NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Director of Research and Education
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Dr. Michael Yellow Bird is a Professor of Sociology and the Director of Indigenous Tribal Studies at North Dakota State University. He is a citizen of the Three Affiliated Tribes, (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) and joined North Dakota State University faculty in the fall of 2014. He has held faculty appointments in the Schools of Social Work at the University of British Columbia, University of Kansas, Arizona State University, and Humboldt State University. His teaching, writing, research, professional presentations, and community work focus on Indigenous peoples' health; the effects of colonization and methods of decolonization; neurodecolonization and mindfulness approaches; neuroscience, microbiome science, genetic science and Indigenous peoples; and ancestral lifestyles. Dr. Yellow Bird is the author of numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, and the co-editor of four books: For Indigenous Eyes Only: The Decolonization Handbook, 2005; For Indigenous Minds Only: A Decolonization Handbook, 2012; Indigenous Social Work around the World: Towards Culturally Relevant Education and Practice, 2008; and Decolonizing Social Work, 2013. "Choice Magazine" selected Decolonizing Social Work as a 2014 Choice Outstanding Academic Title. Choice Outstanding Titles are given extraordinary recognition by the academic community and are designated to be "the best of the best." He is the co-author of the forthcoming book, Integrative Social Work.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- 1st Vice President
- Member of the Native Village of Port Graham
Jim has served on numerous boards and commissions over the years, including the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN). He is a past member and chairman of AFN's Wellness (Sobriety) Movement. Jim is currently serving on the board of directors of Bridge Builders and the Alaska School of Law.
Jim and his wife Susan have three adult children and 5 grandchildren. Jim is an enrolled member of the Native Village of Port Graham and a shareholder in the Chugach Alaska Corporation.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- Executive Director for the Laguna Community Foundation
Joannie Romero is the Executive Director for the Laguna Community Foundation based within the Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico. For the past eighteen years, Romero (Pueblo of Cochiti) has served in various community-based roles that include administrator, teacher, grant writer, and business owner. She is the founder of Corn Pollen Consulting, LLC, which is a Native American, Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) dedicated to providing culturally-responsive strategies to solve the educational, political, and social justice issues facing Indian Country in the 21st century.
Romero's academic portfolio began at the University of New Mexico where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Native American studies. In 2017, Romero earned a Master of Jurisprudence in Indian Law Degree from the University of Tulsa, College of Law. Currently, Romero is a doctoral student at the University of Washington where she is pursuing an Ed.D in Educational Leadership. She also serves on the New Mexico-based Native American Relief Fund Advisory Committee which was created in April 2020 to provide philanthropic support in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Romero is a daughter, a wife, and a mother to four brilliant children. She is committed to the lifelong pursuit of giving back to Indigenous communities through scholarship and philanthropy.
Job Titles:
- Program and Operations Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Secretary
- Executive Director for Truth and Healing at Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, SD
Maka Black Elk is the Executive Director for Truth and Healing at Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, SD, a former Indian boarding school. He first graduated from the University of San Francisco and then earned his Master's degrees in Peace & Human Rights Education at Columbia University's Teachers College and in Educational Leadership from the University of Notre Dame. He was a teacher and an educational administrator at Red Cloud before taking on his current role. A descendent of boarding school survivors, Maka brings a passion for interreligious dialogue to his work. He also serves as chairperson of the American Indian Catholic Schools Network and advocates for truth and healing in Catholic ministries and schools serving indigenous peoples.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Ruth Anna Buffalo is originally from Mandaree, North Dakota. She is also a citizen of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation and a descendant of the Chiricahua band of Apache. She is a public health professional and community organizer. Currently, she is the Chair of the ND Human Rights Coalition and Special Projects Coordinator for the First Nations Women's Alliance. Ruth holds a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice and Master degrees in Management, Business Administration, and Public Health.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chief Executive Officer
- Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition
Dr. Samuel Torres (he/him) is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and has been a fundamental part of the team since 2019. Dr. Torres first joined NABS as the Director of Research and Programs where his contributions have included leading research teams through several projects such as the Indian Child Removal Study with the First Nations Repatriation Institute and the University of Minnesota, as well as the development of Indian boarding school research and coordinating with the US Department of the Interior's Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. Samuel has a doctorate in Educational Leadership for Social Justice from Loyola Marymount University and his work encompasses the impacts of colonization on historical and contemporary education methods, particularly the legacy of boarding schools. With his extensive experience as a researcher, writer, educator, and leader, Dr. Torres holds a deep passion for decolonizing fixed knowledge systems, centering ancestral knowledge and histories, and working in community to promote Indigenous futures. A bicultural human being, Dr. Torres is Mexica/Nahua on his father's side, and Irish/Scottish from his mother. In addition to actively learning and practicing Nahua language, traditions, and ceremony, he belongs to the Mexica kinship community, Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Sandra White Hawk is a Sicangu Lakota adoptee from the Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota. She is the founder and Director of First Nations Repatriation Institute.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Stephen R. Curley, enrolled citizen of the Diné/Navajo Nation began his tenure as the Director of Digital Archives at the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in the Fall of 2019. Stephen is a professional archivist who is committed to being of service to Tribal community archives and museums. Stephen finds it imperative for Tribal Nations to bolster these curatorial institutions and programs in order to foster cultural continuity as well as cultivating national identities through the adaptation and development of these nontraditional information infrastructures. Through his work, he continues to reaffirm that Tribal archives stand as monuments to the traditional knowledge systems and age-old institutions which have sustained the cultural memories of Tribal peoples.
Stephen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a minor in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona and a Master of Arts in Library and Information Science from the University of Arizona with a focus on archival practices and methodologies. He has worked with Tribal governments, groups, and communities regarding the development of cultural heritage institution services, programming, and information management capacities. Stephen has also served as the Chair of the Society of American Archivists' Native American Archives Section (SAA-NAAS) from 2018 to 2019 whereby he worked towards facilitating meaningful relationships between Tribal and non-Tribal institutions whom have a vested interest in the ethical stewardship and curation of Native American archival collections. He continues this work and serves the entire SAA body as part of Council for his 2020-2023 term.
Job Titles:
- Director of Policy and Advocacy
Theresa Sheldon (she/her), citizen of the Tulalip Tribes, began her tenure at the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition as the Director of Policy & Advocacy in April 2022. Theresa has 16 years of experience in political advocacy, serving in numerous roles with the Democratic National Committee, EMILY's List, and Tulalip Tribes, while also presiding as the Native American Director for the Biden-Harris Presidential Inaugural Committee. She served two terms as elected representative for the Tulalip Tribes as a Board Director and served seven years as a policy analyst for Tulalip Tribes. Theresa has been the Co-Chair for Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) Native Vote since 2008 and was a founding member and Co-Chairperson for Native Vote, WA. She currently serves as National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Co-Chair for the Safety & Justice Committee, is on the Board of Directors for Native Americans in Philanthropy, and is a UW Native American Advisory Chair.
Theresa is an advocate for historical justice, civic engagement, upholding and strengthening tribal sovereignty and the trust responsibility, and protecting sacred places. The federal government should take responsibility for the genocide of Native peoples, fully fund Tribal education/language programs, and recognize that health care is a human right as well as a treaty right. She graduated from WWU with a BA in Law & Diversity in 2005, is a snowboard coach, and enjoys pulling canoe on the Coast Salish Sea with her 16 year old son.
Travis Miller is a citizen of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans and currently serves as chief judge of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Court. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous liberal studies from the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Miller was born and raised on the Stockbridge-Munsee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin, and he is particularly passionate about tribal sovereignty, traditional practices, and cultural preservation. He is also a dedicated advocate for Truth and Healing to address the intergenerational effects of U.S. Boarding School policy, both within his own tribe and across Indian Country. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his children, participating in cultural activities, lifting weights, and painting.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board