Mr. Steven Denson Bio
Adjunct Professor
Southern Methodist University
2940 Binkley # 5
Dallas, Texas 75275
sdenson@mail.cox.smu.edu
Term of Appointment: 12/18/07-12/18/09
Mr. Joe Garcia, Jr., Governor
Mr. Joe Garcia serves as an Other Disciplines representative. Mr. Garcia (Tewa name, “Mark of the Misty Lake”) is the Governor of Ohkay Owingeh (formerly the San Juan Pueblo Tribe) located in northern New Mexico. Mr. Garcia also serves as President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the largest and oldest national Indian organization representing over 250 member Tribal Nations from throughout the United States. Actively involved in NCAI since 1995, Mr. Garcia served two, two-year terms as the 1st Vice President of NCAI prior to being elected President. Mr. Garcia was born and raised in Ohkay Owingeh and has served his community in numerous positions, including Chair of the local school board, President of TSAY Corporation, a tribally-owned business, two terms as Lt. Governor, and currently as a third term Governor of the Ohkay Owingeh. He is a lifetime Tribal Councilman. He is an electrical engineer by profession, with an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of New Mexico. In June 2003, Mr. Garcia retired from Los Alamos National Laboratory after 25 years of service, at which time he started his own firm, Misty Lake Consulting Services. He has taught numerous courses in computers, electronics, lasers, and math at the Northern New Mexico Community College since 1979. Mr. Garcia has been recognized for his service to his tribe, as well as to the State of New Mexico. In 1995, Mr. Garcia was awarded the New Mexico Distinguished Public Service Award and in 1998, he received the Luminaries Award from the New Mexico Community Foundation. This is his first term on the Council.
Mr. Warren Kontz
Mr. Warren Kontz serves as an Other Disciplines representative. Mr. Kontz is Creek/Navajo and currently serves as the Human Services Director for the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., a non-profit organization which serves 19 tribes in the State of Arizona. He was born and raised in Fort Defiance, Arizona on the Navajo Nation reservation and currently resides on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation. Mr. Kontz has a Bachelor of Science in Counseling Psychology from Christian Heritage College, El Cajon, California, and a Masters in Social Work from the Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. He has worked for Tribal governments, including the Navajo Nation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and the member tribes of the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. for the past 20 years in areas such as social services, child welfare planning, training and policy development, administration and supervision, employment and training, child care, welfare reform, and health education and disease prevention. This is his first term on the Council.
Dr. Rodney Stapp
Dr. Rodney Stapp serves as one of the representatives from Region IV (Dallas). Dr. Stapp, a member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma, attended Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia where he majored in Biology and Chemistry and was the chair of the Native American Alliance student organization. He was accepted to medical school in 1993, attended the New York College of Podiatric Medicine, graduating in 1997 with his Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine (DPM). He completed his residencies at Peninsula Hospital and Governor Hospital, both in New York City, New York. Dr. Stapp has simultaneously established a strong and varied track record in the fields of both management and medicine. He previously served as an Account Executive for AT&T for 9 years and served effectively in the telecommunications industry. Dr. Stapp more recently dedicated a full 1 ½ year of pro bono services as a Podiatrist to the Urban Inter-Tribal Center of Texas, assisting American Indians with diabetes. Dr. Stapp currently serves as the Clinic Director for the Dallas Urban Indian Health Center. He also serves as Chair of the Texas American Indian Information Resource Network, a collaboration of the 3 federally-recognized Texas tribes and numerous Indian organizations across the State. This organization is charged by the Governor's Task Force on Health Disparities, "to address and overcome health disparities suffered by American Indians in the State of Texas." He also serves on the DISD Advisory Committee for Superintendent, Dr. Moses. This is his first term on the Council.
