This year’s theme, “Fight for Our Future: Finding Strength in Indigenous Public Health,” is a call to come together and work towards solutions for the public health crisis impacting our communities. Browse this year's Keynote Speakers and Presentations below. Registration is now open!
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Aleena believes a systems approach to solving challenges – one that considers worldview, relationships, leadership and the collective will – is the key to achieving health equity. As a national leader and advocate in Indigenous public health, Aleena develops culturally and contextually relevant resources and materials with practical approaches to transform systems and improve health.
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Amber McCrary is Diné poet, zinester, feminist and artist.
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Camie Jae Goldhammer, MSW, LICSW, IBCLC, (Sisseton-Wahpeton) is a Clinical Social Worker and Lactation Consultant. Camie is the founder and chair of the Native American Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington. She is also a founding mother and President Elect of the National Association of Professional and Peer Lactation Supporters of Color.
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Casey Lyons is an evaluator at the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board. Previously, she managed opioid-related data programs for the Maryland Department of Health. She holds an MPH from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
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Chael Moore is Ts’ahyisk’idnii (Sage Brush Hill People) and born for Honágháanii (One Who Walks Around). Her maternal grandparents are Tó’ahaní (Near the Water) and her paternal grandparents are Tó’aheedlíinii (Water Flowing Together). She is from Crystal, NM on the Navajo Nation and is 22 years old. Chael’s pronouns are She and Her.This is how she identifies as a Diné womxn.
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Christina E. Oré joined the Seven Directions team from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s Health Services Division where she worked on various tribal health systems strengthening initiatives: CBPR developed, creative/strength-based wellness programs; data capacity and infrastructure; tribal research ethics and review, and performance management/ quality improvement.
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Evelyn Mikayla Martin (Itsooaakii) [Blackfeet Tribe of Montana, Comanche Tribe of Oklahoma, Squamish Nation of Canada, and Filipina] graduated with her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington (Seattle, WA) in American Indian Studies with a minor in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies.
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Heidi Lovejoy is the Substance Use Epidemiologist at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board. In this role, Heidi works to improve opioid and other drug-related surveillance and access to data for American Indian and Alaska Native communities in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. She holds a Master of Health Sciences Cum Laude from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University of Washington. Heidi has previous experience at the Washington State Department of Health in data systems development, program evaluation, and educational outreach campaigns. She has also worked in private healthcare management and at the Washington State Health Care Authority expanding access to healthcare for Washingtonians.
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Joseph Seia is the Founder and Executive Director of the Pacific Islander Community Association of Washington. Joseph was born in Los Angeles, grew up on Tutuila and Upolu islands with his ‘āiga in Sāmoa, and eventually emigrated to Duwamish/Coast Salish Territory with his father Aitulagi Iosefa and his siblings in 1994. He has 15 years of experience in direct service & youth development work, antiracist-community organizing, nonprofit leadership, and administration. Joseph champions systems change work the centers the leadership and history of most impacted communities. He is committed to reducing and ending the impacts of systemic racism on the lives of Indigenous, Black and Brown communities, through coalition building, centering anti-racism, creating inter-generational leadership opportunities and working with BIPOC communities to co-design our vision of Beloved Community. Joseph is Fa’afafine – he is a fierce advocate for QTBIPOC communities. He is critically concerned with political systems that cripple or erase the voice and leadership of NHPI communities and will continue to provide soul labor in re-envisioning what it means for NHPI families to feel belonging and establish cultural home within the State of Washington.
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Joshua Smith is currently a Health Communication and Evaluation Specialist with the Improving Data and Enhancing Access – Northwest (IDEA-NW) project, housed within the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board. His work includes addressing issues of data access and helping bridge understanding of health data. He received his Bachelors in Psychology and Sociology from Portland State University.
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Julie is an E-RYT 500 level teacher in the Viniyoga lineage with 10 years of teaching experience, primarily at Whole Life Yoga Studio in Greenwood, Seattle.
