating Council on FASD work group, the federal committee tasked with the coordination of national efforts to address prenatal alcohol exposure and its health and fiscal impact on the U.S. population. Through this work, Dr. Chasnoff is part of the national effort to define the neurodevelopmental profile of children across the fetal alcohol spectrum. Dr. Chasnoff received his medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and served a pediatric residency at Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago.

Michelle Chino (Northern Cheyenne) is an American Indian researcher and educator with expertise in the social determinants of disease and injury, and the impact of health disparities among diverse populations. She is internationally recognized for her work on health measurement among indigenous populations. Dr. Chino founded and directed two University of Nevada, Las Vegas, research centers: the Center for Health Disparities Research and the American Indian Research and Education Center, and has brought in numerous prestigious research grants including the first university-level National Institutes of Health grant. Along with Dr. Melva Thompson-Robinson, she founded the nationally recognized, peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice. Dr. Chino brings a unique perspective and many years of experience to the School of Community Health Sciences, her students, and the community programs with which she works.

Paula Ciniero graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She has worked in various facets of nursing including emergency room, obstetrics, and intensive care unit. Paula worked in the early 1990s as an Itinerant Public Health Nurse for thirteen Inupiaq villages in the Norton Sound Region. She obtained her Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner–Adult/Adolescent and worked as a Forensic Nurse at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. Paula currently is an Itinerant Public Health Nurse serving fifteen Interior Athabascan villages and is a Statewide Trainer on domestic violence and sexual assault.

Bonnie Clairmont (Ho-Chunk), citizen of the HoChunk Nation of Wisconsin, resides in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she is employed with the Tribal Law and Policy Institute as the Victim Advocacy Program Specialist. Prior to her employment with the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, Bonnie was Outreach/Client Services Coordinator for Sexual Offense Services of Ramsey County, a rape crisis center. While employed there, Bonnie provided leadership in the development of Sexual Assault Response Teams and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner programs and provided guidance with multidisciplinary sexual assault protocol development. She has worked more than twenty-five years advocating for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. She has dedicated much of her work to providing and improving services for victim/survivors of sexual assault, battering, and child sexual abuse, particularly those from American Indian communities. For four years she coordinated the Strengthening the Circle of Trust Conference, a conference focusing on sexual assault and exploitation perpetrated by American Indian spiritual leaders/medicine men. Bonnie co-edited a recently published book "Sharing Our Stories of Survival" an anthology of writing by Native Women who've experienced violence. Bonnie provided technical assistance to research conducted by Amnesty International USA that lead to the report, "Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous Women from sexual violence in the USA." She and her partner Jim Clairmont have two children and five grandchildren.

Jim Clairmont (Sicangu Lakota) provides spiritual guidance and support to those in need such as victims of crime and abuse. Jim has conducted various healing ceremonies such as the chair ceremony to memorialize victims of homicide and the wiping of tears ceremony. He serves on the Elder’s Council at the University of Minnesota offering guidance and spiritual support to Native students experiencing personal problems. He provides spiritual support to patients in hospitals as an "on-call" volunteer Native spiritual advocate. Prior to his retirement, Jim was a teacher for more than twenty years in the Twin Cities where he taught Indian studies, chemical health, and Lakota language. He has presented workshops and served on panels about topics such as the appropriate use of Native spirituality in our work; sexual assault and exploitation perpetrated by spiritual leaders; and listen to the grandmothers at numerous conferences. As a former dancer and as a lead singer for a well-noted drum group, the Porcupine Singers, Jim has been in the powwow world all his life and now enjoys emceeing powwows and lecturing on the role of the singer and on Indian history and culture. His pride and joy are his two children, son Lakota (Hokie) and daughter April, and his five grandchildren and his many hunka children.

Cordelia Clapp (Pawnee), RN, BSN, was born in Sells, Arizona, to a full-blooded Pawnee Indian mother and a full-blooded Spanish father who worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which allowed her to live on numerous reservations in Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Ms. Clapp is a Native American health care professional who has been employed by the Kanza Health Clinic in Newkirk, Oklahoma, as the Public Health Nurse and Diabetic Coordinator for the past seven years. One of Ms. Clapp’s primary goals in life is to educate Native Americans about heart awareness throughout Indian country. She is a national spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and WomenHeart, a National Coalition for women with heart disease. Ms. Clapp was awarded the 2004 Local Impact Award at the National Indian Health Board 21st Consumer Conference for her outstanding efforts in the improvement of health care delivery for American Indians. She was chosen to receive the 2005 American Heart Association Louis B. Russell, Jr. Memorial Award. The recipient is honored for outstanding and effective service to minority and underserved communities, notably for American Indians.

Anna Clough (Muscogee [Creek] Nation and Yuchi Tribe of Oklahoma), has a bachelor of science degree in sociology from the University of Oklahoma, and a juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. She is a licensed member of the Oklahoma Bar Association, and a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Bar Association, the Chickasaw Nation Bar Association, and the Cleveland County Bar Association. She has a certificate in Native American Law from the American Indian Law and Policy Center at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Mrs. Clough currently works as the Program Attorney for the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma Violence Free Living Program through its partnership with the Native American Legal Resource Center at the Oklahoma City University College of Law. Through the Violence Free Living Program she is able to assist victims of domestic violence by providing legal counsel in various civil matters. Mrs. Clough enjoys spending time working with Native people and staying involved in her community. She is the current President of the University of Oklahoma American Indian Alumni Association and a member of Eagle Heights Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Porscha Cobbs holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Humboldt State University and has worked in the domestic violence movement for the last four years. She is currently the Program Coordinator and Advocate of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program for the Yurok Tribe. Porscha has been advocate for women’s rights since her undergraduate days at Humboldt State. She plans to spend her life working in the movement to end violence against women.

Jennifer Cole-Robinson has been the Bureau of Indian Affairs Victim Specialist since November 2010. As the Victim Specialist, her job is to work with victims of crimes in Indian country; she begins working with victims of crime in the investigation stage and continues through the court process. Prior to working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Ms. Cole-Robinson worked for Cherokee Nation Indian Child Welfare for ten years. While at Cherokee Nation, she worked in the state and tribal court systems advocating for Cherokee families and ensuring the Indian Child Welfare Act was followed. Ms. Cole-Robinson also worked as a Child Protective Worker and investigated child abuse/neglect allegations in Indian country. She has worked in the field of domestic violence and sexual assault since 1996 at her local shelter. Ms. Cole-Robinson has worked as shelter staff, completed intakes, done peer counseling, and made community resource referrals. As the Volunteer Coordinator, she recruited and trained community volunteers on the dynamics of domestic violence, sexual assault, crisis intervention, and advocacy. As a volunteer she has worked hands-on with victims of domestic violence through the legal system and sexual assault victims through the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner process and legal system.

Beverly Cotton (Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians) is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and graduate degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dually certified as an adult and pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, Beverly has more than ten years of experience working with sexual assault victims in tribal, rural, and urban settings. Beverly joined the Indian Health Service from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was employed as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at the Our Kids Center, serving sexually abused children. She will serve as the Indian Health Service National Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner–Sexual Assault Response Team coordinator.

Carolyn Coultress is with the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians Avelleka Native Women’s Committee.

Christine Crossland is a Senior Social Science Analyst in the Office of Research and Evaluation at the National Institute of Justice. Ms. Crossland is primarily responsible for planning, implementing, testing, evaluating, managing, and reporting on criminal justice grants, contracts, and studies. She currently works with other government agencies, nonprofit organizations, public and private businesses, and criminal justice and public health agencies to coordinate the establishment of a broad and enhanced research agenda in the area of violence and victimization and implementation of a new program of research addressing American Indian and Alaska Native crime and justice issues. She is directing and organizing, in partnership with the Office on Violence Against Women, a research program to examine violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women living in tribal communities. Ms. Crossland is National Institute of Justice’s liaison to the Office of Justice Programs’ Justice Programs Council on Native American Affairs as well as the cochair for the Justice Programs Council on Native American Affairs’ Research, Data Collection, and Information Sharing Working Group. Other committee assignments and participation include the Attorney General’s Native American Issues Subcommittee and the Section 904 Federal Advisory Task Force on Violence Against Indian Women in Indian Country.

Sarah Curtiss (Anishinaabe) as the Sacred Hoop Tribal Coalition Coordinator has been working for Mending the Sacred Hoop since 2009. Prior to joining Mending the Sacred Hoop, she worked as a women’s advocate for the Dabinoo’Igan shelter and coordinated the Giiwe Mobile team, which provided housing and support to long-term homeless Native families in Duluth, Minnesota. In her work with the coalition, Sarah trains tribal and urban programs on the unique issues Native women face with domestic violence and trains programs on how to work with survivors from a holistic cultural perspective. Sarah is on the Circle Keepers/Board of Directors for the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, and sits on varies committees across the state of Minnesota that address violence against women. As a member of the Oshkii Giizhik Singers, a women’s hand drum group, Sarah incorporates traditional Ojibwe traditions and encourages Native women to use their voices in their communities in an effort to organize to end violence against Native women and children.

Matthew Dale was appointed in 2001 by Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath as the first-ever director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Consumer Protection and Victim Services. Dale coordinates work around the state in the areas of consumer protection, sexual assault, and domestic violence. His work in the area of family violence includes staffing the Montana Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. Additionally, Dale serves as a Senior Consultant for the National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative based at Northern Arizona University. He earned a bachelor of arts in psychology from the University of Minnesota and holds a master of arts in social sciences from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.

Kim Day, the Sexual Assault Forensic Exam Technical Assistance (SAFEta) Coordinator for the International Association of Forensic Nurses, disseminates the National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations; maintains the www.safeta.org website, which is a practice-based resource about the National Protocol; and provides technical assistance to those who work with sexual assault victims. In collaboration with SAFEta project partners, Kim has developed a two-day regional training for community teams that creates or enhances sexual assault protocols. Possessing more than thirty years of experience as an emergency/critical care nurse, Kim became a forensic nurse examiner in 1998, first serving as a facility coordinator and as the countywide Sexual Assault Response Team facilitator. Dual board-certified as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner–Adult/Adolescent and a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner–Pediatric, Kim continues to work as a forensic nurse examiner with her local program. Kim’s work on a national level includes the Department of Justice National Prison Rape Elimination Commission evidence-collection group and the Office for Victims of Crime’s Vision 21 project. In addition, Kim has reviewed state-specific protocols and participated in national projects creating guidelines and customized protocols for prisons, jails, community corrections, and tribal communities.

Montie R. Deer (Mvscogee/Creek) has a distinguished career spanning tribal, state, and federal legal systems. Judge Deer is the Chief Justice for the Iowas of Kansas and Nebraska, as well as Supreme Court Justice for the Muscogee Nation. He recently retired from the District Court bench for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. Prior to that position, he served as Attorney General for his own tribe, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Judge Deer’s highest profile position came in 1998 when he was appointed by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Judge Deer was Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas; served as a District Court Judge for the State of Kansas, presiding over approximately two hundred jury trials; and was a practicing attorney with several firms in Kansas. Judge Deer has also served as the Director of Legal Services for the North Topeka Indian Center, a member of the Board of Directors for the Mid-American All-Indian Center, and a member of the Wichita Warrior Society. He has many years of experience providing education, including teaching at the National Judicial College and serving as Associate Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa.

Sarah Deer (Mvscogee/Creek) is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma. Her scholarship focuses on the intersection of tribal law and victim’s rights. She is a committed activist in the movement to end violence against Native women. In 2009, she was hired as an Assistant Professor at William Mitchell College of Law. She is an online instructor of tribal legal studies at UCLA Extension and former lecturer at UCLA Law School. From 1999 to 2002, she was employed by the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office on Violence Against Women. Her work with the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, beginning in 2002, focused on strengthening tribal responses to violent crime. Deer first worked to address violence against women beginning when she was an undergraduate in 1993. She volunteered as a rape crisis advocate at Douglas County Rape-Survivor Service while working toward her bachelor of arts in women’s studies and philosophy from the University of Kansas. She later attended law school so that she could address the social unique legal issues facing Native rape survivors, and received her juris doctorate with a Tribal Lawyer Certificate from the University of Kansas School of Law. In April 2011, Deer received the Allied Professional Award from the U.S. Department of Justice for work on victims’ issues.

Kathy Deserly has worked in the field of child welfare in Native communities since 1974. She spent twelve years working in tribal communities in Southern California, as Assistant Director of a Native American foster and adoption agency before going to work as a Policy Analyst and Technical Assistance Specialist for the National Indian Child Welfare Association. In those positions, she provided extensive training and technical assistance to Indian and non-Indian programs on topics related to tribal child welfare and social services. Kathy served as Indian Child Welfare Specialist for the state of Montana. In 2004, Kathy became a founding board member of the Indian Child and Family Resource Center based in Helena, Montana, a training and technical assistance center for tribal social service programs, private providers, and state agencies. She serves as the Indian Child and Family Resource Center Executive Director. Through the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement, Kathy has provided technical assistance to states and tribes and assisted in the development of a statewide tribal child welfare association. The Indian Child and Family Resource Center is a partner agency with the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. Kathy has served as the Associate Director of the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Tribes since its establishment in 2009.

Michelle DeWitt is the Executive Director of the Tundra Women’s Coalition in Bethel, Alaska.

Darrell R. Dowty (Cherokee) began his service to the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in 1998 with his appointment to the Cherokee Nation Judicial Appeals Tribunal. He was the first Chief Justice of the modern Cherokee Nation Supreme Court and currently serves as Associate Justice. Justice Dowty has served pro tem as Associate Justice of the Kaw Nation of Oklahoma Supreme Court, District Court, and as a District Judge for the Prairie Band Potawatomi of Kansas District Court. He is the elected Chief District Judge for the Sac and Fox Tribal District Court, and previously served the Oklahoma Kickapoo Tribal District Court. He is a Project Director for the Institute for Native Justice, a division of the American Indian Resource Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and provides training and technical assistance for tribal courts and related personnel across the nation through a Bureau of Justice Assistance–funded grant program. Dowty received his juris doctorate in 1976 from the University of Denver. He received a bachelor of science in business administration from Tulsa University in 1972. He also graduated from Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1966. Dowty has been a presenter for the Native American Domestic Violence Coalition and many other Indian country organizations.

Rebecca Dreke is a Senior Program Associate with the Stalking Resource Center at the National Center for Victims of Crime. The mission of the Stalking Resource Center is to enhance the ability of professionals, organizations, and systems to effectively respond to stalking. The Stalking Resource Center envisions a future in which the criminal justice system and its many allied community partners will effectively collaborate and respond to stalking, improve victim safety and well-being, and hold offenders accountable. Rebecca brings more than twelve years of experience in victim advocacy, training, and education. In her position with the Stalking Resource Center, Rebecca is responsible for training law enforcement, prosecutors, victim service providers, and other professionals on all aspects of stalking, including the use of technology to stalk, campus stalking, and stalking and sexual assault. Prior to joining the National Center for Victims of Crime, Rebecca had worked as a social worker, victim advocate, and public school teacher. Rebecca holds a master of science of social work from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor of arts in women’s studies from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities.

Vikki Eagle Bear, M.A. (Sicangu Lakota) is the lead case coordinator for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Defending Childhood Initiative housed in the Office of the Attorney General. Ms. Eagle Bear has extensive experience in serving the needs of children and youth, including directing the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Lakota Tiwahe Center for developmentally disabled children for five years. Ms. Eagle Bear has also served as a K-12 teacher for the reservation-based Crow Creek and Crazy Horse schools, and as a university instructor, family advocate, substance abuse counselor and suicide intervention counselor on the Rosebud Reservation. She is currently the Youth Council Advisor for the Blackpipe Community Council. Ms. Eagle Bear is a doctoral candidate in Education at Creighton University and earned her Masters of Arts degree in Human Services from Sinte Gleska University. She also earned a B.S. in Secondary Education and Lakota Studies from Sinte Gleska University in 2002. Ms. Eagle Bear is a certified trainer in Common Sense Parenting, Positive Indian Parenting and Lakota Mental Health First Aid. She was born, raised and educated on the Rosebud reservation and is a married mother of two children.

Joan Eliel graduated from Montana State University with a degree in political science/public administration. She moved to Kirkland, Washington, in 1987 and was employed by Short Cressman and Burgess, a law firm in downtown Seattle focusing on bankruptcy, securities, and international law before returning to Montana in 1991. She graduated from the Montana Judicial Institute at the University of Montana School of Law in Missoula and served six years as the Beaverhead County Justice Court Judge, in Dillon, Montana. Ms. Eliel is employed by the Montana Department of Justice as an Investigator/Program Specialist for the Office of Consumer Protection and Victim Services in Helena, Montana. Ms. Eliel is the Program Administrator for Montana’s Project Passport, End-of-Life Registry, and Address Confidentiality Programs. She is piloting two new projects, the Montana Crime Victim Notification System and the Hope Card Project, which have garnered national attention. She also handles consumer protection unlicensed practice of law complaints. Ms. Eliel has been instrumental in promoting outreach regarding domestic violence and sexual assault and forming partnerships with the Montana and Wyoming tribal courts and their communities in combating these issues.

Kathryn England-Aytes (Delaware/Cherokee), MS, is a curriculum developer and master trainer at the Kinship Center Education Institute, Salinas, California, in the areas of historical trauma, cultural awareness in working with Native children and families, and the Indian Child Welfare Act. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the psychology department of California State University, Monterey Bay, where she teaches coursework in general psychology, research methods, experimental psychology, and psychopathology. Kathryn was a founding board member for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southern Oregon, where she was an advocate for children and families in the criminal justice system as a result of physical and sexual abuse. She is currently a board member of the Native American Children’s Alliance, Cleveland, Ohio, an intertribal membership organization whose mission is to promote excellence in child abuse prevention and intervention in Native American and Alaska Native communities. It has also been her privilege to serve the Cherokee Nation as a Curriculum Consultant, where she was a member of a group of educators, elders, and community members developing Cherokee-centered materials for use in educational settings. She is completing a doctor of education degree in educational leadership with Fielding Graduate University.

Sam English (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) has been an artist all his life and is a recovering alcoholic who advocates for the arts and recovery from alcohol. Sam drank alcohol for 25 years, quitting at age 39. At that point, Sam was a captive of alcoholism and everything in his life destroyed, such as personal integrity and a marriage with three children. On December 10, 1981, Sam had his last drink, went to a men's stag meeting associated with Alcoholics Anonymous (he chooses to break his own anonymity), and has been sober for over 25 years. Sam's art career was always in his blood; however, it didn't come alive as a profession until he sobered up. It was at that point that a decision had to be made, and he chose the artist profession knowing that it would be a life of art and poverty, and that it has been. Sam has been fortunate enough to have created approximately 80 poster print images for various American Indian programs. Sam has designed the images for eight of the Indian Nations: Justice for Victims of Crime conferences to date.

John Evans is with Mothers against Drunk Driving.

Joseph Flies-Away (Hualapai) is a Consultant for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute and has served as the Associate Justice of the Hualapai Court of Appeals. Mr. Flies-Away currently facilitates tribal community and nation-building projects through planning, evaluation, technical assistance, research, and training. His experience includes serving as a Hualapai Tribal Council Member, Director of the tribe’s Department of Planning and Community Vision, and Chairman of the Board of the tribal corporation, HBE, Inc. Mr. Flies-Away has taught students from junior high school to university, including as a lecturer in law at Stanford University School of Law and Native American studies in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences, at Arizona State, and at UCLA. Mr. Flies-Away commits to comprehensive strategies and facilitations in the areas of human capital development, organizational development, community infrastructure development, environmental support, and economic development. Mr. Flies-Away holds a juris doctorate degree from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and he is a graduate of Stanford in English literature.

Kathryn Ford is a Senior Associate at the Center for Court Innovation and addresses the issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse through needs assessment research, dissemination of best practices, and the provision of training and technical assistance, including through the center’s Tribal Justice Exchange. She has published articles in Sexual Assault Report, Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly, and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s The Voice, and has conducted training workshops for more than four thousand participants from multiple disciplines. Ms. Ford also conducts trauma-focused individual and group therapy and provides court support services through the Child and Adolescent Witness Support Program at the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. Prior to joining the center, Ms. Ford was a social worker in Safe Horizon’s Supervised Visitation Program at Bronx Family Court and an intern in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office’s Counseling Services Unit. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Tufts University and a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University, and is certified in rape crisis counseling.

Jude Foster has been working with victims/survivors of sexual violence and the professionals that work with them for more fifteen years. Ms. Foster is currently the Hennepin County Systems Change Program Manager at the Sexual Violence Center. She is presently working with the Hennepin County Sexual Assault Multi-Disciplinary Action Response Team, which is creating a coordinated community response to sexual assault. In addition to working on improving access to the criminal justice system for victims/survivors, Ms. Foster is also working with victim advocacy services to improve the support and safety for marginalized communities. Prior to her work with systems change and protocol development, Ms. Foster has worked extensively in developing and managing crisis services programs, crisis service provision, and training to victim service, criminal justice, and allied professionals on crisis intervention.

Lauren Frinkman (Cochiti Pueblo) serves as the Tribal Law and Policy Institute’s Tribal Law Specialist, which includes facilitating technical assistance to tribal governments and researching legal and policy issues as they face tribal governance and sovereignty. Ms. Frinkman is a recent graduate of the UCLA School of Law, where she focused her studies upon tribal and federal Indian law. While in law school, she served as president of the Native American Law Students Association and as Area 1 Representative of the National Native American Law Students Association. Ms. Frinkman participated in two tribal clinics, including the Tribal Legal Development Clinic and the Tribal Appellate Court Clinic. Ms. Frinkman has previously served as law clerk at the Native American Rights Fund and the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

Joye Frost was designated Acting Director of the Office for Victims of Crime by President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. Prior to that appointment, she served as the Principal Associate Director for Office for Victims of Crime. In that role, she guided much of the Office for Victims of Crime’s work in developing national scope training, technical assistance, and other resources to address ongoing and emerging issues in the crime victims’ field and to improve the nation’s response to crime victims. She was instrumental in the development of the Office for Victims of Crime’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and Sexual Assault Response Team Training and Technical Assistance Project and has spearheaded a number of Office for Victims of Crime initiatives to identify and serve victims of crime with disabilities. She also implemented a discretionary grant program that funds comprehensive services to victims of human trafficking. Since 2001, she has directed OVC's efforts to sponsor the annual observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, including an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., for distinguished service to crime victims that involves the Attorney General. Ms. Frost began her career as a Child Protective Services caseworker in South Texas and has worked in the victim assistance, health care, and disability advocacy fields for more than thirty years in the United States and Europe. She received a bachelor of arts in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin and a master of health services management from the University of Mary Hardin at Baylor.

Summer Funes is an independent film maker.

Mishal Tooyak Gaede (Native Village of Point Hope) is the daughter of Elmer and Ruby Gaede of Soldotna, Alaska, and Dora Tooyak Weston of Point Hope, Alaska, and William Barlow of West Virginia. She is the proud parent of Clayton Stevens and works as Tribal Court Facilitator for Tanana Chiefs in Fairbanks, Alaska. Tanana Chiefs Conference is a nonprofit consortium of forty-two tribes in the Interior of Alaska. Mishal has worked as a child protection social worker for the state of Alaska and for the tribes. She received a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. She is an enrolled tribal member of Native Village of Point Hope. Ms. Gaede is an adoptee of an open adoption from the 1950s. Being raised far from her Inupiat culture had a profound impact on her outlook and, combined with the nurturance and support of the Gaede family, helped steer her in the profession of helping others. She has worked closely with many of the Tanana Chiefs Conference region tribes who have their children in child protective custody. She encourages tribal courts to look after their own and get involved as the decisions and outcomes do affect the future of our tribes and communities. Ms. Gaede joined the staff of the National Judicial College in 2009.

Paul Gallegos has served as the Humboldt County District Attorney since 2002. Paul strives to improve services to the citizens of Humboldt County. Under Paul’s leadership, the District Attorney’s office has created the Consumer and Environmental Offenses Unit, the Sex Offenses Unit, the Worker’s Compensation Unit, the Consumer and Fraud Unit, the Bad Check Program, and the District Attorney and Tribal Governments Roundtable. In 2012, Paul welcomed the first-ever District Attorney Tribal Liaison and District Attorney Latino Liaison positions to his office. Originally from Arlington, Virginia, Paul attended the University of Southern California, where he earned his bachelor of science degree in economics. Paul went on to earn his juris doctorate at La Verne College of Law. Paul opened his own practice in Los Angeles County before moving to Humboldt County with his wife in 1994, where he and his wife opened the Law Office of Gallegos and Gallegos. His private practice consisted of state and federal civil litigation and criminal defense. Paul was elected Humboldt County District Attorney in 2002, 2006, and 2010. Paul, his wife Joan, and their three children make their home in Eureka.

Michelle Garcia joined the Stalking Resource Center at the National Center for Victims of Crime in April 2006 and has served as its Director since October 2006. The mission of the Stalking Resource Center is to enhance the ability of professionals, organizations, and systems to effectively respond to stalking. The Stalking Resource Center envisions a future in which the criminal justice system and its many allied community partners will effectively collaborate and respond to stalking, improve victim safety and well-being, and hold offenders accountable. Prior to joining the National Center for Victims of Crime, Michelle was a Program Specialist with the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime. She has twenty years experience working with victims of stalking, sexual assault, and domestic violence in rural and urban settings and advocating for victims’ rights on a local, state, and national level. Michelle is a former President of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault and a former President of the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Michelle has trained internationally on various topics, including stalking, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and dismantling oppression. Michelle received her master of public policy degree from the University of Chicago.

Jerry Gardner (Cherokee), JD, is an attorney with more than 30 years of experience working with Indian tribes, tribal court systems, and victims of crime in Indian country. He is the Executive Director of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute - an Indian-owned and operated nonprofit corporation organized to design and deliver education, research, training, and technical assistance programs that promote the improvement of justice in Indian country and the health, well-being, and culture of Native peoples. He was an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law from 1995 to 2000 and Administrator for the National American Indian Court Judges Association from May 1998 to December 2000. He served as the Senior Staff Attorney with the National Indian Justice Center (NIJC) from NIJC's establishment in 1983 until December 1996. He has also worked for the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the national office of the Legal Services Corporation, and the American Indian Lawyer Training Program.

Carrie Garrow (Mohawk) is the Executive Director of the Center for Indigenous Law, Governance, and Citizenship at Syracuse University College of Law. She received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, her law degree from Stanford Law School, and a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. After graduating from Stanford, Ms. Garrow worked as a Deputy District Attorney for Riverside County in Southern California. She has also worked as a Chief Judge for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and a Tribal Justice Consultant for several nonprofit organizations, including the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. In 2004, Ms. Garrow joined the Center for Indigenous Law. The center conducts legal and policy research relating to all aspects of indigenous sovereignty; provides technical assistance to indigenous nations and governments; offers education and training on Indian law and policy issues; and promotes a great understanding of the law, governance, and history of the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse). Ms. Garrow is also an adjunct professor at Syracuse University College of Law and Syracuse University’s Native Studies Minor and is the Chief Appellate Judge for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Court.

Emma Geyer (Ojibwe from Rainy River First Nations Ontario) has lived at Elder’s Lodge since 2001. Originally, Emma is from Ontario, Canada. She calls the Twin Cities her home because she has lived here for more than forty years. Emma is a grandma, and one of her grandsons lives in the Twin Cities. The rest of her grandchildren live in Canada. As an artist her work involves both the contemporary and traditional.

Kathleen "Kaught-Lane" Gless has worked in the victims’ field for more than ten years. She has worked directly with victims of intimate partner and sexual violence as an advocate and first responder. Kathleen works at the Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime as a Victim Justice Program Specialist. She has been a Victim Justice Program Specialist for more than four years and the American Indian and Alaska Native Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner–Sexual Assault Response Team Initiative Lead for more than two years. Her projects include programs serving tribal victims of crime, victims of sexual assault, and LGBTQ and two-spirited victims of crime. As a member of the Office for Victims of Crime’s new Federal, International, and Tribal Team, Kathleen is devoted and committed to enhancing and improving efforts to support American Indian and Alaska Native victims of crime. Kathleen routinely pulls from her background in conflict analysis and resolution, women’s studies, and philosophy. Further, her previous experience working as part of a team of federal, state, local, public school, and university communities to develop and improve responses to crime victims has given her the practical experience to inform her current and future team work.

Carole Goldberg is the Jonathan D. Varat Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, where she directs the Joint Degree Program in Law and American Indian Studies, is faculty chair of the Native Nations Law and Policy Center, and for several years was the Associate Dean. Judge Goldberg was the principal investigator for several large grants from the National Institute of Justice to study the administration of criminal justice in Indian Country. She is a Justice of the Court of Appeals of the Hualapai Tribe in Arizona and the author of numerous books and articles in the fields of federal Indian law and tribal law. In 2006, she was the Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

Dallas GoldTooth (Dakota) is a Native film producer. His work is geared to rekindling tribal traditions for the purpose of empowering American Indian youth. Dallas has produced videos that honor Indian women as they are the carriers of our culture and the keepers of the flame. He is also a facilitator and producer of the featured conference theme video Reclaim the Fire. This proposed video presentation will deliver an uplifting positive message of rekindling tribal traditions through humor and healthy lifestyle choices including wellness, fitness, and saying no to drugs, alcohol, and domestic abuse. Participants will come away with a refreshed sense of pride in their work. Those who work with victims of crime suffer from high rates of burnout and frustration. This comedy will remind the audience to take the time to smile and laugh as a testament to survival and resilience. Indian people utilize humor for healing. We feel that these performers utilize humor appropriately and respectfully as they also carry a message of utilizing cultural values as a way to heal and cope with trauma.

Juli Ana Grant is a Policy Advisor in the Office on Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) at the United States Department of Justice. Prior to her position at SMART, Ms. Grant worked for the Office on Violence Against Women at the United States Department of Justice. Prior to her work at the Department of Justice, Ms. Grant was the Manager of Sex Offense Management and Domestic Violence Programs and the Tribal Justice Exchange Project at the Center for Court Innovation where she oversaw development and implementation of sex offense management programs, specialized sex offense courts, and domestic violence courts in New York State. Ms. Grant was also a part of the Tribal Justice Exchange Project team, working to ensure tribal communities had access to training and ongoing technical assistance about problem-solving community-based practices. In addition, she provided technical assistance to States on domestic violence issues to help design and develop protocols, research projects, service plans, resources and techniques for documenting results. Before joining the Center, Ms. Grant was the Director of victim services in Brooklyn Criminal, Community and Supreme Courts, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office and the Brooklyn Family Justice Center, overseeing staff providing crisis intervention, social services, restitution and child care to victims of crime.

Jeff L. Grubbe (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians), with his election in 2006, continues a legacy of service on the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Tribal Council, following in his grandfather Lawrence Pierce’s footsteps who previously served on the Tribal Council. Preceding his appointment, Mr. Grubbe worked as a data entry clerk in the Trust Enforcement Support Activities (TESA) department for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1999, Mr. Grubbe entered the Agua Caliente Resort and Spa tribal intern program where he worked in the casino as a table games shift manager. His experience eventually led to his involvement in other Tribal service including the Agua Caliente Child Development Committee, the Agua Caliente Election Board, the Gaming Commission, and the Tribal Building Committee. Mr. Grubbe later joined the Agua Caliente Development Authority (ACDA) and has been involved with the authority since 2003. He continues to serve as the Tribal Council Liaison. While working in the casino, Mr. Grubbe attended the University of Redlands and earned a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems. He also has an associate arts degree from Haskell Indian Nations University.

Leslie A. Hagen serves as the Department of Justice’s first National Indian Country Training Coordinator. In this position, she is responsible for planning, developing and coordinating training in a broad range of matters relating to the administration of justice in Indian Country. Previously, Hagen served as the Native American Issues Coordinator in the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. In that capacity, she served as EOUSA’s principal legal advisor on all matters pertaining to Native American issues, among other law enforcement program areas; provides management support to the United States Attorneys’ Offices (USAOs); and coordinates and resolves legal issues. Hagen is also a liaison and technical assistance provider to Justice Department components and the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on Native American Issues. Hagen started with the Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the Western District of Michigan. As an AUSA, she was assigned to Violent Crime in Indian Country handling federal prosecutions and training on issues of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse affecting the eleven federally recognized tribes in the Western District of Michigan. Ms. Hagen has worked on criminal justice issues related to child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault for over 20 years. Ms. Hagen is a graduate of Alma College and Valparaiso School of Law.

Chia Halpern (Spirit Lake) is a member of the Spirit Lake Dakota Tribe. She is also part Turtle Mountain Chippewa and Cayuga from the Six Nations Reserve. Chia is the Tribal Court Specialist for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. Chia received her bachelor of arts in political science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005 and her juris doctorate from Arizona State University’s College of Law in December 2008. Previously she was the Program Manager for the Morris K. and Stewart L. Udall Foundation Native American Congressional Internship Program. Prior to her work for the Udall Foundation, Chia worked within the Office of the General Counsel for the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma and as a Prosecutor for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

Carly Hare (Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and a descendant of the Yankton Sioux Tribe) joined Native Americans in Philanthropy as the Executive Director in November 2010 after having been a voting member for five years, serving on the institute planning committee for three years, and on the NAP Board of Directors for a year. Carly serves on the Joint Affinity Group’s Steering Committee and D5 Leadership Team. Carly held the position of the Director of Development for the Native American Rights Fund from 2009-2010. She served as Director of Programs for The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County for five years. In 2006, Carly was selected as an Emerging Leader in International Philanthropy Fellow through the Center of Philanthropy and Civil Society at the City University of New York.

Tania Harvey (Navajo), a Navajo from Chinle, Arizona, has been the Domestic Violence/Victim Witness Advocate and the Domestic Violence Action Team Coordinator for the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation since 2002. Prior to Fort McDowell, she was a Victim Advocate on the Navajo Nation under the Criminal Investigations section and a volunteer as a safe house/crisis worker for the local domestic violence shelter in Chinle. Currently, she provides direct victim services, community education, and awareness on domestic violence, sexual assault, teen dating violence, and stalking to the community of Fort McDowell. The Domestic Violence Action Team is a ten-member group that consists of various professions within Fort McDowell and provides several activities, events, participation, community workshops, youth workshops, and employee trainings, and most recently, as a program, produced a film on domestic violence. Tania is also a member of the Southwest Indigenous Women’s Coalition, which provides technical assistance to various tribes within the Southwest region.

Gertrude Heavy Runner (Blackfeet) is a distinguished tribal Elder grounded in the language and traditions of her people. Ms. Heavy Runner (Buffalo Head Woman) is the mother of thirteen children, which included the late Bonnie Heavy Runner (Sim-Sin). Gertrude’s parents, John and Mary Ground, were longtime keepers of the Thunder Bundle, and today Gertrude is the keeper of the Blacktail Bundle. At the same time, she traveled extensively to Catholic pilgrimages in France (Lourdes), Egypt (Jerusalem), Rome (Papal Audience), Mexico (Our Lady of Guadalupe), Turkey, Germany, Austria, and Canada.

Aislinn Heavy Runner-Rioux (Blackfeet) is a doctoral student in educational leadership with a focus on higher education administration. Aislinn serves as the Assistant to the Dean of the Graduate School and the Indigenous Graduate Education Liaison at the University of Montana. She is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Scholar, Washington Native American Fellow, and American Association of University Women Scholar. She is the daughter of Bonnie Heavy Runner.

Suzanne Breedlove Heckmaster has been employed at the District Attorneys’ Council since 1983. She holds the position as Administrator of the Oklahoma Crime Victims Compensation Program and the Victims of Crime Act grant in Oklahoma. Suzanne has extensive experience with victims’ compensation issues in the state and has acquired a Certificate in Victims Assistance through Washburn University in Kansas. Suzanne also holds a business degree from the Western International University and has a history of writing proposed legislation and witnessing the adoption of those proposals for the enhancement of Oklahoma’s Crime Victims Compensation Act. Suzanne has been instrumental in managing the Crime Victims Compensation Fund from a zero balance to a ten million dollar surplus. On the national level, Suzanne assisted the National Association of Crime Victims Compensation Boards in drafting the first Mass Casualty Protocol Manual for Victims Compensation Programs. Also Suzanne assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime, with the writing of The Oklahoma City Bombing After Action Report and the contents of the 9/11 After Action Report. Recently, Suzanne applied for and received the first three-year State-Tribal Crime Victim Liaison Demonstration Program.

Sally Ann Hencken is currently the Chief of the Victim/Witness Section at the California Emergency Management Agency where she has been employed since December 2000. Prior to her assignment with the State of California, Ms. Hencken has served in various capacities in nonprofit, community based organizations including Director of Development, Associate Vice President of Development and Executive Director. Prior to her non-profit and state government experience, Hencken served in local government, working for Sacramento’s former Mayor, Joe Serna Jr. (deceased) as his district director serving the constituents of Sacramento. Sally received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Work, with a concentration on Community Organization and a minor in Business from California State University, Sacramento. Sally is a third generation Sacramentan and makes her home in Sacramento, CA.

Brian Hendrix brings a great deal of experience in working with Oklahoma tribes and federal grants to the District Attorneys Council. He previously served as the Executive Director for the Payne County Drug Court Program and as a member on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. During his tenure at the Payne County Drug Court, Mr. Hendrix served as a faculty member for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals Tribal Training Initiative and the Native American Alliance Foundation. His role as a faculty member afforded him the opportunity to interact with tribal leaders from Oklahoma and other states across the nation while assisting them in the development and implementation of Healing to Wellness Courts. Prior to his work in Payne County, Mr. Hendrix delivered and coordinated children’s protective services first as a Child Protection Worker and then as the Indian Child Welfare Coordinator for Muscogee Creek Nation. He has a bachelor of arts degree in psychology.

Sarah Henry is an Attorney Advisor for the National Center on Protection Orders and Full Faith and Credit, a project of the Battered Women’s Justice Project. The mission of the National Center on Protection Orders and Full Faith and Credit is to promote and facilitate nationwide implementation of the full faith and credit provision of the Violence Against Women Act and enforcement of the federal firearm prohibitions and the federal domestic violence/stalking criminal provisions. Prior to assuming the Attorney Advisor position with National Center on Protection Orders and Full Faith and Credit, Ms. Henry worked as a teacher. Ms. Henry is a graduate of the University of Colorado Law School.

Holly Hensher (Karuk) is the Tribal Liaison for the Office of the District Attorney, County of Humboldt. Prior to this position, Holly worked for the Karuk Tribe. Holly started with the Karuk Tribe by volunteering her time writing a grant that would fund the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Program. Over the next twelve years, Holly would work for the Karuk Tribe in various capacities focusing on cultural resources and youth services. Holly held the positions of Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Coordinator, Summer Youth Program Site Supervisor, Intertribal Youth Salmon Camp/Karuk Representative, and the American Indian Child Abuse Treatment Program Naa Vura Yeeshiip Director and Cultural Coordinator. Holly sat on numerous committees including Karuk Tribal Youth Council Advisory Committee and the Karuk Tribe Pikyav Domestic Violence Education and Awareness Committee. Outside of work she was a member of the Orleans Elementary School Site Council, a Site Council Representative for Karuk Tribal Headstart and North Coast Regional Headstart, and the Orleans Representative for the Klamath-Trinity Little League. Holly is from the Salmon River; she is a Karuk tribal member, regalia maker, basket weaver, and traditional practitioner. She is the proud mother of two boys, and they now make their home in McKinleyville, California.

Marnie Hodahkwen (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) currently serves as an Assistant General Counsel for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community representing several of the Community’s public safety and human services departments. She recently served as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) and Deputy Tribal Liaison for the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Arizona. As an AUSA, Marnie prosecuted illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses as well as Indian Country violent crime matters. In her role as the Deputy Tribal Liaison, Marnie helped direct the Office’s relationships with the 22 tribal governments in Arizona. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Marnie was the Policy Advisory for Tribal Affairs and Deputy General Counsel to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. Marnie earned her Bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctorate from Arizona State University. She is a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

Beth Holger-Ambrose is the Homeless Youth Services Coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Office of Economic Opportunity. This position includes administration of federal and state funding streams; public policy and legislative work; research; evaluation; program development; and the coordination of services for runaway, sexually exploited, and homeless youth in Minnesota. She is also the State Project Director for a collaborative Tribal Homeless Youth Program. Prior to working at the Department of Human Services, Holger-Ambrose worked for Avenues for Homeless Youth and the Bridge (both in Minneapolis) with street outreach, emergency shelter, transitional living program, and independent living skills programs for runaway and homeless youth. She also works at Kennedy High School coaching cross country and track and field. She is a volunteer for Legal Aid and Big Brothers/Big Sisters; is a board member for Oasis for Youth; has published research in the Journal of Adolescent Health and the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse; and is a recipient of the Virginia McKnight-Binger Award in Human Service (2005) and a Bush Leadership Fellowship (2012). She has a bachelor of arts in political science and cultural anthropology and master of arts in nonprofit management and administration, both from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Tia Holley has more than fifteen years experience creating and presenting a multitude of informational/education groups, classes, and workshops from child sexual abuse, domestic violence, to addictions and co-occurring disorders. Holley has worked individually and collaboratively with public, private, tribal, state, and national individuals and organizations to establish culturally considerate professional strategies addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and addictions issues. Holley has developed treatment and victim response plans relevant to Alaska Native populations in the fields of substance abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault, and child abuse. Holley has produced training programs for providers in Alaska’s social service fields that are holistic and culturally sensitive to the unique needs of rural and urban Alaskans and is experienced in client assessments, admission, and case management. Holley has firsthand knowledge of bylaws/policies from creating a nonprofit organization to help child abuse survivors and their loved ones to find resources and support and to bring awareness and community involvement in ending child abuse in Alaska, which gave her proficiency in public relations, volunteer recruiting, coordinating special events, promotional work, and fundraising. Holley received her bachelor of science degree from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 2012.

Christopher Holloway is Team Leader for the Federal, International and Tribal Victims Division in the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). In this role, he is responsible for day to day leadership of OVC’s programs to support victims of Federal crimes, terrorism and mass casualty victimization occurring domestically and abroad impacting U.S. Citizens, and victimization in American Indian/Alaska Native communities. He is also responsible for oversight of the Federal Victim Notification System (VNS), the victims-witness specialist in each United States Attorneys’ Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ victim specialist program. Prior to joining OVC, Mr. Holloway was a Team Leader in Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) where he spent more than ten years developing and managing the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) Task Force program, as well as initiatives to prevent and respond to missing and exploited children. Prior to joining the DOJ, Mr. Holloway worked for nearly ten years in direct children’s services as an educator and counselor in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems in Minnesota and Virginia. Mr. Holloway holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and advanced academic training in Secondary Education from the University of Minnesota.

Donna Horton (Ahtna Athabaskan) has been practicing therapy focusing on culturally appropriate treatment for anger management, posttraumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, anxiety and depressive disorders, use of traditional healing treatment methods, and historical trauma for more than twenty-five years. She is an Ahtna Athabaskan with roots in Copper Center, Alaska.

Eileen Hudon (Anishinabe from White Earth) grew up in Mahnomen, Minnesota, on the White Earth Reservation and has lived in the metro area of Minneapolis and St. Paul since 1955. Eileen’s family moved to Minneapolis during the "Relocation" of Native people from their homelands. She has four children, nine grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters. Since 1973, she has been an advocate/activist to end violence against women. She has lived at the Elder’s Lodge since 2009.

Donna Humetewa (Hopi) is Program Manager of the Nakwatsvewat Institute, a Native American, nonprofit organization that works with Native communities to develop and enhance their governance, justice, and education opportunities. Ms. Humetewa has been working with Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts since their early inception. She assisted in the implementation of the Juvenile Drug Court and Family Drug Court of the Hopi Tribe, and served as Grant Manager and Supervisor of Probation. She has since served as a trained facilitator serving tribal courts throughout Indian country, including through the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, the Offices of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, and Fox Valley Technical College Criminal Justice Division. Ms. Humetewa is well experienced in Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts, treatment, cultural sensitivity, and incorporation of custom and tradition into court settings.

Valaura Imus (Hopi) has worked for the Department of the Interior, Office of Law Enforcement and Security for the past three years. She is the first Victim Specialist to work with crime victims served by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Previously she worked for five years as the Program Director of the Hopi Domestic Violence Program on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. She also served as Legal Advocate for the Office of the Hopi Tribal Prosecutor for almost two years. Ms. Imus recently received the Department of the Interior’s Certificate of Appreciation for her excellent leadership during the installation and development of the department’s Victim Assistance Program at the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Phoenix Office. She has received other awards as well, and regularly teaches at national and local conferences. Ms. Imus has a bachelor of science degree in Health Promotion from Northern Arizona University, and is certified as a Domestic Violence Trainer by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

Ethleen Ironcloud-Two Dogs (Oglala Sioux), Sina Ikikcu Win (Takes the Robe Woman), lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, during the academic year, and her permanent residence is in Porcupine, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She is enrolled with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and also has Crow ancestry on her mother’s side. Her parents are the late Pehin Sapa Win (Black Hair Woman [Mary Locke Iron Cloud]) and Isto Wanjila (One Arm [Eddie Iron Cloud Jr.]) and her grandparents include the late Hehaka Wankatuye Najin (Elk Stands High [Edward Iron Cloud Sr.]), Taopi Sica (Bad Wound), James Locke, Hail Good Pipe Locke, and Mila Yatan Pika (Knife Chief). She serves on the Rosalyn Carter Mental Health Task Force and is a member of the First Nations Behavioral Health Association and the Mila Yatan Pika Pte Oyate Okolakiciye (Knife Chief Buffalo Nation Organization). Ethleen holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, has a master of science in counseling and human resource development, and is a doctoral student at Colorado State University studying education, culture, and language. Ethleen has more than twenty-five years of experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating culturally based programs for children, youth, and families in the areas of substance abuse, mental health, education, and juvenile justice.

Charlene Jackson (Navajo) has extensive judicial experience, both within Indian country and in the state court systems. Ms. Jackson currently serves as an Associate Judge for the Town of Paradise Valley, Arizona, but has also served as Chief Judge and Associate Judge for the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Appellate Judge for the Hualapai Nation Court of Appeals, Judge Pro Tempore for the Gila River Indian Community, and Associate Judge for the Ak-Chin Indian Community. Ms. Jackson has extensive experience presiding over Wellness Court cases, and is experienced with many of the complex legal issues facing drug courts, especially Tribal Wellness Courts given the often-complex jurisdictional issues within Indian country. Ms. Jackson has presented on tribal-state collaboration, the Tribal 10 Key Components, and opportunities within the Tribal Law and Order Act for Tribal Wellness Courts.

Gina Jackson (Western Shoshone), MSW, is a member of the Te-Moak Western Shoshone Tribe. She is a Model Court Liaison for the Model Court Project in the Permanency Planning for Children Department of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. She holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Nevada, Reno. As a Model Court Liaison, Ms. Jackson works to help improve the outcomes for abused and neglected children and their families across the country in implementing and sustaining systems change and best practices through the courts. She provides technical assistance to states and tribes on court collaboration.