Ms. V. Lana Samaniego
Ms. V. Lanna Samaniego serves as a representative from Region V (Chicago). Ms. Samaniego, of Eastern Cherokee ancestry, currently serves as the Executive Director of the Native American Indian Cultural Center, Inc. (NAICC) in Akron, Ohio. She is on the Governor’s Workforce Investment Act Board as well as other local statewide WIBs. Ms. Samaniego has more than 30 years of experience in working with Ohio’s Native American communities through education, employment, and advocacy. Working with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Ohio Commission on Minority Health, she helped to implement many Native American programs by identifying issues, needs, and strategies. Ms. Samaniego received a Community Service Award from the Ohio Commission on Minority Health for her service. She was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame for her many years of work with the Native American population in Ohio and was selected as one of Ohio’s Bi-centennial Women, one of the top 200 women in the past 200 years. Ms. Samaniego also serves as the Co-Chair of the Ohio Center for Native American Affairs and the Ohio Native American Re-burial and Repatriation Committee. This is her first term on the Council.
Mr. Ken Selby
Mr. Ken Selby serves as a representative from Alaska. Mr. Selby is the Human Services Director of the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, Inc. He has worked in the public sector since graduating with a Masters of Science in Business Management from Pepperdine University in 1977. For the past 26 years, Mr. Selby has worked for local and tribal governments. Mr. Selby was hired by the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, a native non-profit corporation based in Anchorage, Alaska in 1988, serving the thirteen Alaska Native entities in the Aleutian Pribilof Islands region. In his service as the Director of the Human Services Department, Mr. Selby manages various social/economic, education, and welfare programs, fiscal resources, and supervises staff. He is currently on the Executive Committee of the “477” tribal work group and is the Chair of the Legislative Advocacy Committee. He is also the treasurer for the Alaska Native Coalition on Employment & Training (ANCET). This is his first term on the Council.
Ms. Janice Falcone
Ms. Falcone serves as one of the representatives from Region I (Boston). Janice Falcone is
Iroquois/Onondaga and is a direct descendent of a Sachem Chief (father) of the Seneca Nation’s
snipe clan; Janice is a member of the turtle clan of the Onondaga Nation through matrilineal
descent. She currently serves as the Director of Employment and Training Services for the
North American Indian Center of Boston, Inc. Ms. Falcone previously served on the Department’s
Native American Employment and Training Council for four years. She currently serves on the
Council’s effective management, performance measures and reporting workgroups. She has served
as a Commissioner on the Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Indian Affairs from 1995-2005
and is a Sequoyah Fellow for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Ms. Falcone
has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education and has served as an Instructor in basic electronics,
microprocessor and computer hardware training.
Ms. Kimlyn Lambert
Ms. Kimlyn Lambert serves as a representative from Region III (Atlanta). Kimlyn is an enrolled
member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in Cherokee, North Carolina. Ms. Lambert has been
employed by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for 21 years, with 19 years of service in the
Education and Training Department. She has been a member of the steering committee for the creation
of the Cherokee Art Institute, a branch campus of the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe,
New Mexico. In addition, Lambert has administered the Department’s Workforce Investment Act programs,
and coordinated the Adult Vocational Training and Indian Health Service Professional Scholarship,
Native Employment Works, and Tribal Internship Training Programs. She currently serves as the
Executive Director of Vocational Opportunities of Cherokee. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in
Business Administration and is pursuing a Masters in Educational Administration.
Mr. Paul S. Austin
Mr. Austin serves as one of the representatives from Region IV (Dallas). As the
Executive Director of the American Indian Center of Arkansas, he is responsible for all of the
Center’s programs, including the Workforce Investment Act program which administers Indian
and Native American employment and training programs for Arkansas and Tennessee . A variety of
services are provided by the Center to eligible participants, including general social services,
counseling, emergency services, cultural awareness and education. The Center also provides
management for the National Trail of Tears Association, including coordination with the
National Park Service, tribal governments and state agencies. Prior to coming to the Center,
Mr. Austin served as the Assistant Executive Director for the Associated Builders and Contractors
of Arkansas and the State Coordinator for Public Service Employment and Training. He began his career
in the United States Navy serving from 1973 through 1977, after which he received a Bachelor of Arts
in Political Science from Arkansas State University and a MPA from the University of Arkansas in Little
Rock . He is affiliated with several committees and organizations locally, including memberships on 4
Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs). This is his first term serving on the INA Advisory Council.
Ms. Christine Molle
Ms. Molle serves as one of the representatives from Region V (Chicago).
