Our Team of experts

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Stephanie Cote (Anishinaabe) is an independent consultant specializing in Indigenous-based research, nonprofit development, financial education curriculum development and training delivery, economic market analysis, Native Community Development Financial Institution organizational sustainability, and strategic planning facilitation. In her career history, Ms. Cote worked with Oweesta Corporation, First Nations Development Institute, Cielo Foundation, Native CDFI Network, Potlatch Fund, Longhouse Media, and Northwest Native Development Fund. She is a master trainer for the Building Native Communities suite of curriculum, a certified HUD Housing Counselor, Credit As An Asset Master Trainer, CreditSmart curriculum instructor, NeighborWorks America NCHEC certified in Homeownership Counseling, and a Certified Professional Coach through the Coaching for Transformation program with Leadership That Works. Ms. Cote is the 2023-2024 National Endowment of Financial Education’s Visiting Scholar, weaving an indigenous-rooted research narrative around the intersection of Native experience and financial education. She serves as a member on Clearinghouse CDFI’s Native American Advisory Board and the State of Colorado’s Office of Financial Empowerment Advisory Board. In her spare time, she is a fitness instructor facilitating a range of fitness mediums from weightlifting and cardio to yoga and meditation. Ms. Cote attained her BA in Comparative Literature in French and English with a minor in Native American Studies from the University of Michigan. She is Potawatomi and Odawa of Michigan from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

Tara Lynn Christiansen-Stiller is Alutiiq/Supiq/Unganan. Her Alutiiq/Supiaq name is Oswitusqaq; given to her by her Godmother, Mary Haakanson.  It translates as One who is wise, one who knows and cares for her family. Her family is from Old Harbor on Kodiak Island and King Cove on the Aleutian Chain.  She was raised in Old Harbor and Anchorage, Alaska.   Her Maternal Grandparents are Andrew Koso, Sr. and Annie (Mack) Koso of King Cove; their youngest daughter (my Mother) is Bernadine (Koso) Christiansen.  Her Paternal Grandparents are Rolf Christiansen, Sr. and Sasha (Kelly) Christiansen, and their youngest son (my Father) is Jack Christiansen, Sr. (1953-1996). 

She is passionate about learning, teaching, and revitalizing our Native ways of being. She enjoys working for and with the community to support building capacity in knowledge, skill, and awareness of wellness, prevention, and healing.  She utilizes a two-eyed seeing method of practice, using the best practices of Western and Traditional knowledge to identify the best strategies based on the community's identified needs.   She has worked in community/public/population health for over 12 years.  She is an Indigenous Health Ph.D. student at the University of North Dakota.   She loves learning about all AI/AN cultures and ways of being.  She enjoys prioritizing, incorporating, developing, or adapting programs, models, and frameworks to support community needs best. 

Mikalen is a second-year Indigenous Health Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Dakota. 

Mikalen’s research interests span a diverse spectrum of Indigenous health initiatives. His areas of focus include exploring community-based and tribally-driven research by and for Indigenous Peoples within the context of Social and Cultural Drivers of Health, providing public health education services, investigating the impacts of historical trauma in correlation to Adverse Childhood Experiences within Indigenous youth populations, Murdered and Missing Indigenous Relatives prevention, promoting tribal sovereignty and self-determination, implementing Indigenous evaluation frameworks, utilizing Indigenous knowledge as verification for data validity, and advocating for data-driven decision making.

When he is not studying, Mikalen enjoys spending time with his family and friends. Mikalen has four nephews that he adores, and he remains mindful that they are always watching and learning from his footsteps. He loves to hunt and fish to carry on his late father’s traditions. He is always determined to involve his family with his education and health equity projects to share their knowledge and cultural teachings.

Cherry Y.E.W. Yamane, MPH, is Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) from Oahu, Hawaii, and a scholar-practitioner with 9 years of experience in public health research, evaluation, and technical assistance. Cherry's research spans various health initiatives, particularly for supporting Indigenous youth and adolescents. Their main area of focus includes community-based participatory research, cultural and land-based healing programs, and interventions that center Indigenous strengths as sources of healing and thriving. Their experience is primarily focused on substance use, mental health, poverty, housing, and child welfare research. They also have experience in Indigenous data sovereignty, COVID-19, food systems, early childhood education, abortion rights, racial equity, climate justice, advocacy, and policies that support Indigenous communities. They are experienced in mixed-methodologies, qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Yamane humbly supports Indigenous communities in developing and implementing community-based programming and for communities to lead in their own research. 

Eric is both Lakota and Dakota of the Oglala and Wakpa Ipaksan nations. Eric is a proud forth Generation Advocate

for his people. Eric has his Master’s of Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, with a focus in

Tribal Management and Emergency Services.  Eric helped to design and develop the program and its curriculum. Eric Has worked with Tribes, FEMA, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to establish best practices for the tribes in requesting

emergency and disaster declarations.

Eric also worked with American Indian Tribes, Alaskan Native Corporations, and Native Hawaiian Organizations developing their economies. As the Director of Legislative Affairs for the Native American Contractors Association, Eric was a strong policy expert and advocate for the development of Native economies on Capital Hill. He regularly visited Congressional offices and held informational briefings for the Senate

Committee on Indian Affairs and the House of Representatives Committee on Small Business. Eric pairs his passion to serve Native peoples with his knowledge of federal regulations and laws as they

relate to Native populations, his desire is for Native voices to be heard and for action that leads to greater autonomy for indigenous people, globally.