Lisa Jaeger has served as Tribal Government Specialist for the Tanana Chiefs Conference in Fairbanks Alaska since 1979. The Tanana Chiefs is a Native-owned and -operated nonprofit corporation that provides technical assistance and service delivery to thirty-seven federally recognized tribes in the Interior of Alaska. She has undergraduate degrees in biology and secondary education, and a master’s degree in northern studies and Indian law from the universities of Arizona and Alaska. Lisa has traveled extensively into the villages of the Interior and throughout Alaska assisting tribes in designing tribal government structures and procedures and drafting and amending constitutions, tribal codes, and policies. She has been heavily involved in assisting tribes in the development of their tribal courts and community peacemaking circles. Lisa teaches tribal government courses for the University of Alaska, National Judicial College; produces educational materials for tribal government development; and is the author of handbooks for Alaska tribes on tribal government, ordinance drafting, youth court development, and tribal court development. Lisa produces films on tribal court development and federal Indian law, including Tribal Nations: The Story of Federal Indian Law, and is near completion of a new documentary film on how federal Indian law applies in Alaska.

Ruth Jewell (Penobscot) is an enrolled citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation of Indian Island, Maine. Ruth has been providing cultural information about the unique barriers and challenges that Native people face when experiencing domestic violence and sexual assault, teen dating violence, stalking, and elder abuse. She began her formal work in this about ten years ago at Spruce Run in Bangor, a non-Native domestic violence program where she was the Penobscot Nation Advocate and Justice Systems Advocacy Coordinator. During this time she was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Coalition against Domestic Violence, and she now serves as President of the National Coalition’s board. Ruth authored the proposal for Office on Violence Against Women funding to establish a Native domestic violence and sexual assault program for the nation, and when that funding was awarded she moved into the position of Program Coordinator of the Penobscot Nation’s new Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services Program. In this position she was a part of the Leadership Team for Project Connect, the pilot project of the Family Violence Prevention Fund in collaboration with Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Center on Disease Control, and took an active role in ensuring cultural competency in health care and school-based screening and practice.

Mattee Jim (Zuni) is of the Zuni people Clan born for the Towering House People Clan; this is how she describes herself as a Navajo. Mattee has extensive experience in HIV prevention; HIV testing and counseling; community planning on the regional and state level; and training in curriculum development, recruitment, project management, policy development and training, cultural competency trainings, and sensitivity training. Mattee is a Supervisor for HIV Prevention Programs at First Nations Community HealthSource, a member and a Co-Chair of the Transgender Task Force for the New Mexico Community Planning and Action Group, and a decision-making member for the Statewide New Mexico Community Planning and Action Group. She is also on a Community Advisory Board for Shared Action and a National Advisory Board Member of the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health and a Board Member for the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico. She is also a Co-Chair for the New Mexico Transgender Coalition. Mattee easily connects with high-risk populations on a variety of sensitive topics and is skilled in networking and strategizing activities with local, state, and national programs in the areas of improving HIV testing and prevention services for at-risk and underserved populations.

Chai Jindasurat is the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs Coordinator at the New York City Anti-Violence Project. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs is a national coalition that works to prevent, respond to, and end all forms of violence against and within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected (LGBTQH) communities. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs strives to increase power, safety, and resources for LGBTQH communities through data analysis, policy advocacy, education, and technical assistance. Prior to becoming the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs Coordinator, Chai worked as a regional LGBTQ antiviolence organizer in Boston, Massachusetts, and Kansas City, Missouri. Chai has presented for local, regional, and national audiences including the National Center for Victims of Crime annual conference and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Creating Change conference. He has been chosen to attend prestigious national roundtables and forums including the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime’s Vision 21: Enduring Challenges stakeholder forum and the Asian and Pacific-Islander Institute on Domestic Violence’s roundtable, Engaging Asian Men in Gender Equity.

Olin Jones is the Director of the Office of Native American Affairs in the California Attorney General’s Office.

Rebekah Jones (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska), is the Tribal Victim Services Program Manager for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. She began her career with the Potawatomi Tribal Police Department in 1998 as a Dispatcher and assumed the role of Office Manager in 2001. In 2006, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation received a three-year grant to establish the Tribal Victim Assistance Program, which Rebekah has managed since. Today the program has seven full-time staff serving the four tribal communities in northeast Kansas (the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas, Prairie Band Potawatomi, and the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas), as well as members of federally recognized tribes living near the reservation communities. Rebekah attended Haskell Indian Nations University and graduated with highest honors, earning an associate of arts degree, with an emphasis in social work. In 2011, she earned her bachelor of social work, and in 2012 she completed degree requirements for the master of social work degree, both from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Rebekah is Bear Clan of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. She and her partner, Sam, are raising their three young sons on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Reservation north of Topeka, Kansas.

Paula Julian is a Program Specialist for the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, the National Indian Resource Center Addressing Domestic Violence and Safety for Indian Women dedicated to reclaiming the sovereignty of Native nations and safeguarding Native women and their children. Through public awareness and resource development, training and technical assistance, policy development, and research activities, the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center provides leadership advocating for safety from violence within women’s homes and in their community; justice both on and off tribal lands; and access to services designed by and for Native women based on their tribal beliefs and practices. Formerly, Paula was with Sacred Circle as an Outreach Coordinator providing technical assistance and training for Native women’s advocates responding to the immediate crisis needs of women victimized by violence and the social/systems change work inherent in ending violence against Native women crimes.

Douglas George Kanentiio (Akwesasne) Is Akwesasne Mohawk territory and is a lecturer, renowned author, and award-winning journalist. He is nationally recognized as a primary source of information about Iroquois politics and culture. His expertise has been relied upon and sought after by historians, film producers, and television documentary directors. He is a columnist for News From Indian Country and Indian Time publications. Kanentiio’s columns have also been printed in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Toronto Star, Rochester Democrat-Chronicle, Montreal Gazette, The London Free Press, Schenectady Gazette, and the Albany Times Union. For nine years The Syracuse Newspapers printed his columns on the Opinion page. Kanentiio was presented with the Wassaja Award for contributions to journalism, the highest honor bestowed by the Native American Journalists Association, and was also featured in Gentlemen's Quarterly Magazine. Kanentiio was the editor of Akwesasne Notes for six years, a bimonthly international journal about indigenous people worldwide. He also edited Indian Time, a newspaper serving the Mohawk Nation.

Clarina (Clair) M. Kee has worked for the past eleven years in identifying effective trainings and processes for prevention of domestic violence, child abuse, and neglect. In 2001, Clair became involved in Restored Warriors small group ministry in New Mexico. As a volunteer small group leader for Restored Warriors and Open Hearts Ministry, Clair continued her wellness journey. In 2002, Clair crossed paths with the Alaska Natives at the Michigan Survivors of Abuse Leadership Training Seminars and became interested in Southcentral Foundation’s Family Wellness Warriors Initiative in promoting healthy family relationships. Clair joined the Family Wellness Warriors Initiative staff in 2003 in the position of Systems Administrator, and then as Events Supervisor, planning and executing the Arrigah House and Training the Trainers events. Today, Clair is a Training Specialist who develops and implements curriculum and leadership trainings for participants who want to become group leaders and speaker/presenters. She also provides ongoing individualized technical support to all volunteer group leaders and presenters/storytellers for Family Wellness Warriors Initiative events. In addition, Clair develops and presents Family Wellness Warriors Initiative workshops. She fully believes in utilizing practical tools that help hurting individuals process their past abuse and unresolved wounds that lead to inner healing for our training participants.

David P. Kelly, JD, MA, is the Child Welfare Specialist for Court Improvement for the U.S. Children’s Bureau where he administers the State Court Improvement Program and oversees the work of the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Legal and Judicial Issues. Prior to joining the Children’s Bureau, David worked for the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law facilitating a number of short- and long-term training, technical assistance, and assessment projects with states and counties to expedite permanency for children and youth in care, increase court efficacy, improve legal representation, and enhance collaboration between courts and child welfare agencies. He also served as a Senior Assistant Child Advocate for the State of New Jersey Office of the Child Advocate where he investigated state agency responses to allegations of child abuse and neglect; conducted fatality and near-fatality reviews; and led special projects to investigate quality-of-care and service concerns. David began his career at the Youth Advocacy Center of Covenant House New Jersey where he represented homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth on a variety of legal issues and worked on the organization’s policy initiatives.

Mary Lou Leary was appointed Acting Assistant Attorney General on March 1, 2012. As head of the Office of Justice Programs, she oversees an annual budget of more than $2 billion dedicated to supporting state, local, and tribal criminal justice agencies; an array of juvenile justice programs; a wide range of research, evaluation, and statistical efforts; and comprehensive services for crime victims. Prior to her appointment, she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Ms. Leary has 30 years of criminal justice experience at the federal, state, and local levels, with an extensive background in criminal prosecution, government leadership, and victim advocacy. Before joining the Office of Justice Programs in 2009, she was Executive Director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, a leading victim advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. She also served in leadership roles at the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. From 1999 to 2001, she held several executive positions at the Department of Justice, including Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, Deputy Associate Attorney General, and Acting Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. In addition to her years as a federal prosecutor, Ms. Leary prosecuted crimes on the state and local levels as Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. She received her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law, a master’s degree in education from Ohio State University, and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Syracuse University.

Andrea Leoncavallo is a documentary producer, photographer, cinematographer and business owner. She was Senior Producer for Video/Action in Washington, D.C. (2005-2009) where she produced award-winning social justice documentaries for nonprofit and government clients. She has traveled around the world documenting the stories of survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and terrorism. Andrea founded Lionhorse Productions and continues producing powerful documentary material for local and national clients. She is currently shooting a long format documentary for the Office for Victims of Crime about children exposed to violence in Native American and Alaska Native communities in partnership with Video/Action. Andrea has worked as the Managing Director of POWFest (2009-2011) and in 2009, spearheaded the effort to host Kathryn Bigelow in Portland for a successful fundraising screening of her Academy Award winning film, THE HURT LOCKER. Andrea helped found the Portland chapter of Women in Film and has served on the board as the Membership Committee Chair since 2009. She served as President of the board in 2012.

M. Brent Leonhard is an Attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and author of Tribal Contracting: Understanding and Drafting Business Contracts with American Indian Tribes (American Bar Association, 2009). He is the 2012 Chair of the Oregon Bar Association Indian Law Section. In 2008 he had the honor of testifying before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs regarding the Tribal Law and Order Act and federal declinations, and played an active role in pushing that Act forward as it moved through Congress. In 2011 he was appointed to Attorney General Holder’s Federal/Tribal Domestic Violence Taskforce where he is drafting a chapter on criminal jurisdiction for a forthcoming federal prosecutor handbook. He helped lead the CTUIR in achieving full compliance with the Adam Walsh Act, the first jurisdiction in the nation to do so along with the State of Ohio. He also helped lead the CTUIR to implement the felony sentencing provisions of TLOA in March of 2011. Prior to working for the CTUIR, he was the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Walla Walla where he successfully represented the city before the state Supreme Court in Walla Walla v. Greene, 116 P.3d 1008 (July 28, 2005). Prior to that he was the lead prosecutor for the White Mountain Apache Tribe and served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for Arizona in that capacity. He began his career first as a deputy and then program manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation’s public defender office.

Michelle J. Leyva joined the Victim Assistance Program (VAP) in February of 2011 and assisted the establishment and development of the VAP on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Michelle’s previous work history encompasses numerous roles in which she served as an advocate for victims. Michelle has been obliged to serve in a variety of legal capacities, including the areas of legal court administration, legal aid, and as a licensed attorney for a mid-sized firm. Michelle also has an extensive background in the field of psychology, serving as a children’s advocate for at-risk youth and a milieu therapist for latency age children. Michelle received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, then went on to achieve her Master’s Degree in Education (Human Development and Psychology) from Harvard University and rounded out her education with a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Florida.

Stephanie Lucero (Mescalero Apache), JD, LLM, a descendant of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, received a master of laws degree in indigenous law and policy from the University of Arizona College of Law and a juris doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, with a certificate in environmental law. Since 2010, Ms. Lucero has served as a Program Specialist for the National Indian Justice Center. Her duties include state and federal grant program management and training and technical assistance for tribal communities. She applies this expertise to National Indian Justice Center projects such as tribal transportation traffic safety and development of tribal utilities including instruction in solid waste management. Ms. Lucero also serves as the Tribal Facilitator for the California Water Plan, Tribal Advisory Committee to the California Department of Water Resources. Prior to working for National Indian Justice Center, she served as Sierra Nevada Coordinator for IDRS, Inc., providing mediation services and coordination to engage tribal governments and communities in the U.S. Forest Service national planning rule revision addressing management and planning on all forest service lands. Ms. Lucero specializes in facilitating effective and strategic communication among tribal, state, and federal agencies with a focus on issues and concerns relating to natural resources.

Brittany Luddington is the Training Project Director with the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Brittany spent the majority of her career in the domestic violence and sexual assault field at the Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living in Fairbanks. Brittany worked as the Rural and Youth Educator at the Interior Alaska Center where she provided prevention workshops to service area school district students, teachers, and staff. The topics covered were personal safety, safe touch versus unsafe touch, bullying, boundary setting, teen dating violence, sexual assault and harassment, conflict resolution, and healthy relationships. She also provided education and advocacy in more than twenty villages. Brittany then went on to work as the Outreach Director offering trainings and workshops to professionals in the community on domestic violence and sexual assault topics and served as a liaison between the agency and the community. From 2009 to 2010 Brittany worked for the Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program with the U.S. Air Force. Brittany received a bachelor’s degree in print journalism with a minor in women’s studies in 2005 from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and is working toward her master of social work degree through the University of New England.

Lawrence Lujan (Tigua Indian Tribe of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo) is a member of and serves as Judge for the Tigua Indian Tribe of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo. He has done so since 2001, serving in the role of Chief Judge for their civil, traffic, and family court and serving as Chief Judge over their juvenile court and juvenile drug court. He has served on the board of directors of the El Paso County Board of Ethics and on the Texas Association of Drug Court Professionals Board of Directors. He is concurrently a Field Operations Sergeant in the El Paso Police Department, Texas, and received his commission in 1990. A longtime member of the El Paso Police Department SWAT team, he was a key player as team leader, lead firearms instructor, and overall tactics instructor of that unit. Mr. Lujan is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force/Texas Air National Guard. He served as a Staff Sergeant in the 204th Security Police security forces squadron whose primary mission was air-base ground defense. He participated in multiple deployments (counter drug and humanitarian) to Latin American (Colombia, Honduras, and Panama). He also deployed to Canadian Forces Base (Cold Lake) in support of Operation Maple Flag and to Spangdahlem Air Base for annual training.

Micah Lunderman (Sicangu Lakota) is a Prevention and Outreach Coordinator for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Defending Childhood Initiative housed in the Office of the Attorney General. She is professionally and personally familiar with the challenges facing youth and children exposed to violence on the Rosebud through her life experiences and community activism. She is also the elected Youth Coordinator for the HeDog Community Council. Previously, she worked for a year as an Outreach Counselor for the Tribe’s suicide prevention program. Ms. Lunderman has been a life-long advocate for youth, serving for several years as a volunteer coach and as a recreational coordinator for the local tribal university, Sinte Gleska. Ms. Lunderman is a certified trainer in the Applied Science Intervention Skills Training for suicide prevention and is also trained in the Question Persuade and Refer suicide intervention. Through her work for the Defending Childhood Initiative, she has become a trainer in Lakota Mental Health First Aid and is trained in victim’s services for children exposed to violence. Ms. Lunderman has attended Si Tanka University and Sinte Gleska University and hopes to receive her Bachelor’s degree in Human Services. Ms. Lunderman was born and raised on the Rosebud reservation, and is the mother to two children, ages 12 and 2.

Juana Majel-Dixon (Pauma-Yuima) is member of the Pauma-Yuima Band of Luiseno Indians and has served as a traditional appointment to the tribal legislative council for thirty years. Juana has been a member of the National Congress of American Indians for thirty years. Over the years Juana has served in various National Congress of American Indians leadership capacities. She serves as the First Vice-President of the National Congress of American Indians. In June 2003, Juana spearheaded the formation of the National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Women and serves as the Co-Chair of the Task Force. Juana has traveled around the world representing the unique perspective of indigenous peoples, raising cultural awareness about such issues as Native sovereignty, tribal justice systems, racism, spirituality, healing, and education. Juana received her doctorate in education and U.S. policy from San Diego State/Claremont Graduate University. She has a master’s degree in behavioral science and a master of science in psychology. She has taught federal Indian law and U.S. policy for twenty-three years at Palomar College and is a visiting professor at San Diego State University, Claremont Graduate University.

