Leadership

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Heath Clayton - Lead Executive Officer

Tribal Affiliation: Chickasaw

  • Heath Clayton is the Lead Executive Officer of the Congressionally-chartered National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education, where he leads national efforts to strengthen Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools through innovation and a focus on student achievement. A citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, Heath brings more than 20 years of cross-sector leadership across federal policy, education, healthcare, and the Fortune 100.

    He previously held senior global roles at Deloitte, where he led military veteran employment efforts, and at JPMorgan Chase, where he established and led the firm’s Native American affairs strategy, advancing Native business, employee, and leadership engagement.

    Heath serves as Chair of the Board for Texas Native Health, the Indian Health Service-funded system for Texas. Under his leadership, the organization has quadrupled its operating revenue and significantly expanded its statewide reach.

    He also serves on the Next Generation Advisory Council for the American Indian College Fund, supporting academic access for Native students. An alum of the Native American Political Leadership Program at The George Washington University, he has mentored more than 50 Native students during their early-career experiences in Washington, D.C.

    Inspired by his family’s service in elected Tribal government, Heath’s public service began at The White House, followed by roles in the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Energy. He currently teaches Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business and serves as an Expert in Residence at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College. In 2022, he was selected as a Presidential Leadership Scholar, where he worked alongside Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to expand early-career opportunities for Native youth.

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Nicholas Courtney - Program Director

Tribal Affiliation: Makah

  • Nicholas Courtney serves as Program Director for the National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education. A citizen of the Makah Tribe, Nicholas brings more than a decade of experience working across Tribal policy, education, federal programs, and community development.

    Prior to joining the National Fund, Nicholas served with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, where he helped lead implementation of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and partnered with Tribal Nations to advance broadband deployment and connectivity.

    Previously, he served as Director of Policy for the National Congress of American Indians, leading policy efforts across education, health, human services, veterans’ affairs, and other priorities affecting Tribal Nations.

    Nicholas has also served with the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education and directed the Native American Political Leadership Program at George Washington University. He has taught courses on Tribal governance and Native politics at Cornell University and George Washington University.

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Nick Cunningham- Chief Financial Officer

  • Nick Cunningham serves as the CFO of the National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education (NFEAIE), where he oversees financial operations, grant compliance and reporting, human resources, and administrative systems in support of the organization's mission and long-term sustainability.

    Nick brings more than a decade of nonprofit finance and operational leadership experience. Prior to joining NFEAIE, he served as CFO at the National Policing Institute. He also served as Finance Director for a nonprofit organization supported through a variety of federal and local sources. Earlier in his career, Nick worked for a national public accounting firm serving nonprofit organizations. Throughout his career, Nick has worked with organizations funded by DHHS, DOJ, USAID, AmeriCorps, INL, and a variety of private funders including Arnold Ventures and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    Nick is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in South Carolina and North Carolina. He also holds the Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Project Management Professional (PMP), and Advanced Certified Nonprofit Professional (ACNP) designations. Nick has extensive experience in accounting automation, process improvement, and system migrations.

    Nick earned his MBA from Georgia Southwestern State University and holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with concentrations in Accounting and Finance from Winthrop University.

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Ashley Eden - Chief of Staff

  • Ashley Eden serves as Chief of Staff at the National Fund, bringing nearly two decades of leadership experience spanning education policy, government relations, strategic planning, and organizational operations. Prior to joining The National Fund, Ashley served as Vice President of Policy & Advocacy at Orijin, where she led multi-state government relations and advocacy strategies focused on expanding educational opportunities within correctional systems.

    Previously, Ashley held several executive leadership roles at New Meridian Corporation, a non-profit assessment design and development company. In these roles, she led cross-functional teams responsible for sales, account management, philanthropy, policy, and strategic operations while helping drive organizational growth and customer retention.

    Ashley also served in senior leadership roles at the New Mexico Public Education Department, where she oversaw large-scale state education initiatives and played a leading role in the development and implementation of New Mexico’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) State Plan. Earlier in her career, Ashley worked in the United States Senate for Senators Cory Booker and Dianne Feinstein, as well as on the Senate HELP Committee, where she supported bipartisan education and child welfare legislation.

    Ashley earned a Bachelor of Science in Health and Human Services Administration from the University of Arizona.

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Joy Silvern - Senior Advisor, Policy & Programming

  • Joy Silvern is the Senior Advisor, Policy & Programming of the National Fund, where she advises on programmatic strategy and national partnerships to provide technical assistance to the BIE schools and drive student outcomes. With over 20 years of experience in federal policy, education leadership, and civic engagement, Joy brings a systems-level approach to public education reform.