She is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She began at the American Indian
Council (AIC) in 1981, and has been the Executive Director for the past 12 years. Si nce beginning
her employment with AIC, Ms. Molle has held various positions of increasing responsibility including,
Bookkeeper, Payroll Clerk, Administrative Assistant , Program Director, and currently, Executive
Director. The AIC is responsible for operations at six employment and training offices located in
Missouri and Iowa . In these locations, AIC administers adult WIA programs and a youth grant for
the Meskwaki Indian Settlement in Tama , Iowa . As the Executive Director of AIC, Ms. Molle
coordinates information and policies and works with Indian grantees throughout the Region V
Midwest service area to implement them. She confers with private industry and other organizations
to develop opportunities, assess needs, provide services to clients, and promote AIC goals. She also
recommends new policies and procedures to the AIC Board as needed, and directs and monitors the
allocation of funds and cash management for AIC. She is a member of several professional organizations
including: Co-founder and Board Member of the Native American Heartland Cancer Network; Member, Board
of Directors, Workforce Investment State Grant for the Full Employment Council of Greater Kansas
City; Member, Si te Board Decision Making Team; and has served previously, from 1998 to 2001, on
the INA Advisory Council.
Mr. Jeff Foster
Mr. Foster serves as the Oklahoma representative to the Advisory Council. He is a member of the
Seminole tribe. Over the years he has held positions of increasing responsibility with the Four
Tribes Consortium of Oklahoma. He has served on various boards and commissions serving the education
and training needs of Southwest Indians. He has held leadership positions in several employment and
training related agencies and organizations, including the Council for Tribal Employment Rights and
the Southern Plains Tribal Employment Rights Organization (TERO), and Southwest Local Workforce
Investment Board. He is the past Vice Chair of the National Indian and Native American Employment
and Training Committee; has served as an advisor to the Department of Labor for the Native
Employment Works (NEW) and Welfare to Work Programs; and, was an Advisory Council member for
the Caddo Kiowa Technology Center . Mr. Foster has received several commendations and awards
including two outstanding performance awards from the U.S. Department of Labor. This is his
second term serving on the INA Advisory Council.
Ms. Kay Kidder
Ms. Kidder serves as one of the representatives from Region VI (San Francisco
). She is a member of the Nez Perce Tribe and has a B.A. degree in Business Administration
and Communications. She has had over 15 years of grant management experience operating programs for
the Departments of Labor, Interior and Health and Human Services. Her oversight of Federal
Indian programs include: JTPA, WIA, Native Employment Works (NEW), INA Welfare to Work, and
Vocational Training for Adult Indians. Her memberships in leadership organizations include:
the Youth Advisory Council, North Central Idaho Workforce Investment Board; Nez Perce Tribe
General Council, Secretary; Private Industry Council of North Central Idaho; Idaho Works
(One Stop), Regional Collaborative Team; and, School to Work, Prairie Partnership Council.
This is her second term serving on the INA Advisory Council.
Ms. G. Anne Richardson
Ms. Richardson serves as one of the representatives from Region II
(Philadelphia) and is the INA Advisory Council Chair. She descends from a long line of
Rappahannock Chiefs. She has been a grassroots organizer since 1988 and participated in the formation
of the United Indians of Virginia (UIV), an intertribal group comprised of tribal leaders representing
seven of Virginia ’ s recognized tribes. She has a degree in business and has extensive
experience in community and economic development. She served as the Executive Director of the
Mattaponi-Pamunkey Monacan, Inc., from 1991-1994 and has recently been rehired as the Executive
Director. Ms. Richardson previously served on the Native American Employment and Training Council
for the Department of Labor and served as a member of the Virginia Board on Aging.
Mr. Elkton Richardson
Mr. Richardson serves as one of the representatives from Region III
(Atlanta). He is a member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe and served
honorably in the U.S. Air Force from 1978 to 1982. He was an original appointee to the Council on
July 1, 1993 , and was also a member of the former JTPA, Native American Programs ’ Advisory Committee. He has served as Project Director for the North Carolina Commission for
the past several years with the responsibility for managing the JTPA and WIA grants for 59
counties in North Carolina . Mr. Richardson has served as the Vice President of the
Southeastern Indian Manpower Planners and Administrators Association. This is his second
term serving on the INA Advisory Council.