Anna Marjavi has worked with Futures Without Violence since 1999. Anna provides technical assistance and program development consultation to cities, states, and American Indian and Alaska Native communities across the United States regarding addressing violence against women, children, and families. Between 2002 and 2009 she managed the Indian Health Service/Administration for Children and Families Domestic Violence Project piloting domestic violence system change work in more than one hundred Indian, tribal, and urban health care facilities in partnership with community-based advocacy programs. During that period, the Indian Health Service Government Performance and Results Act domestic violence screening rate climbed from 4 percent to 48 percent nationally. Anna currently provides technical assistance to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Chippewa Cree Tribe to address children’s exposure to violence as part of the Department of Justice’s Defending Childhood Initiative. Anna also manages the biennial National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence and a graduate student internship program. Prior to working with Futures, Anna worked with the Human Rights Campaign and the Alliance for Justice, and as a volunteer with Communities United Against Violence, Project Open Hand, and Friends of the Urban Forest.

Genevieve Markussen (Yurok) is a tribal member of the Yurok Tribe of California. She is a graduate of Central Valley High School and is in her final year of coursework to complete a bachelor of science degree in kinesiology. Ms. Markussen has dedicated more than fifteen years of experience in youth development and prevention services to tribal communities throughout California. Ms. Markussen has developed many partnerships with California tribal communities through public speaking, workshop presentations, and curricula development. Ms. Markussen is currently the Youth Prevention Coordinator for the Yurok Tribe, working with Yurok youth to develop positive cultural identity and develop core life skills.

Art Martinez (Chumash) is a member of the Chumash, originally from Santa Ynez; he received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the U.S. International College, Los Angeles. Dr. Martinez also holds his master’s degree, bachelor’s degree, and a special emphasis credential in Native studies from the California State Universities, Humboldt and Sonoma. Dr. Martinez has brought more than twenty-five years of experience in focused delivery of clinical and forensic services to children and families surviving the effects of child abuse and other forms of family trauma. As a national consultant to the Department of Health and Human Services, he served in a technical expert capacity and consultation in the regulation, development, evaluation, and education to tribal services needs. Dr. Martinez served as a Clinton administration appointee on the National Advisory Council for SAMHSA and the National Advisory Council for the Centers for Mental Health Services. He has assisted tribal governments in implementation and management of Indian Health Services–funded activities in a culturally and programmatically specific way tailored to the needs of the community and tribe. Dr. Martinez has served in this consultant capacity as a trusted technical expert to administration for Native Americans, the Nation Indian Child Welfare association, the Department of Health and Human Services, and tribal governments.

Joseph Masters was raised in Unalaska, Alaska, and is the Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety for the state of Alaska. Following his graduation from the local high school in 1982, Masters pursued a career in law enforcement that spanned more than twenty-four years. Masters took the necessary steps to become a police officer and walked a beat in Unalakleet and Unalaska. The majority of Masters’s career in law enforcement was within the ranks of the Alaska State Troopers beginning in 1986. In 1999 he transferred to the Division of Fish and Wildlife Protection. While in Fish and Wildlife Protection, he rose to the rank of Captain and was assigned as Commander of the Western Alaska Detachment. Masters became Deputy Director of the Alaska State Troopers in June 2003 and held this position until his retirement in May 2005. Shortly after retirement, Masters began working for Doyon Universal Services as the Director of Security for Petrochemical Operations overseeing protective services for a major part of Alaska’s national and state designated critical infrastructures. In Alaska, he is considered an expert in the area of law enforcement policy, procedures, training, and management. In 2011 he received the President’s Glenn Godfrey Law Enforcement Award from the Alaska Federation of Natives.

Shannon May is a victim services professional with fifteen years of experience providing direct services to victims of crime, delivering training and technical assistance, and managing projects addressing sexual violence. Ms. May serves as the FBI’s National SANE-SART Coordinator. In this position, she provides training and technical assistance to FBI Agents and Victim Specialists on sexual violence; coordinates the activities of the AI/AN SANE-SART Initiative Federal Advisory Committee and tailored training and technical assistance project; and facilitates a victim-centered response to sexual violence in AI/AN communities. As Program Director for Just Detention International, Ms. May oversaw Prison Rape Elimination Act implementation work in Oregon and Texas, including working with prison-based Sexual Assault Response Teams; conducting inmate focus groups; and providing training to corrections and government officials, victim service providers, and allied professionals. Ms. May previously served as Resource Delivery Manager for the Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) where she coordinated OVC’s Training Schedule for Victim Service Providers and the delivery of OVC’s National Victim Assistance Academy. Prior to OVC TTAC, Ms. May served as National Hopeline Network Director for a federal suicide prevention grant. Ms. May also has provided direct services to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence as a Rape Crisis Advocate for CONTACT Delaware and as Special Projects Coordinator for the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

George McCauley (Omaha Nation) is the QUICWA Administrator, QUICWA Compliance Collaborative/Indian Child Welfare Program at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. In 1999 he was part of the team that designed the Minneapolis American Indian Center’s Indian Child Welfare Act Case Management System. In September 2010, the Minneapolis American Indian Center was awarded a five-year grant for the QUICWA Compliance Collaborative Project. The QUICWA Compliance Collaborative Project will partner with tribes and organizations across the country to monitor compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act, utilizing data to advocate for change at the local level, and support the discussion aimed at improving Indian Child Welfare Act policy and practices on a national level. George’s responsibilities are to provide technical assistance and support to the QUICWA system users and participate with the national trainings, forums, and partner meetings.

Linda McLaughlin (Tlingit) is the Victim Advocate/Trainer for the Alaska Native Justice Center. Originally from Juneau, Linda is Tlingit Indian, of the Shungukeidi, or Eagle Clan. She works with state and municipal agencies, social services, medical, and village leaders to provide a more thorough base of services to families in Alaska. Linda conducts custody and divorce clinics. Linda is available to provide a Native and cultural component to conferences for regional and community settings. Alaska Native Justice Center and the state of Alaska conducted the three-year project, State Tribal Forums, for which Linda was a trainer. She previously worked as a Rural Outreach Educator, conducting personal safety trainings with populations from Head Start age through adults in communities statewide. Linda has worked with providing services to the disabilities population, specific to domestic violence and sexual assault.

Kelly Meacham has been a BIA Victim Specialist since September 2011. As a Victim Specialist, his job is to work with victims of crimes in Indian Country. Mr. Meacham assists victims of crime when both federal courts and tribal courts have jurisdiction. As a Victim Specialist, Mr. Meacham begins working with victims of crime in the investigation stage and continues through the court process. Prior to working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Mr. Meacham worked with a county prosecutors’ office in Kansas City, Missouri as well as the Navajo Nation Office of Hearings and Appeals in Window Rock, Arizona.

Robert Medina (Pueblo of Zia) is a member of the Pueblo of Zia; he is half Jemez and Zia Indian. He received his bachelor of arts in criminology from the University of New Mexico, summa cum laude, and his juris doctorate from the University of New Mexico School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in New Mexico. He is an Associate Judge for the Pueblo of Isleta, a Justice on the Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals, and an Associate Justice for the Pueblo of San Ildefonso Supreme Court. He was the former Chief Judge for the Pueblo of Zia. He has also served as pro-tem judge for the Pueblo of Tesuque, Pueblo of Laguna, and Pueblo of Isleta. He is the Tribal Co-Chair for the New Mexico Tribal-State Judicial Consortium and on the Advisory Committee for the Tribal Law and Order Commission. He has sat on the boards with the Sandoval County DWI task force, New Mexico Behavior Health Local Collaborative 16, and the T’siya Elementary and Middle School board. He is a Pueblo of Zia Tribal Councilman and has served two terms as a tribal official for the Pueblo of Zia. Before law school he worked in corporate and campus security.

Ada Pecos Melton (Jemez Pueblo) is President of American Indian Development Associates and an enrolled citizen of the Pueblo of Jemez. She specializes in the design and management of culturally relevant research and evaluation focused on criminal justice systems and interventions in Indian country. She serves as co-Principal Investigator for the cross-site evaluation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Tribal Green Reentry Program. She is also Principal Investigator for the Needs Assessment of Tribal Juvenile Justice Systems among the nineteen New Mexico pueblos and the Mescalero Tribe as well as Principal Investigator on the Osage Nation Evaluation of the Tribal Youth Program. She also served as a consultant to RTI on the Study of Federal and Tribal Responses to Violence Against Women in Indian Country and the Study of Violence and Victimization Experiences of Indian Women Living in Tribal Communities. Previously, she led the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention–funded Study of the Causes and Correlates of Juvenile Crime, Delinquency and Violence in the five Sandoval Pueblos. In 1998, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention recognized her with an Outstanding Achievement award for Work Advancing the Needs of Indian Children. Since 2005, Ms. Melton has chaired the New Mexico Tribal Juvenile Justice Council.

Kent Miller (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska) has been the Victim Outreach Advocate for the Tribal Victim Assistance since April 2010 and previously worked for the Prairie Band Judicial Council Center as a Court Services Officer from 2007 to 2010. Today he works for a program providing advocacy services to Native American crime victims that serves the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas, and the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, along with any tribal members of other nations residing in these communities. He is a former student of Kansas University, Haskell Indian Nations University, and Washburn University and recently graduated from Friends University earning a degree in leadership and business management. Currently, he is collaborating with Rebekah Jones and has implemented a "healing through art" program on the Prairie Band Reservation that assists "survivors" in dealing with the traumas of domestic and sexual violence by allowing them the opportunity to recover a sense of safety, relaxation, power, possibility, and identity through the use of creative expression. They provide workshops to children, women, and other providers that serve the people on the reservation. Kent is a member of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. He is the father of seven children.

Shelley Miller is the project director for the Grants to Tribal Governments Legal Assistance Project.

Paul Minehart, JD, has worked exclusively in Indian child welfare for twenty-one years. Mr. Minehart is the Project Director for the QUICWA Compliance Collaborative at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. The QUICWA Compliance Collaborative, a national consortium of tribes, urban organizations, and advocacy groups, seeks to reduce institutionalized racism in state child welfare systems. Also at the Minneapolis American Indian Center, he was the Indian Child Welfare Act Compliance Advisor overseeing the substantive aspects of the QUICWA Case Management and Compliance Monitoring system; was the Court Monitor, where he monitored the state child welfare system for compliance with Indian Child Welfare Act; and served as Co-Chair of the Indian Child Welfare Act Compliance Review Team, which investigated reports of noncompliance received by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Mr. Minehart also served on the Minnesota Child Welfare Training System Central Steering Committee. He served on the Minnesota Tribal/State Agreement Renegotiation Workgroup, which revised the Tribal/State Agreement between the state of Minnesota and the eleven tribal governments located within the boundaries of Minnesota. The Tribal/State Agreement focuses on implementation of Indian Child Welfare Act laws and policy by state. Mr. Minehart serves as Treasurer for the Board of Directors for the First Nations Reparation Institute.

Pamela Moore is the Director of the Institute for Native Justice for the American Indian Resource Center. Prior to that, she served more than ten years as the founding Executive Director of Help In Crisis. She has devoted her career to assisting victims of crime in the rural and tribal community of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Ms. Moore has thirty-two years of experience with program planning and proposal writing, nonprofit administration, community organizing, and special events fundraising. She served on the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, where she worked on the first protective order legislation. In 1995, Ms. Moore was selected to establish the Victim Services Unit for the four-county prosecutorial District 27 of northeastern Oklahoma. During her eight years in this position, she was responsible for the creation of the Homicide Response Team and implemented the Crime Victims Clinic for responding to multiple victimization incidents. Ms. Moore also consulted for the Oklahoma Regional Community Policing Institute to offer training on domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking crimes to law enforcement and advocate personnel throughout the state. She provided consultation and training for Unified Solutions, which is the training and technical assistance provider for Office for Victims of Crime’s Tribal Victim Assistance program.

Lori Moriarty (retired) began her career in law enforcement in Colorado with the Thornton Police Department in October 1987 where she held numerous positions. From 2000 to 2006 she was assigned as the Commander of the North Metro Task Force, which is a multijurisdictional undercover drug unit in Adams and Broomfield counties, just north of Denver, Colorado. In that position Cmdr. Moriarty was instrumental in implementing protocols for the safe investigation of methamphetamine labs and undercover drug operations. For the last four years Cmdr. Moriarty has helped with the growth and development of the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, a nonprofit organization that was established out of a grassroots movement, where she is currently the Vice President. Cmdr. Moriarty has been involved in training tens of thousands of professionals across the nation on the plight of drug endangered children. In April 2005, Cmdr. Moriarty testified before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. on H.R. 1528, Defending America’s Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005. In 2008, Cmdr. Moriarty became a foster parent to a newborn child and his two-year-old brother who were at risk due to a caregiver’s cocaine use.

Ryan Morse has served as a budget analyst with the Office of Justice Programs for seven years and recently graduated from the Department of Justice Leadership Excellence and Achievement Program. Prior to joining the Office of Justice Programs, he worked for the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Mr. Morse holds a M.A. in public policy from the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and a B.A. in political science from the College of Wooster.

Lauree Morton is the Executive Director of the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in the Department of Public Safety for the state of Alaska. As the Executive Director at Tundra Women’s Coalition, Lauree gained firsthand experience in working with a board of directors, applying for state and federal grants, engaging in political discourse, and complying with the council’s regulations as a grantee. Tundra Women’s Coalition is an organizational member of the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and as a representative, Lauree served that agency as Secretary and President of its Steering Committee. Lauree moved to Juneau in 1994 accepting the Executive Director position at the Network, serving in that capacity for ten years. During her tenure at the Network, Lauree established the Legal Advocacy Project and guided Alaska’s participation in the national 10 State Health Initiative and the Model Code Project of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. She formed the Network’s Training Project, and the Network was a successful applicant to participate in the Centers for Disease Control’s Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership through Alliances prevention project. Lauree was named Executive Director of the council on July 7, 2011.

Joyce Moser has been employed at the Humboldt County Office of the District Attorney for the past thirty years as a Victim Witness Coordinator. Joyce is a member of the Yurok Tribe, the Inter-Tribal Women’s Advocacy Network, the Northern California Tribal Healing Coalition, California Crime Victims Assistance Association, Humboldt County Sexual Assault Response Team, Humboldt County Child Abuse Services Team, Humboldt Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, and the Humboldt County District Attorney and Tribal Governments Roundtable. Joyce has dedicated her professional career to advocating for positive change in attitudes, policies, and practices in victim services. Joyce believes co-advocacy is the key in our attempt to see that those harmed by crime do not fall through the cracks of the very systems that were created to protect them.

Shirley Moses (Inupiaq Eskimo) obtained her master’s degree in education from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. She taught K–8 for many years in the Yukon-Koyukuk and Iditarod school districts. Shirley also worked as a coordinator for behavioral health services for at-risk children. She has managed behavioral health assisted-living homes. Shirley developed curriculum for University Alaska, Fairbanks Environmental Protection, Effie Kokrine Charter School, and the Yukon Koyukuk School District. She recently worked as a Training Coordinator/Director of Alaska Native Women’s Coalition and remains a strong advocate for Native women.

Thomas L. Murphy is currently the Deputy General Counsel for the Gila River Indian Community in southern Arizona. Mr. Murphy has worked at the Community for several years, previously serving as Litigation Counsel and Senior Counsel. Previously, Tom was in private practice in New Mexico for several years, specializing in trial and appellate litigation in federal, state and tribal courts. Tom has particular interests and expertise in civil litigation involving Indian tribes and protecting tribal sovereignty. In his legal career, Tom has appeared and argued before the Supreme Court of New Mexico, the Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation, the Gila River Indian Community Court of Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Tenth Circuits. Tom is licensed to practice law in New Mexico, Arizona, the Navajo Nation, the Gila River Indian Community, and federal courts in New Mexico and Arizona.