    She previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Education, supporting high-level operations and strategic initiatives. Before that, Joy was Vice President for Advocacy and Organizing at LEE, supporting more leaders to engage civically and increase access and opportunity in their community. She also served as an education advisor in the United States Senate. 

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Kellie Thompson - Program and Grant Coordinator

Tribal Affiliation: Seneca Nation of Indians

  • Kellie Thompson is the Program Assistant for the Language Grant Program at the National Fund. She provides support to the LGP grantees in successful implementation of their work, reporting and outcomes. She founded TK Thompson Consulting to specialize in program and grant management, grant writing and fundraising, and education, with a focus in Native American communities and organizations.

    Kellie previously served as the Director and Assistant Director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. In this role she focused on developing Native programs and curriculum, leading the effort of the School to recruit Native students into social work, providing academic, financial, and career advisement to Native graduate students, building relationships with the community and developing the research agenda of the Center. Kellie also has experience in collaborating with Native researchers and served as the liaison to the NCAI Policy Research Center to support their diabetes and health initiatives. She obtained her MSW at the Brown School, with a focus on Social and Economic Development in Indian Country. She is a citizen of the Seneca Nation of Indians and is excited to work with NFEAIE on the successful implementation of the LGP.

Ashley Tso

Ashley Tso - Literacy Program Coordinator

Tribal Affiliation: Diné / Persian

  • Ashley Tso is a program and communications professional dedicated to advancing Native student success through community-centered education initiatives. At the National Fund, she supports the development and implementation of programs that expand access, strengthen pathways, and help students and communities navigate complex education systems with clarity and confidence.

    Ashley brings more than a decade of experience working across tribal colleges, public universities, and Native student support programs. Her work has focused on program coordination, outreach, and strategic communications, with an emphasis on building strong relationships with educators, institutional leaders, and Tribal communities. She has led recruitment and engagement efforts at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute and supported Native student success initiatives at the University of New Mexico and Diné College.

    Ashley approaches her work with intention and care, ensuring that programs are responsive to community priorities while aligned with broader institutional goals. She is committed to contributing to sustainable, student-centered efforts that create lasting impact for Native students and communities.

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DeLesslin “Roo” George-Warren - Program Coordinator

Tribal Affiliation: Catawba Nation

  • DeLesslin “Roo” George-Warren is the Program Coordinator for the Language Grant Program (LGP) at the National Fund. In this role, he leads relationships with BIE-funded schools to support the successful implementation of their language revitalization projects and improve student outcomes.

    Roo is a citizen of the Catawba Nation and brings a background in program coordination, grant development, and community-based education. Prior to joining the Fund, he coordinated the Catawba Language Project and co-founded the Catawba Food Sovereignty Working Group, where he led initiatives in language revitalization, traditional ecological knowledge, and youth engagement. His work has included repatriating culturally significant seeds, co-creating the Nation’s first Catawba Dictionary, and developing cross-sector partnerships in education, arts, and cultural preservation.

    He has helped secure and implement more than $5 million in grant funding in support of education, language, and cultural initiatives in his home community. Roo is deeply committed to Indigenous language and knowledge systems and is honored to support Native schools and communities in building thriving language programs through the LGP.

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Michaun Winborn - Project Consultant

  • Michaun Winborn is a project consultant for the National Fund. In this role, she oversees operational workflows including hiring coordination, stakeholder communications, and digital infrastructure. She also strengthens brand presence through website refreshes, social strategy, and executive messaging.

    Michaun brings more than a decade of experience across corporate leadership, operations, and organizational strategy. She is the founder of Born2Win Coaching, a practice that provides leadership development, DEI advisory, and executive coaching for executives. Previously, Michaun served as Vice President of Diversity, Opportunity and Inclusion for Consumer and Community Banking at JPMorgan Chase, where she led enterprise-wide initiatives, developed executive accountability frameworks, standardized reporting, and facilitated leadership learning that produced measurable improvements in culture and engagement. Her background spans strategy execution, data informed decision making, facilitation, and trusted advisory work with senior leaders.

    She is a certified transformational coach through the Institute for Coaching Innovation, holds a DEI certification from the National OSHA Foundation, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Theatre Performance from Hope College. Michaun serves on the boards of The Benefit Concert Association for Nationwide Children Hospital’s Heart Center, and Life Lift Career Prep.

