2008 Native American Employment & Training Council Membership

Ms. Janice Falcone
Ms. Falcone serves as one of the representatives from Region I (Boston). She is Iroquois and Onondaga and is a direct descendent of a Sachem Chief (father) of the Seneca Nation's snipe clan. She 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 and 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.

Mr. Darrell Waldron
Mr. Waldron is re-nominated to represent Region I (Boston). He is a Narragansett/ Wampanoag. He has experience in several training and employment related positionsin 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, with its mission to implement economic development strategies for the Rhode Island 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 Minority Health Program Advisory Board. He has been appointed several times to serve on the Council.

Ms. G. Anne Richardson
Ms. Richardson is re-nominated to represent Region II (Philadelphia). 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 as its Chair and served as a member of the Virginia Board on Aging.

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. She has been employed by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for 23 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. Also, 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. Elkton Richardson
Mr. Richardson is re-nominated to represent Region III (Atlanta). He is a member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe. 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. He has been appointed several times to serve on the Council.

Rodney Stapp, D.P.M.
Dr. Stapp is re-nominated to represent Region IV (Dallas). Dr. Stapp is 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 into 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 years of pro bono services as a Podiatrist to the Urban Inter-Tribal Center of Texas, assisting American Indians with diabetes. He was also a consulting podiatrist with NIKE on the NIKE Air Native N7 shoe, which was recently rolled out.

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 three federally-recognized Texas tribes and numerous Indian organiza-tions 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."

This will be his second term on the Council.

Ms. Kim Kaniatobe Carroll
Ms. Carroll is nominated to represent Region IV (Dallas). She is a Choctaw Tribal member and grew up in Southeastern Oklahoma. She has been employed with the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, for the last 20 years, most of the time working with the Cherokee Nation's employment and training programs. She has served on many workgroups on employment and training issues, including as Secretary of the Oklahoma Tribal Grantees Group. She is currently the Secretary of the Public Law 102-477 Tribal Work Group.

Ms. Carroll actively participates with the National Congress of American Indians and has served on its election and resolutions committees. She has completed the Tahlequah Leadership Program, which is sponsored by the Tahlequah Chamber of Commerce, and the Oklahoma Citizen's Academy, which is sponsored by the Oklahoma Community Institute. She has also served as a field reader for the Department of Education.

In her current position, Ms. Carroll is responsible for compliance and reporting for the Career Services Group, which administers the WIA programs. She supervises the Central Records, Data Entry, Intake, and Compliance offices. She is also the Project Director for the Native American Career and Technical Education Program under the Department of Education.

This will be her first appointment to the Council.

Ms. Christine Molle
Ms. Molle is re-nominated to serve as a representative 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 20 years. Since 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 seven employment and training offices located in Missouri, Kansas, 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 through-out 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; and Member, Site Board Decision Making Team.

She participates on the Support Group for Parents with Attention Deficit Disorder.

This will be her fifth term on the Council.

Ms. Lorenda Sanchez
Ms. Sanchez is re-nominated to serve 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 currently serves as the Chairperson for the INA Advisory Council.

This will be her tenth term on the Council.

Ms. Julia Davis-Wheeler
Ms. Davis-Wheeler is nominated to serve as one of the representatives from Region VI (San Francisco). She was born and raised on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in Idaho. Her life's experiences have made her a strong advocate for alcohol/substance abuse prevention, social services and health disparity issues, and community involvement. She was recently elected, once again, as Vice-Chairperson of the Nez Perce Tribal Council. She previously served on the Tribal Executive Committee in 1988. In this role, she is also the Chairperson of the Human Resources Subcommittee, which has oversight of many of the Tribe's community-related programs. In her terms of service, she has gained extensive experience in the area of Tribal consultation and what it means to Tribes and Tribal organizations. She has actively participated on national and state level initiatives for Indian Country. One example includes her work with the Idaho Congressional Delegation, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Indian Health Services, seven Tribal governments, and the Department of Health and Human Services to acquire land and construction services to construct the North-west Portland Regional Youth Treatment Center, or Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations. She also initiated the re-development of the National Indian Health Board, with the support of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and California Rural Indian Health Board, to serve as the advisory committee to the Director of Indian Health Services on matters regard-ing budgets, methodologies on Contract Health and Support funding, and various health issues involving Tribal governments, Tribal organizations, and Urban health issues affecting Native Americans. She has served as Chairperson of the National Indian Health Board.