Raquelle Myers (Pinoleville Band of Pomo Indians) is a member of the Pinoleville Band of Pomo Indians. She received her bachelor of arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a juris doctorate from the University of Utah. She serves as Staff Attorney for the National Indian Justice Center and as the Chief Judge/Administrator for the Intertribal Court of California, a court of limited jurisdiction in Northern California. She has served as a member of the National Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect, and also served on the California Department of Social Services Tribal Government Advisory Committee on Indian child welfare. She is a member of the California Judicial Council’s Committee on Access and Fairness, National Organization for Victim Assistance–DSCAAP Panel, and the Child Welfare League of America’s Board of Directors. She serves as a trainer for National Indian Justice Center regional and on-site training sessions developed for tribal government personnel. She also teaches undergraduate courses on federal Indian law, California Indian history, and tribal government at the University of California, Berkeley.

Elton Naswood (Navajo) is of the Near to the Water People Clan, born for the Edge Water People Clan, his maternal grandfather’s clan is of the Mexican People, his paternal grandfather’s clan is of the Tangle People, this is how he is Navajo, Dine. He is originally from Whitehorse Lake, New Mexico, and grew up in Window Rock, Arizona on the Navajo Reservation. He currently resides in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Naswood is a Capacity Building Specialist at the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center (NNAAPC). He was formally the Founder and Program Coordinator for the Red Circle Project, AIDS Project Los Angeles. He was a member of the Community Advisory Council for the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center; Advisory Board for the Office of Minority Health Resource Center, and Board of Directors for the Los Angeles American Indian Community Council. Mr. Naswood received his bachelors of arts degree in sociology and American Indian justice studies from Arizona State University and a master’s degree in American Indian studies at University of California, Los Angeles.

Eric Nation (retired) began his career in law enforcement in the state of Iowa with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office in 1995 where he has held numerous positions. From 1996 to 2002, Nation was assigned to an undercover narcotics unit in Polk, Dallas, and Jasper Counties in Central Iowa and from 2007 to 2012 was assigned as the Commander of the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Taskforce–Eastside, which is a multijurisdictional undercover narcotics unit in Central Iowa. Nation helped start and develop the Jasper County Drug Endangered Children program, is a member of the National DEC Criminal Justice Working Group, and the Iowa DEC Steering Committee. Nation is a Certified Core DEC Instructor and has been involved in the training of thousands of professional across the state of Iowa and the United States as a Trainer for the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children. Nation’s efforts toward Drug Endangered Children in Jasper County earned him the 2011 National Drug Endangered Children Collaborative Leadership Award, and he was invited to participate in the Defending Childhood Initiative and Working Group Meeting on Law Enforcement and Children’s Exposure to Violence in Washington, D.C.

Jeremy NeVilles-Sorrell (White Earth Ojibwe) began his career in 1994 supervising visits and exchanges at the Duluth Family Visitation Center and running the Children’s Program at Women’s Transitional Housing Coalition in Duluth, Minnesota. Since 1998 he has worked with Mending the Sacred Hoop providing training and technical assistance.

Kyle Newman was born to Jamie and Patrick Osmundson in Bethel, and raised by his mom and grandma. He has one sister and recently reconnected with his biological father after twenty-six years. He has strong family ties to the YK-Delta, and moved to Anchorage when he was five years old. Kyle spent every summer in Bethel and Napakiak and enjoyed playing with his cousins outside his uncle’s store. Kyle married his best friend Jeni in August 2010, and they enjoy all that Alaska has to offer from skiing to rock climbing. Currently, Kyle is working on his master’s degree in counseling. Kyle has been a Family Wellness Warriors Initiative Advocate since February 2011 and hopes to bring healing to his people, especially his family. He dreams of a community free of abuse and addition. In his heart he knows that sharing one’s story is the key to healing and restoration.

Arlene O’Brien (Tohono O’odham) is an enrolled citizen of the Tohono O’odham Nation and the co-author of SAFESTAR: Sexual Assault Forensic Exams, Services, Training, Access, and Resources. She serves as a Director of the Southwest Center for Law and Policy, which is a training and technical assistance provider for the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S Department of Justice, and is the parent organization of the National Tribal Trial College; Sexual Assault Forensic Exams, Services, Training, Access, and Resources; and the National Indian Country Clearinghouse on Sexual Assault.

Jane Palmer is a Research Associate with the National Institute of Justice at the Office of Justice Programs. Ms. Palmer works in the Office of Research and Evaluation and is primarily responsible for assisting with the planning, development, and implementation of the research program on violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women authorized under Title IX, Section 904 of the 2005 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Ms. Palmer is currently a PhD student in the Department of Justice, Law, and Society at American University in Washington, D.C. She received her master’s degree in social work from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago and her bachelor of arts in sociology from Smith College.

Deborah Parker (Tulalip) is the Vice Chair of the Tulalip Tribe. She is an enrolled member of the Tulalip Tribe and of Apache ancestry. She carries her great grandmother’s Indian name, "tsi--‐cy--‐altsa." She graduated with a bachelor of arts in American ethnic studies from the University of Washington in 1994. She is also a mother to three beautiful children, Cedar, Wetuah, and Kayah Rose. Deborah is a survivor of domestic and sexual violence. She worked as the Tobacco Education Coordinator for the Tulalip Health Clinic and implemented new and exciting programming for youth, adults, and Elders. Her favorite style of teaching is through humor and theater. Her lifelong dream is to honor her ancestors by giving back to her community in a culturally respectful manner. She incorporates her passion into her work and brings excitement to personal growth and healing. Sarah Deer had the chance to meet Deborah when she recently spoke at a press conference about her victimization regarding the Violence Against Women Act. Her speech has completely mobilized the tribal government. Activists and advocates in the community are now exposing perpetrators, and people are being held accountable. She is an incredible, compelling speaker and is 100 percent committed to justice for victims in her community.

Michelle Rivard Parks is a licensed attorney in the state of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, and the Spirit Lake Tribal Court. Mrs. Parks is an appointed member of the North Dakota Supreme Court State and Tribal Court Committee. In 2011 she was appointed by U.S. Attorney Eric Holder to serve on the U.S. Department of Justice Violence Against Women Federal and Tribal Prosecution Task Force. Mrs. Parks served as the Chief Prosecutor for the Spirit Lake Nation for approximately four years and served the tribe as Tribal Attorney until the fall of 2012. In 2008 Mrs. Parks was appointed as a Special Judge in the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa jurisdiction. In the fall of 2003, she joined the staff at the University of North Dakota School of Law as an Adjunct Professor. Additionally in 2003, Mrs. Parks was hired to serve as a Tribal Justice Specialist for the Tribal Judicial Institute to provide technical assistance to tribal courts in conjunction with a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. In 2005 Mrs. Parks became the Associate Director of the Tribal Judicial Institute at the University of North Dakota School of Law where she continues to provide training and technical assistance to tribal, state, and federal officials, judges, and personnel.

Elizabeth Pecos (Jemez Pueblo) is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Jemez. She attended the University of Massachusetts where she studied communication and film studies. She specializes in ethnology and ethnographic research, especially the ethnography of indigenous Native populations of North America. Ms. Pecos produced and directed the short documentary We Are Still Here for the 2011 International Documentary Challenge, which is a brief exploration of Native issues past and present and what the general hope for indigenous people’s future is. Ms. Pecos has worked closely with American Indian Development Associates of Albuquerque, New Mexico, as an interviewer for several studies conducted in a collaborative effort by American Indian Development Associates, the Department of Justice, and the National Institute of Justice. She was an interviewer for the Violence Against Indian Women pilot study and the Communities Putting Prevention to Work Program study, both conducted in Jemez Pueblo. Ms. Pecos is currently working on season 5 of the AMC television show Breaking Bad and has worked on several films and television shows in New Mexico. She is presently working on a documentary project based on her tribe and hopes to further pursue the study of Native issues and her own ethnography through documentary film and writing.

Josette Valerie Two Bulls Peltier (Dakota/Lakota) is a Native American female of Dakota/Lakota descent who was born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to Gayle and Theresa Weston Two Bulls. The youngest of nine children, she graduated from high school in Pine Ridge in 1971 and has an educational background in special education and law enforcement. She went to college in Bismarck, North Dakota, at the United Tribes Technical College and received a certificate in police science in February 1985. Her career in law enforcement flourished in the states of South Dakota and North Dakota as a police officer with the city of Dunseith and as a tribal officer on the Cheyenne River and Rosebud Indian reservations. Her goals were to help the youth of our nation in achieving healthy lifestyles. During her years of working with the general public and being able to serve not only my Native relatives but others as well she came to the conclusion that her purpose was to be a positive role model to the people: emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually and to help our youth, our future leaders, become successful and goal oriented in today’s society.

Nigel Perrote (Oneida) is an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology—law, criminology, and deviance—from the University of Minnesota. He worked both on and off the reservation with American Indians in the social service field. He currently works with the Division of Indian Work as Program Director for the Strengthening Family Circles program.

Steven W. Perry is a Statistician for the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. He serves as the Program Manager for the State Court Prosecutors Statistics and the Indian Country Justice Statistics Program liaison. Mr. Perry has authored several Bureau of Justice Statistics publications, including Tribal Crime Data Collection Activities (2010); State Prosecutors Offices with Jurisdiction in Indian Country, 2007 (2010); Improving Criminal History Records in Indian Country, 2004–2006; Prosecutors in State Courts, 2005; Census of Tribal Justice Agencies, 2002; American Indians and Crime, 1992–2001. He has served as the program manager for a variety of Indian country initiatives, including the Recovery Act: Tribal Crime Data Estimation Project and the Tribal Crime Data and Information Sharing Conferences, from 2004 to 2008. Prior to joining the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2003, Mr. Perry served as a Survey Statistician for the Census Bureau. Mr. Perry received his bachelor of arts in sociology with a minor in criminal justice from Norfolk State University and holds a master of arts in sociology with a minor in survey methodology from the Ohio State University. Mr. Perry served in the U.S. Army working in communication security and received the National Defense Medal in 1992.

Jennifer Pierce-Weeks, RN, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner–Adult/Adolescent and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner–Pediatric is Past-President of the International Association of Forensic Nurses and served on the its board from 2006 to 2010. Jennifer is currently a Project Director at the International Association of Forensic Nurses, was Manager of the Forensic Nurse Examiner Program at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, and previously served for twelve years as the Director of the State of New Hampshire Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program. She has twenty-three years of nursing experience; is an educator and expert in the areas of child and adult sexual assault, as well as domestic violence; is a contributing author for several attorney general protocols in New Hampshire; and is published in the Journal of Emergency Nursing and the Journal of Forensic Nursing. Jennifer has extensive experience as a local and national trainer, as well as a clinician, and is an item-writer for the adult and pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner certification programs through the International Association of Forensic Nurses. Additionally Jennifer has been a consultant with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center National Sustainability Project and the SAFESTAR project.

Ronda Pokupec (Yupik) is Yupik and was born in Dillingham, Alaska. She is the daughter of Ron and Anna Berger and granddaughter of Charles and Lillian Berger of Detroit, Michigan, and James "Slim" and Massa Yako of Aleknagik. She and her husband, Joe, have a blended family with six amazing children and one fabulous granddaughter! They migrate with the fishing season to Bristol Bay. Ronda attended her first Family Wellness Warriors Initiative training in February 2004 and for four years volunteered to present and lead small groups for Family Wellness Warriors Initiative. She was hired as an Advocate in March 2008 and is currently the Supervisor of Outreach. She believes we can all heal and learn to be warriors for our families.

Iris PrettyPaint (Blackfeet), PhD, is the Training and Technical Assistance Service Line Director and the Native Aspirations Project Director at Kauffman and Associates, headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Native Aspirations is funded by SAMHSA to provide national training and technical assistance to sixty-five American Indian and Alaska Native villages to reduce violence, bullying, and suicide among youth. The Native Aspirations Project contributes to a nationwide tribal movement toward healing, violence prevention, and positive youth development. Dr. PrettyPaint provides administrative oversight for a ten- member team to conduct data-driven community prevention planning; build community coalitions; and implement evidence-, practice-, and culture-based interventions. She has more than thirty years of experience as an educator, researcher, and evaluator, is a leading authority on cultural resilience, student retention, and indigenous evaluation, and her publications address issues of traditional Native culture and resilience, family support models, cultural and school partnerships, and indigenous theoretical foundations on educational persistence. She has delivered training and technical assistance on a variety of topics, such as the contagion of violence and student retention.

Stanley L. Pryor has devoted much of his career to being focused on awareness, support, encouragement, and empowerment for persons with disabilities, and these remain a current priority for him. For six years, from 2002 to 2008, on a nationwide basis we experienced Mr. Pryor’s professionalism as the Training and Technical Assistance Center Director with Office for Victims of Crime. Bureau of Justice Assistance and Office for Victims of Crime requested that Mr. Pryor organize and facilitate a series of eight meetings for as many as sixteen federal agencies. Under Mr. Pryor’s guidance, training needs were identified, and he was able to develop an effective training plan for forty-three Bureau of Justice Assistance task forces. Mr. Pryor is now Executive Director of Unified Solutions Tribal Community Development, Inc. providing training and technical assistance for American Indian and Alaska Native programs receiving federal grant funds.

Jarvis Qumyintewa (Hopi), from the village of Shungopavi started his law enforcement career in 1995 as a police officer with the Navajo Department of Law Enforcement—Tuba City District. He received his peace officer training and certification through the Navajo Law Enforcement Training Academy. While serving the Tuba City district, he was assigned to Tuba City High School as a School Resource Officer. He also taught the GREAT program at surrounding elementary schools. Jarvis accepted a Patrol Officer position with the Fort McDowell Police Department in January 2001. In May 2002, Jarvis was promoted to a Sergeant’s position overseeing the department’s Community Action Squad. This squad was comprised of School Resource Officers who were responsible for providing crime and substance abuse prevention programs to the youth and community. The squad also acted as liaisons between various departments and committees within the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. Jarvis is currently a Patrol Sergeant with the Fort McDowell Police Department. He is a Firearms Instructor, Radar Instructor, and an active member of the Domestic Violence Action Team. He has participated in providing Domestic Violence Awareness training to the community.

David D. Raasch (Stockbridge-Munsee) is an enrolled member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians and is a Tribal Program Specialist at Fox Valley Technical College’s Criminal Justice Center for Innovation, which provides technical assistance to Native American communities throughout the United States. He also serves as an Associate Judge for his tribe’s tribal court. Prior to joining Fox Valley Technical College, David was a police officer in Shawano, Wisconsin, and then the Clerk of Municipal Court for the City of Green Bay, Wisconsin, for twenty years, retiring in 2004. From 1995 to 2005 he was the Chief Judge of his tribe’s tribal court. Currently he is on the faculty of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada; Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute in West Hollywood, California; and past president of the Wisconsin Tribal Judges’ Association. He assisted in the production of Tribal Nations: The Story of Federal Indian Law, which is a sixty-minute documentary, and is a national speaker on topics of reparative justice, peacemaking, and developing cross-jurisdictional relationships. Most recently, he was selected to serve on the Tribal Law and Order Act Advisory Committee. In his free time he enjoys his five grandchildren and reading.

Sarah Reckess is Senior Associate at the Tribal Justice Exchange at the Center for Court Innovation, which provides technical assistance to tribal communities seeking to develop or enhance their justice systems. Her areas of interest include reentry, child support enforcement, healing to wellness courts, and victims’ rights in the criminal justice system. Sarah holds a bachelor of arts from Mount Holyoke College, a master of arts from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a juris doctorate from Syracuse University College of Law.