Board of Directors

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Kara Bobroff - Executive Director, One Generation Fund

Tribal Affiliation: Diné/Lakota

Chair, 2022-Present

  • The One Gen Fund is led by Executive Director Kara Bobroff (Navajo/Lakota). Kara is an Indigenous leader who has dedicated her career to working for positive change and Indigenous students and families. She was the Founding Principal of the Albuquerque-based Native American Community Academy (NACA) and has more than 25 years of experience in Indigenous Education leading the effort to bring families at the forefront of community-led school design and by drawing upon the strengths of the community in which she serves to create a transformative mission and vision for NACA. In 2014, Kara founded the nation’s first network solely dedicated to Indigenous Education - NACA Inspired Schools Network who supports communities dedicated to creating schools of Excellence and Relevance in Indigenous Education. She was recognized by President Obama as one of 100 top social innovators in the nation, Kara is a Paraha Fellow, Broad Fellow, and Ashoka Fellow and served to establish the first office of Identity, Equity and Transformation as the New Mexico Public Education Department Deputy Secretary of Identity, Equity, and Transformation to build a statewide focus on Equity and CRL education prior to founding One Generation. She serves and works to support early-stage innovations that build sustainable solutions for Indigenous communities, Indigenous Education, and Indigenous Leaders who are poised to impact systems change in senior-level roles in the government, philanthropic and nonprofit sector. She has also been recognized with the Zia Award for University of New Mexico alumni for distinguished service in the field of education, as a “Woman of Influence'' by Albuquerque Business First, as a recipient of the New Mexico Ethics in Business Award, and as a recipient of the Excellence in Educational Leadership Award sponsored by the University Council for Educational Administration. Her volunteer roles have included serving as an advisory board member for Harvard Urban Principal Center, New Mexico Now, Explora Children's Museum, and Learning Alliance New Mexico, Education Reimagined, Currently, she serves as a board member for the New Mexico Dream Team and Emerita Member of the NACA Inspired Schools Network, Food Corps and Appleseed New Mexico, and an Equity Advisor to the NM Public Education's Statewide Language and Culture Division.

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Shawna Ann Claw - Council Delegate, Navajo Nation Council

Tribal Affiliation: Diné

Board Member, 2023-Present

  • Ya’at’eeh! My name is Shawna Ann Claw. My clans are Hooghanłani (Many Hogans), born for Tódich’ii’nii (Bitterwater). My maternal grandparents are Táchii’nii (Red Streak Running into the Water) and my paternal grandparents are Kiyaa’aańii (Towering House). I am originally from Three Turkey Ruins, Arizona. I was raised by my paternal grandparents, the late Paul Claw, Sr. and Alice Ben Claw. I spent most of my childhood at sheep camp at Three Turkey Ruins and Fluted Rock, AZ. I am a lifelong resident of Chinle, Arizona. I graduated from Chinle High School. I attended Arizona State University, Diné College, and Northern Arizona University. I obtained my degrees in Business Administration with an emphasis in Enterprise in Society. I also have a degree in Social Science with a minor in Psychology. I dedicated over twenty-six years working with the Navajo Nation working with youth. I taught parenting classes and worked with students K-12th grade. I was an adjunct instructor at Diné College. I taught Introduction to Business while employed with Diné College. I am a governing board member and the current Governing Board Clerk for the Chinle Unified School District #24. I enjoy my work as a public servant for the school district. I am also a current member of the Navajo Nation Bar Association, Inc. I enjoy photography and hiking. I also contribute stories to the LEADING THE WAY MAGAZINE. I love promoting culture and indigenous art. My primary job is being a “Wing Mom” to my sons who are serving in the United States Air Force, the United States Marines, and the United States Army. I was elected as a Navajo Nation Council Delegate for Chinle. Chinle is one of the largest voting communities of the one hundred and ten Navajo Nation chapters. I serve on the Resources & Development Committee. I am also a part of the Navajo Nation Water Rights Negotiation Team. I was also nominated as one of the two Arizona Caucus representatives for the Navajo Nation Council.

