2021 Native Frontline Wellness

Jasper Begay is a Trainer for Generation Red Road and a member of the Navajo Nation. He is a retired California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer having served over 29 years. As a Public Information Officer, Mr. Begay has worked closely with community leaders to build trust, promote traffic safety education, and was the face of CHP through media interviews. He served as CHP’s statewide Native American Liaison, working with the Attorney General’s Office of Native American Affairs to bridge the relationship between Indian Country and law enforcement. As a survivor of inter-generational trauma and alcohol use, he has led White Bison Wellbriety, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) for Public Safety Personnel and Celebrate Recovery programs and has served on diverse community boards.

Email: [email protected]

Nathan Billy is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He has worked there for five years and is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) by trade. Mr. Billy began working for the Choctaw Nation as a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Therapist in their men’s residential recovery center. He currently serves as the Deputy Director of Behavioral Health for the Choctaw Nation. As part of his Deputy Director duties, Nathan oversees the integrated behavioral health services within the Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority, co-directs the Choctaw Nation’s SAMHSA Tribal Opioid Response Grant, and is a member of the CDC’s Opioid Technical Advisory Group.

Email: [email protected]

Raymond Daw, Navajo, is originally from Houck, Arizona. He has been in the behavioral health field for about 35 years working with the Navajo Nation, non-profits and most recently in Alaska. His work in behavioral health has been heavily towards developing Native trauma-appropriate approaches that are healing and effective in Tribal behavioral health prevention, intervention, and treatment services. He also trains in Motivational Interviewing and Historical Trauma.

Email: [email protected]

Dr. Foster is a member of the Western Band Cherokee, though Dakota/Lakota culturally, he grew up in the West and is a proud Army veteran. Dr. Foster completed his undergraduate work at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon graduating with a BS in psychology, education, and social science. He completed his doctorate in clinical psychology at Baylor University and a postdoctoral Master of Science in psychopharmacology from Alliant International University’s California School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Foster is a member of the Willamette Athletic Hall of Fame and was a collegiate and elite international athlete competing as a wrestler and a football player in college and on the U.S. Handball National Team for 11 years. Dr. Foster worked with the Bureau of Prisons for 11 years including serving as the first National Director of Drug Abuse Programs and retired from the Indian Health Service after 23 years serving in Browning, Montana and Rosebud, South Dakota in 2017.

Michael Hall started his career with the Choctaw Nation in 2005 as a Security Officer at Choctaw Casino Bingo. Since then, he has risen through the ranks of the Security Department from the position of Security Officer to the rank of Site Security Manager at the casino in Durant, Oklahoma in 2009. He would promote to the rank of Security Director in 2013 and he was recently promoted to the rank of Senior Director and is currently still serving in that role overseeing a security force of over 400 officers across the 10 and a half counties in our service area within the Choctaw Nation. The Security Department has officers operating in casinos, travel plazas, clinics, and Choctaw Nation government facilities.

Thomasine Hietkamp is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). She is the Co-Director of the Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center and the Addiction Technology Transfer Center. Thomasine is also a Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor at the University of North Dakota where she has taught for over 30 years.

John Hobbs is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Executive Director of Public Safety for the Choctaw Nation. Mr. Hobbs started his law enforcement career in 1997 while working for the Wilburton Police Department in Wilburton, Oklahoma. In 2001, he became employed at the Choctaw Nation as a Tribal Police Officer. During his employment with the Choctaw Nation, John has worked his way through every rank from Patrolman to Director of Law Enforcement. In 2008, he was appointed by then Chief Greg Pyle to the position of Executive Director of Public Safety. As Executive Director of Public Safety, John manages 500 employees with the Tribal Law Enforcement, Security, Emergency Management, and Probation Departments.

Ayla Koob is a master’s level social worker and a licensed graduate social worker in the state of Minnesota. She is currently employed with the Red Lake Comprehensive Health Services on the Red Lake nation as a Wellness Counselor for middle to high school-aged students. She also serves as the Suicide Prevention Coordinator, a Mental Health Practitioner for Red Lake’s Mobile Crisis Team and is Chair for the Push to End Suicide Task Force.

Jody Juneby Potts is Han Gwich’in and an enrolled Tribal member of the Native Village of Eagle in Alaska. She is a graduate of Northern Arizona University holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Indigenous Studies with an emphasis in Environmental Management. Jody had a 10- year career in law enforcement in Interior Alaska. Jody was the Vice Chair of former Governor Walker’s Tribal Advisory Council and served as a board member to the Alaska Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Jody has been an outspoken advocate about the lack of law enforcement and protections for victims of crime in the villages and particularly addressing violence against women and children.

Carlos is the Founder and CEO of Generation Red Road, Inc. and Behavioral Health Director at American Indian Health & Services located in Santa Barbara, California providing leadership to both organizations. Carlos is an enrolled tribal member with the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians and is also of Mexican descent. He is originally from Northern California but currently resides in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with his sons.

Bryan Rowley is a Licensed Professional Counselor and the Public Safety Liaison for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He began his career as a police officer before he received his master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Initially, Bryan worked in private counseling agencies and with the Student Support Services Counseling at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma. Mr. Rowley began his career with the Choctaw Nation in 2017 as an Outpatient Mental Health Therapist. In addition, he became a Certified Challenge Course Instructor. He has facilitated the Choctaw Nation ropes course activities especially for the men’s and women’s residential substance use treatment and recovery centers. Bryan has served as the Behavioral Health Public Safety Liaison since April of 2020.

Josh Stout is a Licensed Professional Counselor. Josh has worked in human services since 2011. He started his career at the Army Ammunition Plant near McAlester, Oklahoma serving in employee assistance and substance abuse prevention. In 2016, Josh began his career with the Choctaw Nation as a Therapist at Choctaw Nation’s Tribal boarding school, Jones Academy. In August 2017, he began serving as an Integrated Therapist at the Choctaw Nation Hospital in Talihina and has used his skills and mental health and substance abuse treatment to provide holistic care to Tribal members addressing behavioral health challenges, assessing suicidality, and conducting prevention training. Mr. Stout also serves as the behavioral health faculty member for the Choctaw Nation Physician Residency Program at the Choctaw Nation Hospital, and he is the Project Director for the SAMHSA COVID-19 Emergency Response Grant.

Captain Lehman Ware has over 10 years of law enforcement experience serving throughout the ranks as a Police Officer, School Resource Officer, and is currently a Senior Instructor and Program Coordinator for the United States Indian Police Academy. He provides key instruction in basic, advanced, and command school training programs. He is a certified instructor in firearms, control tactics, use of force, officer tactics, active shooter, intermediate weapons, SFST, blue courage, and below 100. Captain Ware is a graduate of the United States Indian Police Academy and the Oklahoma Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training. He is a veteran of the United States Army and is an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe.