Rodgerick T. Begay is Todik'ozhi, born for Biih bitoodnii, maternal grandparents are Kinyaa’aanii, paternal grandparents are Tsi’naajinii. Rod grew up on the Navajo Nation in the communities of Whippoorwill and Tselani-Cottonwood. Rod and his wife have been together since high school and have a son and three daughters.

Dr. Karletta Chief (Diné) is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona. She is also the Director of the Indigenous Resilience Center. As a Professor, she works to bring relevant water science to Native American communities in a culturally sensitive manner. The Indigenous Resilience Center aims to facilitate efforts of U of A climate/environment researchers, faculty, staff, and students working with Native Nations to build resiliency to climate impacts and environmental challenges.

Fortuin serves as the Outreach Specialist for Indigenous Governance & Direct Services. Prior to joining NNI, Kevin served the Tohono O’odham Nation Department of Health and Human Services as a Senior Program Manager, Special Diabetes Program for Indians.

Marco Hatch leads the Native FEWS Alliance on Indigenous Knowledges, Native science, and research ethics. The Native FEWS Alliance will seek the counsel and guidance of Indigenous knowledge holders to ensure that curriculum developed is respectful and protective of Indigenous knowledge.  As PI of the Coastal Almanac INCLUDES pilot project (Hatch 2016), Hatch developed a framework for developing ethical partnerships with NA communities that can be widely shared and replicated through this Alliance. 

Danielle is the Director of the American Indian Center at the University of North Carolina and former Senior Researcher and Tribal Outreach Specialist at the University of Arizona's Native Nations Institute. She received her Ph.D. in the American Indian Studies program at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. She holds a M.P.A. and a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in Pre-Law from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Seánna Howard teaches International Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples and the International Human Rights Advocacy Workshop. Professor Howard has been with the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program since 2006, representing indigenous communities on precedent setting cases before the Inter-American and United Nations human rights systems.

Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson is a member of the Hopi Tribe in Northern Arizona. Dr. Johnson holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Arizona, a Master of Public Policy from Pepperdine University, and a B.S. in Agriculture from Cornell University. Dr. Johnson is a faculty member and Assistance Specialist within the School of Natural Resources and the Environment. His primary work is with the Indigenous Resiliency Center. Michael is also a co-author on the Indigenous Chapter in the National Climate Assessment Five.

Miriam Jorgensen, a settler scholar, is a Senior Researcher at the University of Arizona Native Nations Institute. At the University of Arizona, she holds the additional titles of Research Scientist at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, Affiliate Faculty at the James E. Rogers College of Law, and Affiliate Faculty in the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in American Indian Studies.

Akilah Kinnison is a Part-time Professor of Practice. She teaches Critical Race Theory. Professor Kinnison's research interests include the application of international human rights law to federal Indian law issues in the United States, including access to health care and repatriation of tangible cultural heritage. 

Del Laverdure is an enrolled citizen of the Crow Nation, a member of the Ties the Bundle Clan, and a descendant of the Little Shell Band of Chippewa Indians.  Del is an active participant in indigenous and intergenerational ceremonies including sweat lodge, vision quest, sundance, smudging, giveaways, spiritual naming, public speaking, tobacco pipe, animal and plant medicine, honoring sacred sites, medicine wheel, spiritual offerings, four elements and four directions.  Del has also received trauma-informed trainings and certifications, and subsequently assisted by prov

Dr. Richard Luarkie is a visionary leader with an impressive track record spanning over two decades in economic and business development leadership roles in Indian Country. 

I am a proud Wiradjuri and Wonnarua woman of the Marrmabidya/Kalari rivers (Paternal Grandfather kinship) and Gringai Clan of the Hunter Valley region (PaternalGrandmother’s kinship) in NSW. I hold an Adjunct Associate Professor (Industry) at the University of Technology, Sydney and have formal qualifications in Community Development, Management, and Indigenous Governance. I am a 2021 Impact 25 Award-winner with Pro Bono Australia and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD).

Donald Nicholls is the Director of the Cree Nation Government Department of Justice and Correctional Services. Under the direction of the Grand Chief of the Cree Nation, he advocates for the rights and interests of the members of the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee, whose traditional territory, about half the size of France, is located in Northern Quebec, Canada. The Cree Nation Government oversees the implementation of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, Canada’s first modern day treaty and comprehensive land claims settlement agreement.

Francisco Olea is an enrolled member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe from the Pascua Pueblo reservation in Tucson, AZ, and serves as the Phoenix Region Director at the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Jaime A. Pinkham has been the Senior Advisor to the Executive Director for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission since April 2025. CRITFC provides policy and technical support to four treaty tribes in the Columbia Basin: Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Nez Perce. In 2021, he joined the Biden Administration to serve as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) providing guidance and oversight to the Army Corps of Engineers in their mission areas including navigation, flood and storm risk management and response, ecosystem restoration, and regulatory affairs.

Daryle Rigney, Ngarrindjeri, is Professor and Director Indigenous Nations and Collaborative Futures Research, Jumbunna Institute, University of Technology Sydney and formerly the Dean of Indigenous Strategy and Engagement at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. He also serves as affiliate faculty at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law.

Dr. Timberly Roane is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at CU Denver and the Director of ESIL Certificate and the Native FEWS Certificate Program. Her Primary areas of study include environmental microbiology; microbial ecology; microbial physiology; chemical detoxification; remediation; see Roanemicrobiology.weebly.com for more information.  Other areas of interest include qualitative evaluation; collective impact; identity and representation within STEM; and cross-cultural communication.

As assistant professor in the Haub School of ENR and Director of the High Plains American Indian Research Institute, Dr. Spoonhunter enrolled Northern Arapaho (descendant of the Blackfeet Oglala and Dakota tribes) has focused her research on assetting treaty rights on traditional ceded lands such as Glacier National Park and Badger Two Medicine. Her teaching focuses on contemporary issues facing tribes as sovereign nations government to government political relationship in tribal resource management.

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, 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 consulted with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe as it became one of the first in the nation to implement VAWA 2013's special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction.

Jonathan Taylor is an economist with expertise in natural resources, gaming, and American Indian development. He provides counsel to Native nations in the United States and Canada consisting of public policy analysis, strategic advice, and economic research. He has offered expert testimony in litigation and public proceedings for a number of Native American groups.

Saito is a member of the Georgia Bar and has served on the Committee on the Involvement of Women & Minorities in the Profession and the Georgia Supreme Court’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts.  She helped found the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association and she has served on the Board of Governors of the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) as well as the Boards of the Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Professors, the Paideia School, the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, an

Riel is a Métis citizen, currently living on Algonquin Anishinaabe territory in Ottawa, Canada. 

Riel works as an economist at Big River Analytics. His work focuses on Indigenous economics in Canada, with particular emphasis on Métis labour markets, economic development, and housing need. Riel has a Master's in Economics from the University of British Columbia.

Douglas Thompson joined the American Indian Studies Department at the University of Minnesota Duluth in the fall of 2020. He teaches courses for the Master of Tribal Administration and Governance (MTAG) program, the Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship (MTRES) program, and the Tribal Administration and Governance (TAG) program. He is from the Redbone community of southwestern Louisiana.

Joan Timeche is former executive director of the Native Nations Institute at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona (2001-2025). A citizen of the Hopi Tribe from the village of Old Oraibi, she received a B.S. in social work and an M.B.A. from Northern Arizona University.

Alison Vivian, SJD, is a Senior Researcher at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, which is housed at the University of Technology, Sydney. She is also an attorney who has practiced law in the areas of Native title; refugee and humanitarian law, and international human rights law.