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Derek Eagle LaRance - Production Executive, Cherokee Film

Tribal Affiliation: Morongo/Quechan (Yuma)/Choctaw

Board Member, 2023-Present

  • Derek Eagle LaRance is the localization production executive at Cherokee Film, overseeing the dubbing and subtitling of popular TV and film content into the Cherokee language. He has played a key role in developing business strategies to better serve Indigenous customers across various industries, including entertainment, tech, health, education, policy and economic development. Derek is the former head of Amazon’s Tribal Affairs Office, where he increased engagement with First Nations globally. Recognized as a vocal advocate for private investment and economic development in Indigenous economies, he received the Corporate Advocate of the Year award from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) in 2023. In 2022, he helped launch Indigitize, a nonprofit partnered with Amazon aimed at bringing computer science education to Native nations across the U.S. Derek currently serves on the board of directors for the National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education, the congressionally chartered nonprofit for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education. Additionally, he serves on the board of directors for Taking IT Global, focused on increasing First Nations student outcomes in Canada. He also served as the VP of the Indigenous@Amazon affinity group. A descendant of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Derek graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and led units across the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. He now resides with his family in Owasso, Cherokee Nation.

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Cecelia Fire Thunder - Tribal Leader & President of Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition

Tribal Affiliation: Oglala Lakota

Secretary, 2022-Present

  • Cecelia Firethunder is a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, her clan is the Kiyaksa Tiospaye from the Pejuta Haka/Medicine Root District of Kyle, South Dakota. She was given her first Lakota name by the elders in her clan, which is Tawachin Waste Win (her will is good) and as an adult in ceremony the grandfathers gave her the name of a grandmother who had been watching her to carry, Mato Canali Win. Spoke only Lakota till age five, at catholic boarding school learned English. Cecelia moved with her family to California on the Relocation program, complete high school and became a nurse. Cecelia co-founded the American Indian Free Clinic in Los Angeles in the 70’s, after moving to San Diego co-founded the American Indian Health Center in 1979. After living and learning away from home she returned to Kyle in 1987, co-founded the Oglala Lakota Women’s Society whose work brought attention to the violence against Lakota women and children. The Oglala Sioux Tribe was the first tribe in 1989 to pass a mandatory arrest ordinance in response to the women’s work. The tribe and community also addressed the child abuse/sexual abuse issues by reviewing and strengthening the children’s code along with training and investigation protocols for tribal law-enforcement. Cecelia traveled for years to tribal communities in U.S. and spent ten years across Canada on many reserves for wellness and healing. Of the hundreds of keynotes given the most memorable was the Spirit of Worldwide Healing where she addressed over a thousand in her beginning period of being deaf in 2003. She was the only native person from U.S. invited to the gathering in Edmonton, Alberta where the many reserves shared their projects/programs from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation grants on the impact of residential schools. In April of 2003 soon after setting up an office for the re-election of Senator Tim Johnson she lost her hearing, however continued to work with volunteers in six of the nine districts and traveling to University of Iowa Medical Center for evaluation and subsequent surgery for cochlear implants which allowed her to hear. Senator Johnson retained his seat and she ran for the Presidency of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and became the first woman ever chosen to lead the Tribe. She is the President of Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition (after 10 years of advocacy in DC the bill to allow schools to access health insurance from federal government was signed in law which will benefit 133 tribal schools) Board of Directors for Little Wound School (K-12) and an elder /matriarch Tasunke Wakan Okolakiciye, Medicine Horse Society, addressing trauma in children using Lakota healing practices, and after a long career in health, returned to school and is a Certified Lakota Language teacher. She is an adjunct instructor at Oglala Lakota College where she teaches Lakota Culture, Lakota Traditional Art, American Indian Women, American Indian/Lakota Psychology and Graduate course on Lakota Community Organizing. Along with her Uncle John Around Him and Cousin Robert Two Crow, designed and created the Lakota Philosophy Exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. She makes time to work on her creative side, sewing, beading and making dolls. She recently took the blue ribbon for her entry in the doll category after a hiatus of 29 years at the Northern Plains Tribal Art’s Show.

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Lorissa Garcia - Interim Director of the Student Success Center, Institute of American Indian Arts

Tribal Affiliation: Acoma Pueblo

Board Member, 2023-Present

  • Lorissa Garcia is a full-blooded citizen of Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico. She is a wife, and in a blended family, she and her husband have 10 children and 7 grandchildren.

    Lorissa’s return to college began late in life with a start at a Tribal College in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the Southwestern Polytechnic Institute, she earned two Associate’s Degrees before transferring to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Indigenous Studies. Lorissa went full circle and returned to SIPI to serve as the Mentor for the Native American Women’s Leadership Program. She left her beloved TCU to be of service to her Pueblo community and served as the President of the Acoma Board of Education for four years. In this role, she governed education-based services for Pueblo members from birth through adulthood and was a key participant in the transition of the local BIE school to a tribally-controlled school. In 2020, Lorissa went back to college and earned a Master’s Degree in Education from Harvard.