Cameryn Ryan, an enrolled member of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the

Potawatomi, has a strong background in community health and health communication.

She is currently pursuing a PhD in Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota. Cameryn has experience facilitating public health communication workshops, addressing misinformation, and tackling vaccine hesitancy through community-based strategies. Passionate about engaging with communities, she aims to create culturally relevant, strengths-based health messaging that advances Indigenous health and

wellness.

Anna Kihlstrom, MPH, has a background in nursing for 16 years. Her MPH studies focused on Maternal and Child Health, and she is currently a student in the Indigenous Health PhD program at the University of North Dakota. For the past five years, she has worked with the Oglala Lakota community in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, on a culture- and community-based emergency foster home initiative. Kihlstrom has done community engagement work, qualitative interviews, and data analysis in collaboration with the Native American community.

Marlena Robbins, MS, (Diné/Mescalero Apache) is a leader and advocate for Indigenous worldviews, focusing on cultural revitalization and policy changes for Native American communities. She has an MS in American Indian Studies from Arizona State University and is a Doctor of Public Health student at UC Berkeley.

Her research explores public health and entheogenic medicine within tribal communities, aiming to inform educational frameworks and public health policy.

At the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics, she develops evaluation tools and conducts survey data analysis for the Psychedelic Facilitation Certificate Program.

As a SAMHSA consultant, Marlena developed a toolkit for staff to navigate the use of psychedelics in Native American communities.

She also serves on the Natural Medicine Health Act working group in Colorado, advocating for the protection of sacred plants and ensuring Indigenous voices are included in policy-making.

Brad Krueger, MPH, is a passionate, equity-focused, relationship-centric evaluator. He thrives on building systems to collect, review, and present data. His years of experience, working with county health departments, large and small nonprofits, tribal and urban AI/AN organizations, as well as state agencies, has allowed him to interact with diverse stakeholders and audiences. He humbly embraces opportunities leverage data to support the mission and impact of

organizations he is privileged to support. He received his Masters of Public Health from Des Moines University in 2017 after completing his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Bethel University. Since, he has worked as an evaluation partner alongside organizations such as the American Indian Cancer Foundation, Great Plain’s Tribal Leaders Health Board, Minnesota Department of Health, and the Hmong American Partnership.

Walt Pourier, Oglala Lakota, experienced Owner of Advertising Design and Graphics company with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization management industry. Skilled in Brand Identity and Ad Campaigns, Print Management, Photography, Graphics, and Advertising. Youth and Community Outreach Advocate. Awarded Fine Artist. Strong entrepreneurship professional graduated from Art Institute of Colorado. Walt has created health messaging campaigns for Project Mosaic for social media and other platforms for clients such as the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, the University of Colorado Anschutz, and Denver Indian Health and Family Services.  He has also worked with Project Mosaic to create logos and brand strategies for Dream of Wild Health and Buffalo Nations Grasslands Alliance.

Robin Carufel (Ojibwe), has expertise in tribal clinics, Indian Health Service, IHS, healthcare systems, and tribal self-governance.  He has managed tribal health clinics, Peter Christensen Health Center -Lac du Flambeau, WI,  
Mille Lacs Ojibwe Nay Ah Shing Health Center- Onamia, MN, Little River Band of Odawa Indians Tribal Health Center-Manistee, MI, and was the Senior Advisor for the Gerald L.Ignace Health Center-Milwaukee, WI.  He was the lead Self-Governance consultant for the Spirit Lake Nation of North Dakota, guiding them to become the first P.L. 93-638 Title V-Self-Governance Compact tribe in the Great Plains Area of the Indian Health Service.  As part of this process, Carufel assisted the tribe in assuming total control over the IHS Service Unit located at Fort Totten, ND.  He also provided guidance to the Gun Lake Tribe of Potawatomi Indians in Michigan in converting to Title V-Self Governance Compact.  Carufel was the IHS National Budget Formulation Co-Chair during the George H. Bush Administration, representing the Bemidji Area. Carufel has also provided consultation services for the Great Lakes EPI Center, working with tribal clinics to teach them how to apply EPI Center data to tribal clinical settings and translate the information to make organizational decisions.  Having managed four tribal clinics, Carufel has experience using EPI center data in conjunction with community health profiles to expand or redesign health services.  He is also adept at forming partnerships between tribal clinics, between sister agencies of IHS, and with the Centers for Disease Control, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Health and Human Services, state level partners, referral networks and healthcare institutions, and other national organizations that work in the healthcare arena in Indian Country.  

Armando Martinez, descendant of the Chiricahua Apache,

has worked with Project Mosaic on Public Service

Announcement (PSA) projects for the Native American

community. Together Project Mosaic and Armando have

delivered multiple PSAs to encourage Native Americans to get

tested for COVID-19 and another PSA to spread the word on

COVID-19 vaccine information. Armando brings a high

degree of professionalism to his projects, as well as respect

for the communities he serves.