Keri Pinna, PhD, is the descendant of two farming families in Northwest Minnesota. She followed her parents’ lead by choosing a different path. Hers intersects between environmental awareness, mental health, adversity, and diversity. She has been labeled a “hippy”, a “shrink”, a “bookworm”, and a “snowball”. Most labels don’t bother her. Some do. Objectively, some labels map well onto her climate consciousness; clinical and academic experience; and experience with inclusive communities. She does appreciate use of the label earned in 2011 (“Dr.”); yet she generally prefers to keep it humble with first names. She does ask that she not be referred to as “Ms.” or “Mrs.” Pinna. While she does not judge women who use the titles for themselves, Keri does not identify with colonial conventions that label women (not men) according to their marital status. Her request for humble respect informed the name of the nonprofit she established in 2020 - Don’t Call Me Josephine (DCMJ). The nonprofit is formally named after a founding story whose details are shared once you get to know us better. Keri infuses this work with knowledge and skills learned through training in clinical psychology, and subsequent teaching, community-engaged research, and nonprofit experience. In 2015, she began considering inequities driven by colonialism, after a lifetime of disconnection from Native community local to her own childhood home. In 2017, she finally heard Native voice “from home”. That voice belonged to Shirley Cain - an Anishinaabe Elder and citizen of the Red Lake Nation. It resonated deeply with feminine strength. The mentorship and friendship that ensued evolved into “Respecting Voice” - a series of safety conversations including both Native and non-Native voice in their home region. These conversations are helping shape programming that addresses health inequities across intersecting communities. Keri considers these inequities as a white mom of a white son; feeding the next generation what hers was not.

Shirley Cain, JD, is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation and avid Jingle dress dancer. She has over 30 years of experience advocating for families, children and tribal communities affected by substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health issues in Indian Country. She provides training and technical assistance to Tribal grantees and leads a Tribal Learning Collaborative engaging nine tribes in a peer-to-peer information exchange supporting project growth and sustainability. She also works with a Substance Use Prevention project and with a quality assurance project. More recently, she provided support for a Tribal Opioid Response grant from SAMHSA. She has a Juris Doctorate and Bachelor of Arts degree. She is also a licensed attorney in the State of Minnesota. Ms. Cain has served as a Tribal judge, focusing on children’s issues, addiction and communication between tribal agencies. She also worked as a Tribal Administrator wherein she helped develop a state Department of Motor Vehicles building to rent to the State of California. Most recently, Shirley has served as a policy specialist coordinating a Native American Equity project focusing on child welfare. She has an extensive history in advancing quality services toward the advancement of substance use reform, access to services and development of innovative solutions supporting comprehensive care delivery for Natives. Ms. Cain is committed to child and family well-being and is a fierce advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion involving positive physical, emotional, and mental health for her Indigenous relatives. Her vision for all her Indigenous relatives is to be healthy and happy.

Regina (“Gina”) Zapata is first and foremost the mother of four amazing young women, and grandmother to a beautiful grandson. She is originally from San Antonio, Texas; moving to Crookston, MN in 1995 at the age of 12. Gina taught preschool for 13 years at the local Headstart program, and is now expanding the reach of her skills to families in the broader region, through that same program. In addition to her work with low income families who are raising young children, she also works with In Progress - Studio 110; the Crookston-based digital arts studio promoting often unheard voices. Gina loves that she can express herself through words, photos, and videos. She humbly acknowledges that she is still learning, while leading and supporting Latinx artists in her community. She recently led claymation programming in which local “littles” were able to express themselves through words and hands-on imagery; produced into short videos that give voice to the youngest among us who are least likely to be heard. Her work with more mature voices currently focuses on co-production of a documentary called “The Harvest”, in which the story of the local harvest is being told by Latinx community for the first time; and produced by an all Latinx crew. Through “The Harvest”, the voices of those well-known to be an integral part of local agriculture will finally share their own voices. Next up is centering voice that is Indigenous to the region, as Gina partners with the nonprofit Don’t Call Me Josephine on a health equity project with an intersecting theme.

Rena Zapata Bouchard is originally from San Antonio, Texas. She moved to Crookston as a child with her mom and sisters in 1995. She is, first and foremost, a mother to three children. As a working mom, her artistic endeavors feed her soul. She began with a background in cosmetology, which facilitates her passion for Makeup Artistry. She obtained her Freelance Makeup Artist Certification in 2016, and has been a proud contributor to Grand Forks Fashion Week, in addition to her work with private clients. Rena’s thirst for continuing to further her education in the arts led her to In Progress - Studio 110; the Crookston-based digital arts studio that promotes often unheard voices. At the studio, Rena is able to apply her passion for “pushing the envelope”. She continues to develop as an artist, while moving into mentorship of newly developing artists. Rena’s own art focuses on heavy subject matter about which she is passionate, such as raising awareness about children continuing to be separated from their families at the Mexican border. Currently, Rena is co-producing a documentary about the local harvest. While the story has been told before, it has never been told from the perspective of Latinx community, who are well-known for their essential role in the harvest. The digital story not only centers Latinx voice; it is being produced by an all Latinx crew, as well. As production wraps up, Rena will rejoin a partnership with the nonprofit Don’t Call Me Josephine to center voice that is Indigenous to the region in the next phase of community conversations about safety.

Amanda Rodarte (she/they) was born and raised outside of Los Angeles, California, and moved to the Twin Cities, Minnesota to complete her psychology degree in the mid-2010s. She is now using her degree to promote community wellbeing, as a passionate advocate for Latinx and LGBTQIA+ communities, who dreams of someday starting her own community center. Amanda’s studies in psychology included learning about ways in which adversity can impact biology and thus health across many outcomes (e.g. contributing to depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, heart disease, etc.). She also learned how to analyze and interpret data that helps “tell the story”, with an eye towards strengths-based health promotion, and a healthy awareness of deficit culture. Amanda carefully considers the implications of identity in her work (e.g., cultural identity, gender identity, ability-based identity, etc.). Centering in self, she recently began to explore and seek connection with her Mexican Indigenous roots. Soon after beginning this journey, Amanda joined an inclusive team of both Native and non-Native women to co-facilitate a series of conversations about safety, from a land-based perspective. She reflects on the implications of her unique experiences, as a Chicana person from California, who is learning about issues of safety in the region colonially known as Northwest Minnesota. Amanda and an expanded team are now centering Native voice in the evaluation phase of these safety conversations. She maintains an awareness of the ways in which her own unique voice both overlaps with and is distinct from the Anishinaabe voice that is leading the way. Amanda is eager to help center Native voice from the region in the Tribally-led evaluation of safety conversation outcomes.

Gabrielle McFadden Vincent is a proud Pan African woman of Jamaican descent; born and raised in the Twin Cities, Minnesota by a fierce mother who shines a light on feminine strength. Gabrielle, herself, is a fierce advocate for the Black community, who centers in her own personal roots, while serving community across the African Diaspora and beyond. She helps raise awareness about the impacts of colonialism, such as that which has manifested through scientific practices, and the education systems that produce said scientists. As a researcher, herself, she is mindful of the colonial roots inherent in her education and chosen profession. Her recent research focuses on obstetric violence, in relation to Pan-African Maternal Health. She has also worked with Harvard on anti-racist and culturally responsive teaching-classroom practices/dynamics. Gabrielle often speaks out, where and when others remain silent, in her relentless pursuit of social justice; holding individuals and systems accountable to the harm committed, especially where care has been promised. As an inclusive advocate, Gabrielle recognizes the common plights that are often shared across oppressed communities. For example, in college, Gabrielle was one of three underrepresented students who chose to develop their skills studying health outcomes across diverse communities. The trio later packed a room full of underrepresented students to discuss the experience; encouraging the group to get involved and consider developing their own skills, as well. Recently, Gabrielle’s trio joined a larger team of diverse women who are centering female voice in conversations about safety in Minnesota’s Anishinaabe territory. Gabrielle helped facilitate the conversations; raising awareness about the impacts of colonial science and education systems on Native communities in the region. Gabrielle is now helping to further center Native voice in the region, as the team moves into the evaluation phase of this work. She looks forward to applying Tribally-driven methods, as they continue expanding the light being shown on the original voices in the region.

Rochelle Vincent is a registered nurse, student midwife and full-spectrum birth and bodyworker. Their educational background includes psychology, public health, holistic health, and the science of nursing. She practices in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, providing abortion and loss support, traditional postpartum support, labor support, childbirth education, lactation education, and placenta encapsulation. She often reflects on her own origin story, and the integral moments that led to her making. Rochelle humbly acknowledges that she is still evolving, with the support of her elders, family, and community. Elders guide and connect her. Ancestors protect her. Community supports and builds with her. As a full-spectrum birthworker, Rochelle is the owner of Lotus Birth and Body Works. As a community advocate, she is part of The SPIRAL Collective (Supporting People in Reproduction, Abortion, and Loss) - a nonprofit for reproductive justice. SPIRAL centers the needs of those who experience chronic illness and disability, within queer, trans, and BIPOC communities. These marginalized communities are represented in both leadership and programming. Leadership acknowledges that their work takes place in occupied Dakhóta territories. Rochelle’s reproductive justice work at SPIRAL is rooted in community; providing radical, compassionate care in all pregnancy outcomes and experiences. Services are trauma-informed, client- and healing-centered, as they provide practical support, community-based education, and engage in culture/narrative shifting practices. In her “spare time”, Rochelle works with the Respecting Voice Collaborative, which is centering Native voice in conversations about safety, at the intersection of occupied and retained Anishinaabe territories.