    With a passion for service to Indigenous communities, Lorissa presently works at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Having begun her career at IAIA as a Student Success Advisor, she was quickly promoted to the Career & Internship Director’s position where she most notably helped secure three internship positions for IAIA students with Nike, Inc. Not long after, she was promoted again to her current position. Lorissa serves as the Interim Director of the Student Success Center. In this position, she works directly with students, staff, and faculty to help ensure quality support services and resources are available for all students. Additionally, she serves the IAIA community as a co-chairperson for the Indigenizing Pathways to Success Committee, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Team, and is a Fulbright Adviser.

    Lorissa remains committed as a staunch advocate of equitable education and educational resource access for underserved populations, with an emphasis in aiding Indigenous students. She is also an engaged, proactive education professional who believes that her direct experience helping students navigate their educational journeys and being of service to Indigenous communities and Peoples drives her passion.

    In her spare time, Lorissa enjoys sewing, crafting, dancing, and spending time with family and friends.

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Dr. Virgil Moorehead - Clinical Psychologist & Executive Director at Two Feathers Native American Family Services

Tribal Affiliation: Yurok/Tolowa

Board Member, 2023-Present

  • Dr. Virgil Moorehead Jr. (Yurok/Tolowa), a member of the Big Lagoon Rancheria, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and the Executive Director at Two Feathers Native American Family Services in McKinleyville, CA.. A graduate of University of California at Davis (BA) and California State University, Sacramento (MA), Dr. Moorehead received his Doctorate of Psychology in Clinical Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA in 2015. During his graduate work, he completed his doctoral internship at the University of Michigan and post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University. Dr. Moorehead’s research focuses on developing and testing community based strategies for health promotion with Native American communities. Dr. Moorehead received the Richard Alan Smith Scholar’s Award in 2015 for his work on Digital Storytelling with Urban Native Americans in Oakland, CA and the 19th Annual Anne Medicine Mentorship Award in 2017 for his work with Stanford Native American undergraduate and graduate students.

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Regis Pecos - Founder/Director, The Leadership Institute

Tribal Affiliation: Cochiti Pueblo

Vice Chair, 2022-Present

  • Regis Pecos is the former Governor of Cochiti Pueblo and served on the Traditional Council for 35 years. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his graduate degree from UC Berkeley. He is also a graduate of the Senior Government Executive Program at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University. Regis was the longest serving Chief Executive of the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs, a position he held for 16 years. The late President Wendel Chino, longtime Chair of the New Mexico Commission on Indian Affairs, referred to him as the chief architect of building State/Government relations. He served as the Chief of Staff to the late Speaker of the House Representative Ben Lujan for 12 years. Regis has also served as the Chief of Staff and the Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs to former Representative Rick Miera in the Office of the Majority Floor Leader. He is a Trustee Emeritus of Princeton University. He has taught each summer for the last 14 years in the Junior Policy Institute at the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He is the Chair of the prestigious Board of Governors for the Honoring Nations Program at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University He has also been an Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of New Mexico. He is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Leadership Institute, an Indigenous Think Tank based in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the campus of the Santa Fe Indian School now in its 24th year.

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Emily White Hat - Vice President of Programs at the American Indian College Fund

Tribal Affiliation: Sicangu Lakota

Board Member, 2023-Present

  • Emily R. White Hat, J.D., Nape Waste Win (Good Hand Woman) is a Sicangu Lakota, Aske Gluwipi Tiospaye from St. Francis, South Dakota. Emily is the Vice President of Programs at the American Indian College Fund and supports implementation of place-based programming to strengthen educational opportunities for Native students at tribal colleges and universities.

    Emily earned a Juris Doctorate degree and a natural resources law certificate from the University of New Mexico School of Law. She has a bachelor’s degree in forestry with a concentration in fire science and a minor in rangeland ecology from Colorado State University, along with an associate of arts degree in Lakota history and culture from Sinte Gleska University.

    Her experience as a former firefighter, emergency medical technician, policy researcher, evaluator, and legal background have all been vital to her work in program development and implementation, strategic planning, national outreach, qualitative research, writing, curriculum implementation, and evaluation with tribal nations and colleges using a capacity-building approach.

    In 2015, Emily was recognized by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development as one of the “Native American 40 Under 40” award recipients.

    Emily enjoys quilting, beading, horseback riding, and hot yoga.