Melissa Riley (Mescalero Apache) is a member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe of New Mexico. Her work experience includes the field of training and technical assistance to Native and Alaska Native communities, social work, behavioral health, education, and medical services in rural and urban programs. Melissa has been able to use her own culture, tradition, work experience, and education to assist Native and Alaska Native communities to enhance and sustain community programs that work toward social justice and health promotion. She has successfully developed human service programs that target services for victims of crime and offenders by utilizing whole-health concepts from a cultural and traditional perspective. Melissa also serves as an Adjunct Professor and Faculty Member at one of New Mexico State University’s branch community colleges. Melissa is a graduate of New Mexico State University at Las Cruces where she received her master’s degree in education, specializing in curriculum and instruction and a minor in counseling and educational psychology. She also received a bachelor’s degree in human and community services, with a double minor in criminal justice and community health. She is now a doctoral candidate at New Mexico State University pursuing a degree in education.

Lawrence (Lou) Robertson An enrolled tribal member, Special Agent Robertson has maintained a victim-centered approach in responding to victims of violent crimes he has investigated in tribal communities, including the Red Lake School shooting and numerous other critical incidents. SA Robertson has researched, developed, and implemented violence risk assessments and provides risk-assessment training for multidisciplinary collaborative partners in tribal communities.

Springwind Rojas (Yurok/Karuk) is an enrolled member of the Yurok Tribe and is currently the Yurok Tribe Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program’s Community Outreach Coordinator. She recently began working in the domestic violence movement, but has worked within the tribal community for nearly ten years whether it be providing direct services, education, traditional and ceremonial leadership, or actively participating in the Yurok language revitalization efforts. Being a mother to a beautiful daughter, she is strongly committed to the health and prosperity of our tribal community and traditions.

Cinnamon Ronneng has used her advocate experience to provide training and technical assistance to sexual assault response teams (SART) for over 12 years. She served as the Domestic Violence Project Coordinator working on Red Wind Consulting, Inc.'s Indian Health Service technical assistance project and also participates in the delivery of Office on Violence against Women training and technical assistance delivery. She has participated in the development of curriculum and trainings on domestic violence, SART and Sexual Assault Exam (SAE). Cinnamon assisted in protocol development for child protection, local domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy programs, and for the OVW Tribal Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examination. She served as a board member on the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition from 2001-2010.

Jane Root (Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians) has been the Director of the Maliseet Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Response Program for the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians in Northern Maine since the program’s inception in 1998. Jane served as the Project Coordinator for the Indian Health Service/Administration for Children, Youth and Families Domestic Violence Pilot Project from 2002 to 2008. She served on the U.S. Attorney General’s National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women from 2005 to 2007. Jane has served on the Steering Committee for the National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence since 2007. She is a member of the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse and the Aroostook County Task Force on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Jane was a Senior Faculty Member of the Indian Health Service/Administration for Children, Youth and Families Violence Against Women Pilot Project and is a member of the Indian Health Service Women’s Health Advisory Board. She is a faculty member for Futures Without Violence on Project Connect: A Coordinated Public Health Initiative to Prevent Violence against Women. Jane was the April 2010 recipient of the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault Make a Difference award and a recipient of the 2010 12th National Indian Nations Conference Bonnie Heavy Runner Advocacy award.

André Rosay is a Visiting Executive Research Fellow at the National Institute of Justice. Under this visiting fellowship, Dr. Rosay is reanalyzing the national and state data from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, focusing on the prevalence of sexual violence victimization, stalking victimization, and violence by an intimate partner. Dr. Rosay is also analyzing the American Indian and Alaska Native oversample that was included in the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey data-collection effort. Dr. Rosay’s "capstone" research will be to significantly advance the measurement and analysis of violence against women, particularly of violence against Indian women. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Rosay was the Director of the Justice Center at the University of Alaska, Anchorage and has tremendous expertise in quantitative and community-based participatory research. In particular, he has worked very closely with community partners throughout urban and rural Alaska to study violence against women. He is the recipient of multiple state and federal awards and has published numerous reports on sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking. He has extensive experience designing and implementing programs of research in Alaska Native communities, including the Alaska Victimization Survey.

Wendy Bremner Running Crane (Tlingit and Haida), Ahkiahkoiinimaakii (Many Pipes Woman) of Browning, Montana is the mother of six and grandmother of seven. Wendy is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and a descendant of the Cree, Gros Ventre, and Blackfeet Nations. She was born and raised on the Blackfeet reservation. She received an associate’s degree in Human Services: Criminal Justice from Blackfeet Community College in 2004, a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a criminology emphasis, and a minor in Native American Studies from The University of Montana (UM) in 2007; and a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2010 from UM. She is currently taking courses toward a PhD with the Blackfoot Project; a group of Blackfoot Confederacy graduate students seeking degrees that include the Blackfoot worldview. Prior to moving to Missoula to complete her education, Wendy worked for 10 years at the Blackfeet Tribal Court, where she was the Chief Prosecutor of the Blackfeet Nation. As a Prosecutor, she received several awards of recognition from the Blackfeet Domestic Violence Program for her work with victims. Currently, Wendy is employed as a Victim Specialist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services. In her community, Wendy is an elected member of the Browning School District Board of Trustees. She also volunteers as co-station manager and DJ for the Blackfeet’s KBWG 107.5 FM Thunder Radio station which is dedicated to providing the Blackfeet community a voice for positive action and change. She is involved in several community action groups including the Amskapi Pikuni Action Team (APAT) which confronts trauma in Indian Country, and the Blackfoot Project. She is a strong Indian woman survivor of violence.

Alisa Santucci is a Senior Manager at ICF International and has more than twenty-five years of experience in the health and human service field with emphasis on developing policy and practice recommendations for children, youth, and families and providing management and direction to highly visible programs and initiatives. She has worked with the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota, and is currently engaging tribes from around the nation on behalf of the Children’s Bureau by helping develop a second-century document related to the future of the child welfare system.

John W. Sawney (Cherokee) has worked in criminal law for more than twelve years with experience both as a prosecutor and an indigent defense attorney. He has successfully prosecuted domestic violence and sexual assault cases in Indian country. Mr. Sawney also served as the managing attorney for the District 27 Drug Task (Oklahoma) and for the child support enforcement office in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, respectively. Mr. Sawney is currently a Training and Technical Assistance Provider and Curriculum Development Specialist for the Institute for Native Justice. Prior to his career in law, he taught public school for seven years and has a postgraduate degree in school administration. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served most of his time in Germany.

Wendy Schlater (La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians) is an enrolled member of the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians and has served her tribe as the youngest Tribal Chairwoman. Wendy has earned a degree in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego. Her interest in healing began as a young girl when she would help her mother care for the elders of her tribe. Wendy's goal is to use these TCM teachings to help revive American Indian and Alaska Native teachings on natural healing arts in order to improve the quality of life for Native people. Wendy has advocated for tribal youth health and education issues and safety for Native women by developing innovative ways to create tribal responses and programs respectful of Native customs and traditions. She led efforts to organize a historic 2010 Sexual Assault Awareness Walk on the La Jolla Indian Reservation that had more than 250 walkers participating. Wendy practices as a Holistic Health Practitioner and works for her tribe and as Program Director of La Jolla's Avellaka Program addressing violence against Native women

Geneva Shaw (Karuk/Yurok/Hupa/Apache) is an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. She holds a master’s degree in social work from Humboldt State University and has worked in the tribal social services field for approximately seven years, which has included the administration and development of child welfare, domestic violence, and many other social programs. She is currently the Assistant Director of Social Services Department for the Yurok Tribe where she has also worked as a direct service provider and advocate. Ms. Shaw is also a single mother of two handsome boys whom she is committed to raising to be proud and respectful gentlemen.

Joanne Shenandoah (Oneida-Iroquois), PhD, is one of America’s most celebrated and critically acclaimed musicians. She is a Grammy Award winner, with more than forty music awards (including a record thirteen Native American Music awards). She has captured the hearts of audiences all over the world, from North and South America, South Africa, Europe, Australia, to Korea, with praise for her work to promote universal peace. She is a board member of the Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Knowledge. Shenandoah has performed at prestigious events such as the White House, Carnegie Hall, three presidential inaugurations, Madison Square Garden, Crystal Bridges Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Ordway Theater, Hummingbird Centre, Toronto Skydome, the Parliament of the Worlds Religions (Africa, Spain and Australia), and Woodstock ‘94. Joanne just released a new music video on YouTube on healing from grief, entitled, "I Feel Your Love" influenced by the work of hospice.

Eileen A. Shendo (Jemez and Cochiti) is a proud mother of her three young boys—Wequai Kellis, Nuhkon Acoya, and Sequan Neetu. She is the current Education Director for the Pueblo of San Felipe and a graduate of the University of Colorado. Ms. Shendo has made her career working with youth and parents to navigate the undergraduate process, streamlining the academic rigor of education within her home state of New Mexico and providing educational enrichment opportunities for youth and adults. Ms. Shendo has more recently begun to create systematic change through political advocacy and partnerships with philanthropic entities to further support the educational endeavors of young New Mexicans. Ms. Shendo has taken an "organic" approach to serving the needs of her tribal communities and the surrounding areas. In 2009, Ms. Shendo and her cousin, now colleague, Kristyn Yepa, cofounded the Three Sisters Movement, a grassroots coalition of sisters, mothers, aunts, and grandmothers to ignite intimate dialogues, inherently, "journeying the realms of Identity, Health and Relationship of Native girls." She is passionate in creating mechanisms that allow for the ownership of our destined paths, to build our tribal nations and create the belief that real change comes from those ready to live it!

LeRoy Shingoitewa (Hopi) is the Chairman of the Hopi Tribe.

Robyn Simmons works with BIA law enforcement as victim specialists. She has worked in this position for a year and a half. She has an MSW and BSW both from NMSU and over nine years of experience in victim services. Robyn is a recent recipient of and award for outstanding service on behalf of victims of crimes from the Department of Interior. Robyn services the Mescalero Apache Tribe, with a population of 4,500, and works with ten police officers and two criminal investigators.

Kathy Spurgin is the Statewide Program Manager for the New Mexico Tribal-State Judicial Consortium.

Heather Valdez Singleton, MPP, serves as the Program Director of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, a nonprofit established in 1996 to design and develop education, research, training, and technical assistance programs that promote the enhancement of justice in Indian country and the health, well-being, and culture of Native peoples. Heather has more than fifteen years of experience working on policy issues in Indian country, with a focus on tribal criminal justice systems. She received her master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, where her focus was criminal justice policy in Indian country. She also holds a master’s degree in American Indian studies from UCLA. She has researched and written in the areas of tribal legal and community development and in California tribal history. Her experience includes serving as project director for several research-related projects in Indian country, including the UCLA Native Nations Law and Policy Center’s nationwide assessment of Public Law 280, tribal liaison for tribal court grantees in California, and consultant for the Gabrieleno/Tongva tribal recognition project. In addition, Heather is an instructor for the UCLA Tribal Learning Community and Educational Exchange.

Ernest Siva (Cahuilla/Serrano) grew up on Morongo Indian Reservation, Banning, California, and learned the Serrano language and culture at home. Mr. Siva earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education and choral music from the University of Southern California. Siva serves as Tribal Historian and Cultural Advisor for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and serves on the Board of Directors of the California Indian Storytelling Association, the Board of Trustees of Idyllwild Arts, and the Board of the Riverside Arts Council (serving the inland area). He is Artistic Director of the Pass Chorale, a community chorus in the San Gorgonio Pass area. He is Founder and President of the Board of Directors of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center and Ushkana Press, saving and sharing all the Southern California American Indian cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts. He is also President and Founder of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, where he serves as Distinguished Guest Artist in Native American Culture at California State University, San Bernardino.

Keahi Kimo Souza, MS, MSW, LMSW, is the Behavioral Health and Social Services Director for the Jemez Pueblo and a Senior Research Associate with the California State University Center for Delinquency and Crime Policy Studies. He has been working in the area of adult and youth gangs for the last ten years developing and supervising gang intervention programs on and off Indian country and has coordinated an internationally recognized gang intervention and tattoo-removal program during this time. He consults and provides technical assistance with numerous national, state, county, and tribal agencies. He was honored with the Social Worker of the Year 2011 Award for the state of New Mexico. He also chairs the Juvenile Justice Task Force for NASW-NM; is President of the Advocates of Social Justice Division of the New Mexico Counseling Association; is a National Advisory Board Member for Encuentro Latino National Institute on Family Violence, OVC Children’s Justice Act; and is a former National Board Member for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. Locally, he is a member of the New Mexico Human Trafficking Task Force through the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, 2010 Behavioral Planning Council Member, and former Co-Chair of the Local Collaborative.

Natalie Stites (Cheyenne River Sioux), JD, is coordinating the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Defending Childhood Initiative. Ms. Stites is spearheading a comprehensive approach across systems and with families to prevent, treat, and reduce violence experienced by children and youth. A critical part of this effort is increasing the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s awareness of children’s exposure to violence and incorporating evidence-based practices into service delivery. She supervises a staff of five whom provide advocacy and other direct services for child victims of crime, as well as community education and other awareness activities. Ms. Stites graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law with a specialization in public interest law and policy. Before law school, she served as a Higher Education Policy Advisor in the Governor’s Office of Education in Sacramento, California, and as an advocacy consultant for Native American organizations in Los Angeles. In 1999, she earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in history and American Indian studies. Upon graduation, she was the first Native American awarded the prestigious Jesse Unruh California State Assembly Fellowship and served as a legislative aide to the Chairwoman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Ms. Stites is a member of a federally recognized tribe (Cheyenne River Sioux) and is Lakota and Dakota (Crow Creek).

Kelly Stoner (Cherokee Descent) is the director of the Native American Legal Resource Center at Oklahoma City University School of Law. Professor Stoner teaches Federal Indian Law, Tribal Law, Domestic Violence and the Lawyer, and the Indian Child Welfare Act, and she is the co-author of the Indian Child Welfare Act Handbook. Professor Stoner has authored several articles on a variety of issues in Indian country including full faith and credit of tribal court orders, state taxation in Indian country, domestic violence in Indian country, and sexual offender registries and monitoring in Indian country. Professor Stoner has more than twenty years of experience training and working in Indian country on issues affecting Native American children, elders, tribal self-determination, and domestic violence and sexual assault. Professor Stoner has authored several tribal codes, has more than twenty years of experience prosecuting and litigating domestic violence and sexual assault cases in Indian country, and is a national speaker on these topics.

Eric Szatkowski has been a Special Agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice/Division of Criminal Investigation for twenty-one years, currently assigned to the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in Milwaukee. Eric has earned a reputation as one of the top officers in the nation in apprehending sexual predators of children who use the Internet and/or cell phones to seduce or exploit children. Eric’s dynamic presentations on Internet and cell phone exploitation of children inspired the drafting and passage of new legislation in 2006, Wisconsin Assembly Bill 942. This law significantly increased the levels of felonies for online child exploitation, increased maximum prison penalties, and implemented presumptive minimum prison terms for online predators. Since 2010, he has organized and coordinated the first weeklong schools for the Wisconsin Department of Justice to train Wisconsin police officers in the investigation of online child exploitation. In 2012, he was named the Deputy Commander of the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Eric graduated with honors in 1983 from the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication. He is working toward a master’s degree in Christian doctrine at the Graduate School of Theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee.

Winona M. Tanner is the Chief Judge of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Court of the Flathead Reservation, Montana having served in that capacity by appointment to the bench in 2004. Prior to her appointment as Chief Judge, she served as an Associate Judge for seven years and has worked in the Tribal legal field in various capacities for 28 years. She was selected for a Native American leadership program, the AIO American Indian Ambassador Program where she received a Kellogg Fellowship. Judge Tanner is an alumni of the National Judicial College.