Kristine (Kris) Sorensen is a founder and Executive Director of In Progress - a digital arts organization that paves the way for new voices through digital storytelling. The organization includes an extensive network of artists who share their knowledge, expertise and stories with one another. In Progress currently has two studios in the state of Minnesota. They partner with rural, Tribal, and urban communities to share resources, stories, and opportunities. Through these partnerships, artists are able to break down barriers to becoming digital art makers and sharing stories that need to be heard. Kris believes in the power of teaching others how to honor memory through the digital form, and that with encouragement and matched resources, a common strength is created in places where the digital arts are often out of reach due to economic and geographic barriers. Kris is inspired most by newly developing artists that are passionate about the stories they carry. For Kris, there is nothing better than watching a person find their voice through the lens of a camera. She thinks back on all the people she has met, and the stories they have shared with their families and communities. She finds inspiration in the idea that persons of all ages know the value of their own histories, and are able to honor themselves and others through digital art. Kris is currently feeding her experience forward into general mentorship of the newly developing nonprofit, Don’t Call Me Josephine (DCMJ), as their team incorporates digital storytelling techniques into health equity activities for the first time. Her support includes provision of access to needed resources that support DCMJ’s emerging partnership between Native and non-Native communities that seeks to center Indigenous voices, as a matter of health equity.

Brandon Jones is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health (MACMH). His background is in Sociology, Community Psychology, and Marriage and Family Therapy. A psychotherapist, professor, and behavioral health consultant prior to his leadership at MACMH, Brandon has worked as a school-based mental health counselor, and specializes in therapeutic services within communities of color. Throughout his career, Brandon has been a passionate advocate for children and families, leading with expertise in the areas of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), historical and intergenerational trauma, social/emotional intelligence, and youth justice. With these combined expertises, Brandon is helping to build a more culturally-responsive mental health system. In his leadership role at MACMH, he is infusing children’s mental health education, and the provision of relevant resources, with historically underrepresented voices. The trauma and grief families have endured as a result of COVID-19 and ongoing social and racial injustices has amplified the importance of this work. Brandon believes in the importance of youth voice playing a role in their own mental health programming. Thus he promotes youth expression of their own voices through such programs as Youth Voices of Experience Magazine, and the podcast version of the same. Brandon is now also lending his experience to the Respecting Voice Collaborative, as Native youth voice is engaged to tell the digital story of community safety conversations in rural Minnesota. Youth perspective will help shape the future of such conversations from an intergenerational perspective.

Birdie Lyons, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, was seven years old when she was taken away from her family. Not long after, she escaped from boarding school to return to her community and grow up immersed in Ojibwe culture. During the ceremonies to mark her First and Final Moons, Birdie received assignments and teachings that have guided her on her path to becoming a cultural practitioner, a matriarch, and a community leader. Birdie shares teachings she learned throughout her life: about honoring ourselves, each other, and the gifts and responsibilities bestowed on every one of us. Birdie has been a practical nurse for 41 years. She has served as a Headstart nurse, W.I.C. Director, Clinic Manager, LPN Float nurse, and a community educator. Alongside her Supervisor and the Education Director, Birdie assisted in starting the Leech Lake Reservation’s Public Health Nursing program which has now become the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Health Division. She also worked with the Indian Health Services prior to returning to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe W.I.C. program, at the Chairman’s request. In 1998, Birdie became the manager of six clinics located throughout the reservation. She then worked as the Administrative Lead Nurse for the Archdeacon Gillfilan Center, where she helped the facility to learn and use Native American traditions and values to help heal the youth. Birdie returned to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in 2009, where she currently works as an LPN, serving the Tribe as the Program Manager for LLBO Health Division’s Family Spirit and Empowerment Programs, which are home visiting programs supporting young families, caretakers of the Tribal member’s babies and children, and fathers who are learning to take their place inside their families and communities. Birdie is married and a mother of one daughter and 5 sons with a granddaughter and great granddaughter, who is the seventh generation Birdie has lived long enough to enjoy. Birdie enjoys visiting with her siblings and camping at the powwows and anywhere she is able to park her camper. She loves to read books when she is able and she also enjoys attempts at sewing and beading.

