Staff

Jerry Gardner (Cherokee)

Executive Director, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

Jerry serves as TLPI’s Executive Director and is an attorney with more than 35 years of experience working with American Indian/Alaska Native Nations, tribal court systems, and victims of crime in Indian country. Jerry has served as the Executive Director of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute since its founding in 1996 and oversees all TLPI projects and services. Jerry has also served as the Director of the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Tribes, Council Member of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities (IRR), and an ABA Tribal Courts Council member. Jerry has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, UCLA School of Law, and Southwestern School of Law. He previously served as the Administrator for the National American Indian Court Judges Association (NAICJA). He has been an appellate court judge for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (North Dakota) and Poarch Creek Band (Alabama). He served as the Senior Staff Attorney with the National Indian Justice Center (NIJC) from NIJC’s establishment in 1983 until TLPI’s founding in 1996. He served as a Professional Staff Member at the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in the late 1970s. He also served in legal training positions for the national office of the Legal Services Corporation and the American Indian Lawyer Training Program. Jerry received his J.D. from the Antioch School of Law.

Contact: Jerry@TLPI.org

Stephanie Autumn (Hopi/Irish)

Director, Tribal Youth Resource Center

Stephanie brings extensive experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating programs in Indian country. Ms. Autumn has 38 years of local, national, and international AI advocacy and policy work experience, and has presented at various Human Rights forums at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and in New York. She has worked throughout the country on issues of American Indian adult and juvenile justice, substance abuse prevention, restorative justice, and tribal youth mentoring programs. Ms. Autumn served as the Executive Directive of the Minnesota Restorative Justice Campaign for five years and is a skilled Restorative Practitioner facilitator, trainer, and Circle Keeper. Ms. Autumn’s expertise includes developing culturally competent strategic planning tools and trainings for American Indian/Alaska Native tribes. She has directed national projects on American Indian juvenile domestic assault, restorative justice, pre-and post-release services for AI offenders, tribal mentoring, and truancy. She served as project director for three DOJ-funded programs for tribal youth which provided Training and Technical Assistance to over 135 tribal grantees. Ms. Autumn has provided expertise/testimony for the MN & SD Departments of Corrections with regards to Traumatic Brain Injury and Trauma Informed Care needs/issues with incarcerated American Indian juvenile and adults. For the past fifteen years, Ms. Autumn has provided expertise to the MN Department of Education on disproportionality issues that impact American Indian youth and communities. Ms. Autumn is the founder of the American Indian Prison Project Working Group.

Contact: Stephanie@TLPI.org

Sina Ikikcu Win (Takes the Robe Woman) (Oglala Lakota)

Ethleen Iron Cloud-Two Dogs, Tribal Youth Training and Technical Assistance Manager, Tribal Youth Resource Center

Sina Ikikcu Win is an enrolled citizen of the Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux Tribe) and also has Crow Tribal ancestry. She resides on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Ethleen’s many blessings include her family and many relatives. She provides training and technical assistance to Tribes across the country and her work includes helping to strengthen children, youth, families and communities using a culturally based approach.

Contact: Ethleen@tlpi.org

Patricia (Pat) Sekaquaptewa (Hopi)

Juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts Training and Technical Assistance Manager, Tribal Youth Resource Center

B.A., Stanford University, 1990
J.D., University of California at Berkeley, School of Law, 1995

Most recently, Pat Sekaquaptewa consulted with RurAL CAP’s Alaska Tribal Justice Resource Center (ATJRC) in Anchorage, AK as part of its training and technical assistance services to CTAS Purpose Areas 3, 8, & 9 tribes in their tribal court and Tribal Healing to Wellness Court planning, implementation, and enhancement.

Prior to that, she was an Assistant Professor with the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in the Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development (DANSRD) where her research and teaching was focused on federal-Indian law, tribal law and government, Native justice issues, and rural human and economic development.

Prior to that, she served as the founding Executive Director of the Nakwatsvewat Institute (TNI) and later as the President of TNI’s Board of Directors. Under her leadership, TNI established Hopi Dispute Resolution Services (HDRS), a community mediation program serving the Hopi community in Arizona.

Early in her career, Ms. Sekaquaptewa served as the Director of the UCLA Native Nations Law and Policy Center (NNLPC) and its Tribal Legal Development Clinic (TLDC). Prior to this, she co-founded and launched the Hopi Appellate Court Clinic at UC Berkeley’s School of Law with Jerry Gardner. This clinic was subsequently housed at, and expanded by, the UCLA School of Law and became its Tribal Appellate Court Clinic. At UCLA, she provided instruction in tribal constitution and statutory drafting and tribal court development. She also taught Native Nation Building in UCLA’s American Indian Studies Program.

Today she also serves as the Chief Justice of the Hopi Tribe’s high court in Arizona where she has been an Associate Justice for many years.

She is a co-founder, and former longtime member of the Board of the Directors of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute in West Hollywood, CA.

Contact: Pat@TLPI.org

Laura Smith

Program Coordinator, Tribal Youth Resource Center

Laura (she/her) has been with Tribal Law and Policy Institute since 2019. She completed her BA in Psychology at Vassar College with a correlate in Sustainability. Upon graduating, Laura served as Project Manager for the World Well-Being Project, a multi-disciplinary research team based out of the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center. Laura is a percussionist and student of somatic and energy-based modalities.

Contact: Laura@TLPI.org

Teresa Nord

Training and Technical Assistance Specialist, Tribal Youth Resource Center

Teresa serves as a Training and Technical Assistance Specialist for the Tribal Youth Resource Center. Teresa has also served as a parent advocate and case manager for the Indian Child Welfare Law Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For the past three years, she has also served as a reentry coordinator for justice involved women in Minnesota with the goals of healing and community reunification. Teresa has served in the Twin Cities as a volunteer and community organizer on a variety of issues including Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, community safety, and violence reduction. Teresa is a descendant of the Diné and the indigenous peoples of Mexico.