Katherine TePas is the Response Coordinator for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault for the Office of the Alaska Governor. Ms. TePas is the state’s first domestic violence and sexual assault response coordinator, a position created by the legislature as part of Governor Parnell’s comprehensive initiative against sexual assault and domestic violence. Ms. TePas’s new role is to provide direction to all relevant executive branch agencies and to collaborate with municipal, federal, tribal, and nonprofit entities, with the goals of reducing the rates of sexual assault and domestic violence, ensuring adequate services for victims, and raising public awareness of the epidemic and the responses to it. Ms. TePas is the co-author of several groundbreaking research publications regarding domestic violence and sexual assault. Ms. TePas has a master’s degree in social service administration from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration and a bachelor’s degree in social work from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Melissa Tatum is a Research Professor of Law & Director, Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program, James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona. Professor Tatum specializes in tribal jurisdiction and tribal courts, as well as in issues relating to cultural property and sacred places. She was a contributing author to Felix Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law (the leading treatise in the field) and has written extensively about both civil and criminal procedural issues, as well as about the relationship between tribal, state, and federal courts. Professor Tatum has served on task forces in Michigan and New Mexico charged with developing procedures to facilitate cross-jurisdictional enforcement of protection orders, and has taught seminars on domestic violence and protection orders throughout the United States for judges, attorneys, law enforcement, and victim advocates, including at the National Tribal Judicial Center. Between 1999 and 2006 she served as a judge on the Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals.

Gayle Thom has extensive crisis-response experience and training in tribal and nontribal critical incidents as a twenty-four-year veteran of the criminal justice field. Thom responded the Red Lake School shooting, worked at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and responded to victims of Hurricane Katrina. For more than ten years, she was honored to respond to crime scenes and provide direct services to victims of crime in tribal communities on a daily basis. Having served on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s American Indian/Alaskan Native Advisory Committee, she has been honored to receive awards for her dedication, service, and contribution on behalf of crime victims in Indian country. Prized among those awards are tribal flags, quilts, and also the highest award bestowed on Federal Bureau of Investigation employees: the Director’s Award for Excellence. Thom received this acknowledgment for her service following the tragic deaths on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. Previously in the field of criminal intelligence and drug enforcement, Thom has worked, lectured, and trained throughout the United States, Canada, and other countries. She is currently a consultant for Unified Solutions, providing training and technical assistance for American Indian and Alaska Native federal grantees.

Lisa Thompson-Heth (Lower Brule Lakota) is a member of the Lower Brule Lakota Tribe. Ms. Thompson-Heth has worked in the field of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse for more than twenty-one years. Ms. Thompson-Heth has been a strong advocate for women and children on the Crow Creek and Lower Brule reservations in South Dakota and is the executive director for Wiconi Wawokiya, Inc. (Helping Families), which operates two domestic violence shelters—one on the Crow Creek Reservation and the other one located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota—and a children’s advocacy center. Ms Thompson-Heth was appointed in 2002 by the governor to the South Dakota Court Appoints Special Advocate and served as the cochair of the South Dakota Coalition Ending Domestic and Sexual Violence from 1999 to 2001 and 2010 to 2011. Currently, Ms. Thompson-Heth is the Chair for the Native Women’s Society of The Great Plains, which is a tribal coalition and serves more than twenty tribes. Ms. Thompson-Heth is one of the cofounding members of the Native American Children Alliance and former Chair. Ms. Thompson-Heth is married to Robert Heth, who is a member of the Crow Creek Dakota Tribe, and has three children and six grandchildren.

William A. Thorne, Jr. (Pomo/Coast Miwok) is a Pomo/Coast Miwok Indian from northern California and is enrolled at the Confederated Tribes of the Graton Rancheria. He received his bachelor of arts from the University of Santa Clara in 1974. He received his juris doctorate from Stanford Law School in 1977. Judge Thorne has served as a tribal judge in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Wisconsin, Washington, Michigan, and California for numerous tribes on a part-time basis for more than thirty years. In 1986 Thorne was appointed by the governor as a trial judge for the state of Utah. After fourteen years as a state trial judge he was appointed in 2000 as a judge of the Utah Court of Appeals where he continues to serve. Judge Thorne has served on a number of national and local boards/committees including serving as faculty and using his judicial leadership for child welfare system improvement as he participates in many projects and committees. He continues to speak and teach around the country, chiefly on issues related to children including child welfare reform efforts, disproportionality affecting minority children, and the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Suzanne Tibbetts-Young (Ojibwe), from Minnesota, has worked extensively to empower American Indian children and families in the Twin Cities and surrounding reservation communities. Suzanne has a background in education, earning her bachelor of arts in education from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, and her master of arts in education from Saint Mary’s University in Minneapolis. She is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership program at Saint Mary’s University. Suzanne’s commitment to providing holistic support to individuals and families is reflected in the diverse professional involvement and community collaborations she has pursued. Suzanne has served on the National Advisory Board for Unified Solutions Tribal Community Group, which is dedicated to partner with American Indian and Alaska Native communities to end violent crime, heal from the effects of trauma, and promote resilience. She also has served on the Advising Committee for the Office of Justice Programs Best Practices for Providing Victims’ Services, the steering committee for the Goodwill Easter Seal’s FATHER Project, the Minnesota Department of Health Heart and Stroke Steering committee, the Minneapolis prostituted women work group, the Sexual Violence Prevention Network, Minnesota Trafficking Task Force, and the Minneapolis Sexual Assault Response Team.

Ramona F. Tsosie (Fort Mohave) is a member of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe in Needles, California. She served as Chief Judge of the Havasupai Tribe and Interim Chief Judge for the Hualapai Tribe both in Arizona. Currently she serves as Pro Tem Judge for the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe in Las Vegas Nevada. She has worked extensively in tribal court systems and brings 22 years of experience in the area of Court Administration. She has served as the Court Administrator for the Hualapai Tribe (00-08), the Yavapai-Apache Nation (1999-2000) and the Fort Mojave Tribe (1995-1999). Prior to joining the Fort Mojave Tribe, she worked in the Navajo Nation court system as a Court Clerk. Currently, she is semi-retired and provides services to tribal courts and tribal organizations. Ramona currently serves on board of directors for Indian Country Justice Partners and has served on Faculty Council as a member at the National Judicial College.

Allison Turkel serves as a Senior Policy Advisor in the SMART (Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking) Office for the U.S Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. Prior to coming to the SMART office Ms. Turkel served as the Director of the National District Attorneys Association’s (NDAA) National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse (NCPCA), where she managed and supervised program activities and staff. She also provided training and technical assistance nationwide and in the territories to prosecutors, law enforcement, child protection workers, social workers, medical personnel, forensic interviewers and other multi-disciplinary team members on child abuse, maltreatment, sexual exploitation, computer facilitated crimes against children and domestic violence. She authored numerous articles including the sexual abuse section of the "Preparing a Case for Court" chapter in the GW Medical 2 volume set, Child Maltreatment, A Clinical Guide and Photographic Reference, 3rd Edition.

Debbie M. Turner, Special Projects Coordinator for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium-Behavioral Health Research Services, is originally from Holy Cross, Alaska. She has her associate of applied science degree in human services. Debbie has previous experience working as a Tribal Family Youth Specialist for the Tanana Chiefs Conference in the community of Holy Cross. In that capacity she worked directly with families and the tribal court. She also has previous experience working as the Tribal Administrator for the Tribe of Holy Cross managing the tribal programs.

Eugenia Tyner-Dawson (Sac and Fox Nation) is with the Department of Justice and serves as the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Attorney General for Tribal Affairs and the Executive Director of the Justice Programs Council on Native American Affairs, in the Office of Justice Programs. She is a member of the Sac and Fox Nation and is a descendant of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. Ms. Tyner-Dawson has worked in law enforcement and has an extensive background in serving tribal governments and tribal organizations. For 11 years, she worked with her own tribe, directing numerous tribal programs. In 1996, Ms. Tyner-Dawson worked as a tribal lobbyist for SENSE, Inc., in Washington, DC, and in 1998, she began work with the Department of Health and Human Services, at the Indian Health Service, in the Office of Tribal Self-Governance. In 2000, she transitioned to the HHS Secretary's immediate office, where she served as the first permanent Intergovernmental Affairs Senior Advisor for Tribal Affairs and the acting Executive Director of the HHS Intradepartmental Council on Native American Affairs through June 2006. She also served as the Acting Deputy Director of the IHS, supporting the management of the $3.7 billion national health care delivery program for approximately 1.6 million of the nation's 2.6 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. Ms. Tyner-Dawson completed her HHS tour as the Associate Director for Planning and Policy Coordination for the Office of Minority Health. She has an associate of arts degree in business administration.

Joe Walker (Delaware) is an enrolled member of the Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma. He has two children who are both attending Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. Joe currently works as a Tribal Child Welfare Specialist for the National Resource Center for Tribes where, among other things, he provides training and technical assistance to tribes, states, territories, and courts. He has extensive experience in providing and assisting in the provision of evaluation services for projects, including a National Tribal Child Welfare Needs Assessment, Systems of Care for children with mental health needs, Systems of Care for tribal child welfare, suicide prevention, adolescent substance-abuse prevention and treatment, methamphetamine prevention, and a Mental Health First Aid project. Mr. Walker previously coordinated the activities of two workforce development projects in North Dakota. Mr. Walker has a master of management degree from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Debbie Weir is with Mothers against Drunk Driving.

Tony West was appointed the Acting Associate Attorney General on March 9, 2012. Previously, he was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division on January 22, 2009. The Civil Division represents the United States in legal challenges to congressional statutes, administration policies, and federal agency actions. Mr. West has focused on these traditional areas, as well as bolstering the Civil Division’s affirmative civil enforcement efforts. Since January 2009, the Civil Division has recovered more than $8.5 billion through affirmative civil enforcement under the False Claims Act. In addition, Mr. West has emphasized the Civil Division’s responsibility to enforce the nation’s consumer protection laws. Since January 2009, the Consumer Protection Branch has convicted more than one hundred defendants for illegal activities in connection with harming consumers and imposed criminal penalties, civil penalties, and restitution exceeding $3.6 billion. During this same period, more than seventy defendants were sentenced to some form of incarceration. Mr. West served as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Attorney General, was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of California, and served as a state Special Assistant Attorney General in California. Prior to returning to the Justice Department, Mr. West was a litigation partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco.

Hallie Bongar White is the Executive Director of the Southwest Center for Law and Policy. She is an attorney licensed to practice before the courts of several tribes, the state of Arizona, the U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Arizona, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. She trains nationally and regionally on issues related to sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, abuse of disabled persons, and abuse of the elderly in Indian country. She is the former director of the Indian Nations Domestic Violence Law Program and a graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law.

Charity White is currently the Kumeyaay Family Services Director for Southern Indian Health Council, Inc. In her current position, Ms. White is responsible for supervising the Family Services Departments, which include Indian Child Social Services, Mental Health & Wellness, La Posta Substance Abuse Center, REVIVE (Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services), and the Safe Havens Supervised Visitation and Exchange Program. Ms. White received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Arizona State University under the Social Work program with a minor in American Indian Studies. Professionally, Ms. White has operated in a clinical capacity, as well as an administrative capacity with domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, child abuse victims, and substance abuse prevention and intervention services. Ms. White is registered as an Associate Clinical Social Worker and is expected to be licensed by February 2013. Finally, Ms. White has a long history of working in Indian Country with both California and Arizona tribes as a case manager, social worker, policy analyst, and therapist in the tribal health system.

Maureen White Eagle (Turtle Mountain) is a lawyer, writer, and editor of several national and state reports on issues related to justice in Native communities. She authored the resource of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition on custody and sexual abuse, which is the subject of this workshop. Working as a consultant/staff for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute she researched, wrote, edited, and developed resources and provided training on legal issues related to tribal/state collaborations and sexual and domestic violence in Native communities. She developed and directed a civil legal services program for victims of violence in the Native community. She is Executive Director and founder of Partners for Women’s Equality, an international nongovernmental organization that works to increase the leadership capacity of indigenous women. In 2005 she received a Bush Leadership Fellowship (Archibald and Edyth Bush) and is an experienced facilitator using participatory and inclusive facilitation methods.

Susan WhiteHorse (Ho-Chunk) is the Manager of the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children and Adults and Coordinator of Wisconsin’s Amber Alert program. Since 1999 she has been instrumental in the development of the Clearinghouse, which actively assists families, victims, law enforcement, and community agencies in searching for missing and exploited children and adults, and plays a central role in any Amber Alert activation. Susan provides training regarding missing and exploited children and adults and Wisconsin’s Amber Alert program, striving to make this essential instruction available to as wide an audience as possible. She has provided training for Wisconsin’s district attorneys at their annual conference, and has spearheaded and implemented training and outreach to Native American tribes and nations regarding Clearinghouse resources and services, Wisconsin’s Amber Alert program, and other important issues concerning missing persons. She was invited by President George W. Bush to attend the first-ever White House conference regarding missing children, and the U.S. Department of Justice selected her as the recipient of the 2007 Missing Child State Clearinghouse Coordinator Award. Susan also received the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Director’s Community Leadership Award in 2009. Most recently, Susan was elected president of the Inter-State Enforcement Agencies to Recover Children.

Larry D. Williams (Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana) serves as a Tribal Liaison for the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas. He has a bachelor’s degree from East Texas Baptist University and has been a Licensed Social Worker for twenty-eight years. He is also a Certified Anger Resolution Therapist and a Licensed Forensic Social Worker. He has worked for the state of Texas for fifteen years with the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas MHMR. He also served as the Executive Director for nonprofit organizations such as the Mental Health Association, Texas Education and Family Services, and Court Appointed Special Advocate. During the past eight years he has dedicated his work to assisting Native people in relating to court improvement; state and tribal relations; and tribal and family mediations.

Victoria Ybanez (Navajo/Apache) has been working to end violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women for nearly thirty years. She developed and is the Executive Director of Red Wind Consulting, Inc. (2005–2012) coordinating and providing tribal technical assistance for recipients of the Tribal Governments Program for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. Current projects include the development and implementation of tribal-specific shelter and transitional housing programs. In addition, through Red Wind, she has been developing a National Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Protocol for Indian Country for the Department of Justice. Technical assistance is also provided for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Services, Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative programs focusing on domestic violence, sexual assault community expansion services, and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner/Sexual Assault Response Team program development. In addition, Ms. Ybanez works on a range of projects through contracts with tribes and community-based advocacy organizations to develop, strengthen, and enhance their local response to ending violence against women that includes crisis and criminal justice responses to a range of prevention options. Ms. Ybanez is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Duluth with a major in economics and minor in political science. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in public affairs at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

Terri Yellowhammer (Standing Rock Lakota) is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Lakota Tribal Nation. She has an extensive background in human services, having practiced as an Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General and as a Legal Aid Attorney for the Indian Child Welfare Law Center, where she represented parents involved in child protection. She also held a state-level position in administrative law for the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ Division of Licensing. In this capacity she reviewed administrative actions affecting persons working in state-licensed programs serving individuals receiving residential treatment, foster care and nonresidential treatment, and habilitation. Ms. Yellowhammer’s most recent position was with the Minnesota Department of Human Services where she was the state’s policy consultant on the Indian Child Welfare Act, a position that involved working collaboratively with representatives from Minnesota’s eleven American Indian tribal governments as well county social workers and attorneys. She has been a Guardian Ad Litem specializing in Indian Child Welfare Act cases, and was an associate Judge with the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. Ms. Yellowhammer holds an undergraduate degree from St. Catherine University and a juris doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School.

John Chapman Young (Delaware/Pawnee/Kiowa) is an Attorney and Director of the National Tribal Trial College for the Southwest Center for Law and Policy. Prior to joining the Southwest Center for Law and Policy, John practiced in the areas of federal civil rights, Indian law, and criminal defense in the federal, state, and tribal courts of New Mexico. John holds a degree in modern languages and literature from the University of Oklahoma and is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law.

Carol Zamora-Russo has served as a Senior Conciliation Specialist of the Community Relations Service, USDOJ since 1999. Prior to joining CRS she worked in the community as a mediator and Program Coordinator for 15 years with court and law enforcement conflict resolution programs such as Victim-Offender Mediation Programs and Dependency Court Programs; as well as mediating racial and cultural tensions in the community with Dispute Resolution Service, arm of L.A. County Bar Association, CA; Peninsula Conflict Resolution Services in San Mateo County, CA and Community Boards in San Francisco, CA. She received her B.A. in Sociology with a minor in History from CA State University of Los Angeles and a Secondary Teaching Credential from CA State University of San Jose.  

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