Thomas Cain Tom Cain, Jr., is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation. He was born and raised in Obashing, the northernmost part of the original land of the Nation. Tom is an Indigenous grass dancer and singer. In the late 1980’s, he helped form the Little Earth, Jr’s drum group from Little Earth Housing located in south Minneapolis. He advanced his educational career by attending Brown College and received an A.A. degree in Broadcasting and Media. Tom went on to work at WCCO, Channel 4 as an Investigative Reporter with the Unit I Team and as a Camera Operator for KSTP, Channel 5 News. In 1996, he filmed Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandi. Tom has also worked on video projects with various tribes over his career. In 1995, he helped develop the film, “Undefeated” with high school students at Red Lake Nation. He also worked as a media instructor with youth at Bugonaygeshig School on the Leech Lake Nation. In 2009, he filmed Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Braveheart on historical trauma for Indigenous people. In 2014, as an actor, he played a role in “Jingle Dress.” In 2012, as an actor, he played roles in “Pipestone” and “The Unbroken Legacy.” Tom developed video interviews with esteemed author Vine Deloria, Jr. (2005) and renowned professor and scholar, Roger Buffalohead (2015). In 2021, he filmed scholar and writer, Priscilla Buffalohead and artist, Julie Buffalohead. Tom helped to form the Red Lake Constitutional Committee and worked as their second coordinator. He continues his passion for Tribal Constitutional Reform and presented at a conference in Arizona in 2022 on Tribal Constitutional Reform.

Amanda Lien was born and raised in small-town Northwest Minnesota. She has a degree in Exercise and Health Science from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, a Master of Business Administration Degree in Leadership and Change from the College of St. Scholastica, and currently serves as the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) Coordinator for Polk-Norman-Mahnomen Community Health Services and Wellness Coordinator at Polk County Public Health (PCPH). This position feeds Amanda’s passion for promoting community health and wellness and compliments her entrepreneurial endeavors beyond her work with PCPH, including teaching community Pilates classes, facilitating community engagement events promoting local music and art, and co-managing rental properties throughout the NW region that she loves. In her “free time,” she volunteers with a local youth center, and coaches girl’s hockey where she promotes the wellness benefits of physical activity, eating healthfully, and being in connection with others. In her prior role at the Crookston Area Chamber of Commerce, she co-developed opportunities that promote community development and employment readiness for future economic opportunities. Amanda is aware that she lives on stolen land, and is eager to increase her depth of relevant knowledge, in the interest of promoting health equity. As such, she recently joined the first in a series of community safety conversations facilitated by a team of Native and non-Native partners who incorporated Indigenous practices, as led by an Anishinaabe Elder. Amanda now joins the next phase of that work, as a Public Health Consultant partnering with Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. This partnership seeks to help maximize the reach of outcomes from the safety conversations, from a community-informed perspective that centers Native voice, as the historically and currently most neglected voice in the region.

Mariah Morris is a Leech Lake woman who learned about the Respecting Voice Collaborative while attending a Family Preservation event with her little sister. Mariah has since joined the Respecting Voice Collaborative as a Youth Guide. She assists with recording and evaluation activities designed to document outcomes of safety circle conversations, from a community-informed perspective. She is developing photography, videography, interviewing, and qualitative data analysis skills; while offering essential youth perspective on activities for program development purposes.

Rosalind Jade Cardenas recently graduated from Peperdine University with her Master's degree in Clinical Psychology. She has a background in exercise psychology, and a passion for raising awareness about eating disorders in her community. Rosalind joined the Respecting Voice Collaborative to help coordinate and guide activities, from a younger culturally-informed perspective; contributing to an intergenerational perspective when shaping activities designed to evaluate outcomes of safety circle conversations in the portion of Anishinaabe Territory otherwise known as Northwest Minnesota.

Nichole Beatty is a college student at Oklahoma University, pursuing interests in Indian law. She has a passion for promoting mental health awareness in her community. Nichole enjoys traveling to assist with workshops that explore mental health with Native youth. She joined the Respecting Voice collaborative to assist with development of digital storytelling that considers intergenerational and cross-cultural perspectives on safety for women in Northwest Minnesota.

David Nelson is a member of Amazon leadership support for sellers. He has been providing international support for over a decade. David is a founding member of the Dont' Call Me Josephine Board of Directors, and primary team support for "all the things." He provides critical support, from concept development to web design, and community engagement activities; including offering his cullinary skills to provide culturally responsive and health conscious meals, where possible.

Phoenix Pinna provides accounting services to charter schools in the Twin Cities area, in Minnesota. He has a passion for rock climbing and swing dance; and an affinity for rubicks cubes. He provided essential team support for the Respecting Voice Collaborative's first ever safety circle, while still steeped in the COVID epidemic. Phoenix assisted with COVID safety precautions, as well as broader event management needs; including food preparation for a culturally responsive and food conscious shared meal.

A range of additional team supports have joined the Respective Voice Collaborative to help facilitate safety circle and evaluation activities. Such support has been provided in the form of travel assistance, on call food delivery service, and contributing to an emotionally supportive environment in which community members are comfortable enough to take on sensitive issues of safety for women in Northwest Minnestoa. Cross-cultural Elder perspective has been an especially valuable source of support, where available.