This will be her first term on the Council.

Mr. Jeff Foster
Mr. Foster is re-nominated to serve as the representative from Oklahoma. 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 the Southwest Local Workforce Investment Board. He is the past Vice Chair of the National Indian and Native American Employment and Training Council; 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 will be his third term serving on the Council.

Ms. Winona Whitman
Ms. Whitman serves as the Hawaiian representative on the Council. She is a Hawaiian Native. She has been a member of the Native American Employment and Training Council since its inception in July 1993. She has also served as a member of the Council's predecessor, the JTPA Native American Programs' Advisory Committee since its inception in October 1989. Ms. Whitman has served as the administrator of the former JTPA grant for Alu Like, Inc. since 1979 and continues to serve as the Director for the WIA program. She has a Masters and Bachelor Degree 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.

David Yarlott, Jr., Ed.D
Dr. Yarlott is nominated to serve as an Other Discipline representative. He is a member of the Crow Tribe of Indians from Montana. He is the current President of the Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, Montana. Prior to his appointment, he served in several capacities at the College, including as the Dean of Academic Affairs, Department Head of Business, Business Instructor, and Curriculum Development Coordinator. He received his Doctorate of Education, Master of Science degree in Business Education, and Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Montana State University- Bozeman.

Dr. Yarlott is currently appointed by the Governor of Montana to the Montana Correctional Enterprise Advisory Committee. He also currently serves as the Executive Officer At-Large on the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Board of Directors. Past memberships include appointments to the American Indian College Fund Board of Directors, National Indian Education Association, National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges Policy Board of Directors, and the National Business Education Association.

This will be his first term on the Council.

Mr. Leo Cummings
Mr. Cummings is nominated to serve as an Other Discipline representative. He is a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota from the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. He has spent 35 years working for the Tribes as an employment professional and was a co-founder of the Public Law 102-477 National Workgroup. During the implementation of the "477" Demonstration Project, and under his guidance, the Three Affiliated Tribes was one of four national flagship programs to demonstrate this consolidation effort.

He is a current member of the North Dakota Youth Development Council, State Commission of National and Community Service, State of North Dakota Workforce Development Council, BIA Welfare Assistance Advisory Council, and the Horses for Healing and Wellness Program. Past memberships include being Co-Chair of the National Congress of American Indians' Welfare Reform Task Force, an appointee to the USDOL Native American Employment and Training Council, and Co-Chair of the 477 Work Group.

This will be his second term on the Council.

Mr. Victoria Wright
Ms. Wright is nominated to serve as an Other Discipline representative. She is a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah, which is located on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. She currently works for Merrill Lynch as the Vice President of Multicultural Marketing and Native American Banking and Finance Service Group in Pennington, New Jersey.

As Vice President, she is responsible for developing strategies for Multicultural Marketing and Field Communications within the Strategic Marketing and Brand management group for Merrill Lynch. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, she served as Deputy Executive Director for the National Indian Gaming Association, a non-profit trade association representing Tribal nations engaged in gaming.

Ms. Wright relocated from Boston, Massachusetts, to Washington, DC after graduating from law school in May 1998. She received her Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar soon after graduating. In Washington, DC, she held a position as the Legislative Associate/Staff Attorney with the National Congress of American Indians, the oldest and largest national organization of American Indians and Alaskan Native Tribal governments. She is a current board member for Futures for Children, a leading national organization partnering with American Indian Tribes to instill values of education and leadership while preserving cultural identities. She has been a sponsor of the program for 15 years.

Other past experiences include serving as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Synaptek, LLC and as Assistant Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for The METEC Group, a due diligence company, both in Arlington, Virginia; as Law Clerk for Wynn and Wynn, P.C., in Boston, Massachusetts; and as Program Coordinator for the American Indian Trade and Development Council out of Seattle, Washington.

This will be her first term on the Council.

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