Ms. Lorenda Sanchez
Ms. Sanchez serves as one of the representatives from Region VI (San
Francisco). She is a member of the Northern Paiute Tribe of Nevada,
and has dedicated over 30 years to the administration of Indian job training programs. Ms.
Sanchez began her distinguished career in 1972 with the Public Employment Program Neighborhood
Youth Corps and Operation Mainstream programs. She continued through the CETA and JTPA programs
to the current WIA program. Her involvement in the local community includes work on the Minority
AIDS Advisory Committee, San Juan Unified School District Design Team, and Advisor for the
California Indian Youth Leadership Council. Ms. Sanchez has served as the Executive Director
of CIMC, Inc. since 1977 and has been an active member of numerous local, State and regional
boards and organizations. She formerly served as the Chairperson for the Indian and Native
American Advisory Council.
Mr. Darrell Waldron
Mr. Waldron serves as one of the representatives from Region I
(New York). He is a Narragansett/Wampanoag. He has had
experience in several training and employment related positions in the Providence , Rhode Island
area. Besides his directorship of the Rhode Island Indian Council, he is founder and President of
the American Indian Community Development Corporation, which has as its mission the implementing of
economic development strategies for the R.I. Indian Council. He is a past Vocational Skills Instructor
for the SER Jobs for Progress, Inc. which provided skills training for Indian youth and adults in
Providence . He is a member of the Steering Committee, American Indian Health Care Association and
the Advisory Board, Minority Health Program. He served on the 2003 Council and is appointed to serve
another 2 year term.
Ms. Winona Whitman
Ms. Whitman serves as the Hawaiian representative on the Council. She is a Hawaiian Native. She has been a Council member since 1993 and also a member of the Council's predecessor, the JTPA Native American Programs' Advisory Committee, since its 1989 inception. Ms. Whitman has served as the Administrator of the former CETA/JTPA grant for Alu Like, Inc. since 1979 and continues to serve as the Director for the WIA program. She has a Master's and Bachelor's Degrees in Business Education from Morehead State University, Kentucky. She has extensive experience in the field of vocational education, both in curriculum development and classroom instruction.
Ms. Charlanne J. Quinto, M.E.
Ms. Charlanne Quinto serves as an Other Disciplines representative. Ms.
Quinto has served 18 years as the Director of the Colville Tribes’ Human Resources
Development Department, which oversees over 14 various programs. She was also the Tribal
Administrative Director and Acting Executive Director for the Colville Tribe. She has over 28
years of experience in the field of human services management and administration, with an
emphasis on the integration of organizational and community design and development. She has a
Masters Degree in Education and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Ethnic Studies, with an emphasis
on Federal Indian Policy and Education from Western Washington University.
Mr. Urban L. Giff
Mr. Urban L. Giff serves as an Other Disciplines representative. He is an enrolled member of the Pima Tribe of the Gila River Indian Community (Community), born in 1937 in the village of Santa Cruz, growing up in Komatke village on the Gila River Indian Reservation in central Arizona. His first language is Pima.
Urban attended secondary school at the St. John's Indian Mission School in Komatke village. In 1960, he graduated from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture.
From 1953-1960, Giff served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve as an enlistee. From 1960-1980, he served as an officer. He served in command and staff positions in the U.S. and overseas and is a Vietnam veteran. He retired from the military in 1980 with the rank of Major.
In 1981, he was hired as the Operations Manager for the Community. His oversight included several administrative areas. In 1986, he was appointed as the Community Manager, of which he had oversight of the Community's Capital Projects, Property & Supply, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Health Department, Employment and Training, Community Budget, and Departmental Directors. He also assisted the Employees Benefits Trust Board.