Contact: Teresa@TLPI.org

Deb Tobacco (Oglala Sioux)

Tribal Youth Programs Training and Technical Assistance Specialist, TYRC

Deborah Tobacco serves as a Tribal Youth TTA Specialist for the TLPI’s Tribal Youth Resource Center. Deb is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and has 16 plus years of experience in the field of research on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation as well as a lifetime of experience coupled with degrees in social sciences (A.A-Specialized in Chemical Dependency), (B.S) in Human Services and (M.A) in Lakota Leadership and Management, and currently a Doctoral Learner in the field of Human Services discipline in Advanced Program Evaluation, with a specialization in Data Analytics. Deborah is a lifelong resident, born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, raising a family, and immersed in the ways of her people. In a world as complex and diverse as that which we live, and in relation to working with Indian tribes she understands that it is vital that a holistic and creative approach be not only understood, but at the forefront of the decision-making process in addressing wealth and health disparities. She uses her knowledge and wisdom to make social change in her community.

Antonia Medina

Program Assistant, Tribal Youth Resource Center

Antonia is a member of the Navajo Nation and is from Chinle, Arizona, located on the Navajo reservation. She enlisted into the United States Air Force in April 2009, completing 8 years of active duty and 5 1/2 years as an Air Force Reservist. While in the Air Force, Antonia has served as an advocate for victims of sexual assault, an honor guardsman and trainer, a mentor to Air Force ROTC cadets at the Virginia Military Institute, and the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of Administration Management. She has achieved an Associates of Applied Science degree in Business Administration from the Community College of the Air Force while working toward a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice with a certificate in Cognitive Studies at the University of Colorado where she also aspires to achieve a master’s degree in forensic psychology.

Contact: Antonia@TLPI.org

Hannah Ellman

Hannah (she/her) completed her Bachelor’s degree at Vassar College in 2014 with a major in American Studies and focus on Native American Studies and Education. Hannah’s passion lies in working with and empowering youth, being active, playing music, and exploring new places. From 2015-2021, Hannah taught high school global history, encouraging critical questioning around the study of history and building meaningful and lasting relationships with her students. She led her history team as Department Chair and did so until leaving her school to move west to Colorado at the end of 2021. Hannah is both humbled and grateful to work for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute and alongside the dedicated and passionate Tribal Youth Resource Center team.

Contact: Hannah@TLPI.org

Erin Thin Elk

Juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts Training and Technical Assistance Specialist, Tribal Youth Resource Center

Erin Thin Elk (Wanahca To Ka Heh Hinapah Win, First Flower that Blooms Woman) is an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate (Rosebud Sioux Tribe).  She earned a B.A. in English and a Certificate in Native American Studies (2002) and a MSW, Masters of Social Work (2004), both from the University of Iowa. 

Ms. Thin Elk holds a passionate commitment to healing, wellness and social justice for Indigenous children, youth and families.  Her professional experience includes community-based participatory research and evaluation, Indigenous healing to wellness courts, suicide prevention and postvention training and programmatic development, restorative approaches and peacemaking circles, and University teaching and educational outreach with Indigenous communities across the United States.  She currently serves with the Tribal Youth Resource Center as a Training and Technical Assistance Specialist working with Tribal Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court programs.

Contact: Erin@TLPI.org

Jordan Gibson

Tribal Youth Training and Technical Assistance Specialist, Tribal Youth Resource Center

Jordan Gibson has 12 years of experience working in partnership with Alaska Native communities to support Tlingit and Haida language and culture revitalization. As a Family Engagement Facilitator with WestEd’s Academic Parent-Teacher Teams, Gibson works in partnership with the Lower Kuskokwim School District in Bethel. He has also supported State Education Agency (SEA) partners in Arizona and California and the Bureau of Indian Education.  Gibson is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) for the Yakutat Community Health Center. As a BCBA, he has also worked with Native Hawaiian students diagnosed with Autism, ADHD, other diagnoses as well as their families to facilitate their learning and wellbeing.

He started his career as a researcher at UCLA and the University of Pennsylvania. A former middle school teacher, Gibson is skilled at working with individuals with diverse learning preferences. Before joining Full-time, Jordan led two online learning events “Affecting Change in Our Juvenile Justice System By Decolonizing Mental Health Services and Integrating Indigenous Ways of Being,” and “Decolonizing Special Education in Native Communities to keep Students with Learning Difference Away from the Juvenile Justice System.” Jordan is of African American and Lumbee ancestry. He is also a part of the Tlingit Teeyhittaan clan through adoption.

Contact: JordanG@TLPI.org

Ashley Anderson

Juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts Training and Technical Assistance Specialist, Tribal Youth Resource Center

Ashley Anderson was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and moved to Washington State to attend Gonzaga University where she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Applied Communication Studies and a minor in Child Psychology. She stayed in Washington for seven years working with Juvenile Court, truancy boards, crisis and residential centers, and gang reduction programs. She then went on to serve at-risk youth in Alaska where her, her husband, and two children resided for the last five years, however they recently made the move to lower 48 to be closer to family.

She has master coursework in both Legal Studies and Criminal Justice and recently graduated from a 10-month intensive cultural leadership program to better serve Native communities. She enjoys cooking for friends and family, hiking, camping, and travel. She has a reputation for community care and does this work for her children and the next generations to know different.

Contact: AshleyA@TLPI.org