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Karuna Tirumala is a Biostatistician working with the Improving Data and Enhancing Access project at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board. Her research interests include issues data quality for tribal communities, as well as chronic health matters. Karuna has been working with the IDEA-NW project for the past two years, and holds an MPH from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
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Lisa Pivec, MS, is Senior Director of Public Health for Cherokee Nation Health Services. With more than 340,000 tribal citizens, the Cherokee Nation is the largest Tribal Nation in the United States. The Tribe’s headquarters are in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, but Cherokee Nation Health Services provides public health as well as clinical delivery services to a geographic area encompassing 14 counties in eastern Oklahoma. In August of 2016, Cherokee Nation Health Services became the first and only tribe to receive accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board.
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Lyndi Seabolt is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She works at the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board in Opioid Overdose Prevention and is a certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist. She co-facilitates the Indian Country Peer Recovery Support TeleECHO Program. She graduated with a BA in Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma.
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Dr. Maya Magarati is an affiliate faculty with the University of Washington (UW) department of sociology, and a research scientist with the Seven Directions: A Center for Indigenous Public Health and Indigenous Wellness Research Institute. She currently leads CDC/NNPHI-funded “Opioid Overdose Prevention in Tribes” project at Seven Directions. Maya has spent her last 10 years conducting culture-centered research, evaluation, and technical assistance projects around alcohol, opioid, mental health, non-communicable diseases, and environmental health in Indian Country including Tribal Colleges and Universities. She received an M.A. in sociology under the Fulbright program followed by Ph.D. in sociology from UW and B.H.Sc. in nutrition & dietetics in Australia. She is Indigenous Magar from Nepal’s Himalayas.
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Dr. Spencer is the Professor and Director of Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Oceania Affairs.
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Michele Suina, PhD, is from Cochiti Pueblo. She is the Program Director for the CDC Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country Program at the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center.
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Mike Brook works at the intersection of public health and technology.
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Nicholet Deschine Parkhurst, Standing Rock Sioux and Diné, is a PhD student in the Justice Studies program in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. Nicholet earned a Master of Public Policy, Masters of Social Work, and Bachelor of Science in Family Resources & Human Development.
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Raquel Elaine Aviles is a (Yaqui/Hiaki) Pascua Yaqui citizen of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona. Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, she dedicated herself to serving her tribe for over 20 years in various capacities over the years in a community-base, tribal public health setting.
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Rebecca Tsosie is a Regents’ Professor at the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona and also serves as Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence. Professor Tsosie, who is of Yaqui descent, is a Faculty Co-Chair for the Indigenous Peoples’ Law and Policy Program at the University of Arizona, and she is widely known for her work in the fields of Federal Indian law and indigenous peoples’ human rights.
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Sofia Poggioni Singer is from the Bronx, NY and a Research Coordinator at Seven Directions. At Seven Directions, Sofia supports the CDC-funded "Opioid Overdose Prevention in Tribes” project and coordinates national research study on elderly fall prevention in tribal communities. She is committed to addressing public health challenges affecting vulnerable communities and is interested in how history, power, and norms influence behavior and the experience and effectiveness of health interventions. As an undergraduate, Sofia worked on strengthening the emergency medical care system for indigenous families in Paraguay, decreasing the incidence rates of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania, and on neonatal health and violence against women initiatives in India. Most recently, she has been involved in the implementation of a program addressing intergenerational trauma and child mental health among Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Sofia received a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in Anthropology, with a minor in Human Biology.
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Sujata Joshi is the Director of the Improving Data and Enhancing Access – Northwest (IDEA-NW) project at the Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center. In this role, she oversees activities to address them is classification of American Indian/Alaska Native people in state surveillance datasets. Sujata and her team work to provide accurate data on a wide range of health issues to Northwest Tribes, and increase awareness of tribal health needs in the broader public health community. She obtained her MSPH in epidemiology and biostatistics from Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. She previously worked for the State of Oregon and for the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona Tribal Epidemiology Center.
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Tiana, MSW, affectionately known in her community as “The Wellness Bae,” is a holistic mental health practitioner, Certified Wellness Coach, and Consultant. Her passions lie in helping people seek their higher purpose through transformation and radical self-love. Tiana’s practice is rooted in her background and training as a registered clinical therapist. Tiana is a fierce advocate for accessible and relatable Wellness services and practices for Black and Brown communities, trans and non-binary folks, and low-income communities.
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