He was appointed to Tribal committees to establish the Gila River Telecommunications, Inc. in 1988, to organize operations for the Community gaming in the early 1990's, to oversee construction of 3 casinos, and to the Wild Horse Pass Development Authority, which developed the Whirlwind Golf Courses and the Sheraton Resort and Spa. From 1985 to present, he serves as the Director of the Community's Board of the Lone Butte Industrial, Inc., a business corporation of the Community. From 1995 to present, he also serves as the Director for the Board of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing American Indian economic self-sufficiency through business ownership by working with Federal government agencies, corporations, and foundations to facilitate a business relationship between American Indian enterprises and private industry.
In 1994, Giff was elected as the Director for the Board of Arizona Town Hall, to its Executive Committee in 1997, and served until 2002. In 1992, he was appointed, by the Governor of Arizona, to the Arizona Tribal Private Industry Council, a consortium of 19 Arizona Indians Tribes administering State JTPA programs. The designation as a Tribal service delivery area and council was a first of its kind in the country and continues today, under the state Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs. For many years, he served in the capacity of Chairman of the council. In 2005, Giff was appointed, by the Governor of Arizona, to the Governor's Council on Workforce Policy. This council advised the Governor on workforce development strategy and policy for the State of Arizona's WIA programs. Concurrently, he was also appointed to the Arizona Nineteen Tribal Nations Workforce Investment Board.
Giff retired from employment with the Community in February 2006. In June 2007, he was appointed, by the Tribal council, to the Government and Management Standing Committee of the Community, as a Community-Member-At-Large. It is a 3 year appointment.
Ms. M.J. Longley, Ed.D.
Ms. M.J. Longley serves as an Other Disciplines representative. She is currently the Chief of Operations for the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc., in Anchorage, Alaska. Her duties in this capacity include monitoring and supporting the mission of the agency in the areas of education (local and statewide), employment and family services, and transitional services training (Welfare to Work, Vocational Rehabilitation and statewide Youth Services). She also served as the Director of the Youth Opportunity Grant program, which was funded by the Department of Labor, ETA. Under Ms. Longley's direction, the Alaska Native youth program is designed to promote the success of young adults ages, 14-21 in 41 rural and remote Alaskan villages. She has also held several other progressive and challenging administrative and postsecondary teaching positions over the years, including graduate teaching experience at Portland State University and the University of Alaska. She is also a member of several professional organizations, including the American Educational Research Association, Association of American Indian and Alaska Native Professors, and National Association of Bilingual Education and the National Advisory Committee on Family Support and Children's Mental Health. This will be her third term serving on the council.
Mr. Steven Denson
Mr. Denson is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. He is a Wilson Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation of Princeton and a weekend farmer and rancher in Johnston County, Oklahoma. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Texas and was recently named a trustee of the American Indian College Fund.
During his four years with the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Texas, his leadership and commitment to excellence has advanced the Chamber's objectives. He serves as Co-chair of the Education & Mentoring Committee, which focuses on developing opportunities for American Indians to gain access to education and to acquire new and improved job skills. He works closely with the Dallas Public School's American Indian Education program and with the Dallas Inter-Tribal Center's Employment and Training Program to promote and achieve the committee's objectives.
Denson is also an Adjunct Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Edwin L. Cox School of Business of Southern Methodist University. He also serves as the University's Director of Diversity. He teaches strategic principles of negotiation and methods of international negotiation.
Professor Denson's past work experience includes corporate consulting, human resources, heavy manufacturing, unions, and national and international negotiation settings.
He has assisted with corporate marketing and contract sales strategy and negotiation involving the government of the People's Republic of China. He has also served as the Chief Development Officer of a Tribal 501 (c) for the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. In this role, he negotiated research initiatives with Yale University's Schools of Medicine and Nursing and regional tribal healthcare facilities dealing with telemedicine. He's negotiated with Alex Brown Bankers trust regarding Tribal business.
Professor Denson completed his graduate studies in public management and policy at Carnegie Mellon University. His research dealt with actuarial assumptions made for purposes of pension funding and with conservative and liberal assumptions to create a measure by which the House Ways and Means Committee and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation could effectively quantify the soundness of a pension fund. He has also worked with creating corporate, municipal, and regional governmental infrastructures to support sustainable development and researched the most effective methods and rates of technology assimilation to increase corporate growth and competitiveness within regional industries and technology clusters. His focus is primarily on the people equation.
