Aulii Mitchell (Ka `ohana o Keawehiku, Kanaka maoli, Native Hawaiian) Kumu Charles Aulii Mitchell, resides on the island of Hawai’i in the district of Puna. His career spans decades as a cultural anthropologist in the discipline of archaeology and currently serves as the cultural advisor for Cultural Surveys Hawai’i, Inc. He carries the legacy of hula ‘ōlapa or ancient hula passed down to him by his grandfather and mother. Kumu Auliʻiʻs hula academies, Hālau ʻo Kahiwahiwa in Hawaiʻi and Hālau ʻo Moananuiakiea in Auckland, New Zealand, are world-renowned and known for the revival of the hula kiʻi, the dance of the sacred image, known today as Hawaiian puppetry. Read Aulii’s fellow profile.
Charlene Teters (Spokane Tribe) is an artist, educator, and activist. Teters’ activism has led to a strong upswing in efforts to eliminate Native American mascots in the United States. Teters’ art has been featured in over 21 major exhibitions, commissions, and collections.
Gimiwan Dustin Burnette (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe) is from Cass Lake, Minnesota, and is a veteran Ojibwe language immersion teacher who taught grades K-1 at Niigaane in Leech Lake and grades 3-5 at Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Institute in Lac Courte Oreilles. Gimiwan has been assisting other Ojibwe language immersion programs with curriculum, material, and staff development for several years. He was a recipient of the 2021 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellowship, which he used to further develop the Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network (MIIN) where he is currently the Executive Director. Gimiwan is also a subject matter expert for Rosetta Stone Ojibwe.
Heather Ahtone (Choctaw/Chickasaw Nation) serves as Curatorial Affairs Director at First Americans Museum (FAM) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she has worked since 2018. Her research examines the intersection between Indigenous cultural knowledge, art and museum practice. Working in the Native arts community since 1993, she has curated numerous exhibits, publishes regularly, and continues to seek opportunities to broaden discourse on global contemporary Indigenous arts. In addition to her curatorial work, she serves the community through board membership on the American Art Journal, Clara Luper Civil Rights Center, and the Native American Art Studies Association.
Karl Duncan (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, San Carlos Apache) is the Executive Director for the Poeh Cultural Center at the Pueblo of Pojoaque. A graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts, Karl received a BA in Museum Studies and is currently part of the first cohort for the MFA program in Cultural Administration at IAIA. He has worked as the curator for the Buffalo Thunder Resort Art Collection, serves as vice-president of the Continuous Pathways Foundation, and as a board member of Buffalo Thunder Incorporated and Silver Bullet Productions.
Trina Landlord (Yup’ik/Asa’carsarmiut Tribe/Mountain Village, Alaska) serves as the Director of Business Development at Future Elder, an Indigenous and female-owned full-service brand marketing and communications firm where she connects and cultivates client relationships, expands and elevates presence in community, and pursues new business lead generation. She has coordinated the largest annual representative gathering of Indigenous peoples in the United States and Alaska’s largest annual convention. Trina is skilled in the fundraising/development field for Alaska Native advocacy, Tribal non-profit, and non-governmental organizations. She led an Alaska Native arts organization and worked at a Cultural Embassy that promoted Alaska in New York City. Her experience on Alaska Native issues earned as a participant in the Indigenous Fellowship Program at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, where she co-authored an Indigenous Human Rights Training Manual. Trina has served on the boards of the American Red Cross, Food Bank of Alaska, and Alaska Native Heritage Month and a volunteer radio host on an Indigenous urban public radio station. She was named one of Alaska Journal of Commerce’s Top Forty Under 40. She is of Yup’ik heritage, originally from Mountain Village and resides in Anchorage.
Raymond Foxworth (Navajo) (Advisor to Committee) joined the Henry Luce Foundation in April 2023 as the Foundation’s inaugural program director for the Indigenous Knowledge Initiative. Prior to joining the Foundation, Raymond served as vice president for First Nations Development Institute, a national Native-led organization that works with Native American communities on community and economic development. Raymond holds a PhD in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has an extensive research background focused on Indigenous politics, democracy and social development in the U.S. and Latin America. In 2021-2022 he served as a visiting scholar in the political science department at the University of New Mexico. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and the American Political Science Association. He is a former board member of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado and Native Public Media.
Michael Roberts (Tlingit) is the president and CEO of First Nations Development Institute, a position he was appointed to in 2005 after having served as a research officer and chief operating officer for the organization from 1992 to 1997 and returning to First Nations in 2002. In the interim, Mike spent five years in private equity, during which he advised angel investors and worked for a $500 million telecommunications fund and for an early-stage Midwest venture capital firm. Mike also worked at Alaska Native corporations and for local IRA councils, primarily in accounting and finance. Mike serves on the Board of First Nations Development Institute. Mike’s past service includes board positions for Native Americans in Philanthropy and The Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), as well as on the Advisory Council of the Center for Native American Public Radio, and on the National Advisory Committee for the National Center for Family Philanthropy.
Catherine Bryan (Navajo) is the Deputy Executive Director of First Nations Development Institute, she provides strategic leadership, management, and direction for First Nations’ programs. Catherine joined First Nations as a program officer in 2008, then served as a senior program officer, and became a director of programs in 2017. Prior to joining First Nations, from 2004 to 2008, Catherine was a legal analyst for the National Tribal Justice Resource Center, a program of the National American Indian Court Judges Association that convenes and provides technical assistance for tribal court judges and judicial systems across Indian Country. Catherine holds a J.D. degree from the University of New Mexico – School of Law. In her former life, she attained Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees in French literature from the University of Oklahoma, lived in France on and off for several years, and taught lower-level French university courses. Catherine was born and raised in southeastern New Mexico. She calls Boulder, Colorado, home and relies heavily on the mountains and hills for a sense of direction and outdoor fun. Every day would be perfect if it involved riding a bike under Colorado’s sunny skies.