BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Emma Robbins, Founder | Diné
Emma Robbins (Diné) is an artist, activist, and community organizer with a passion for empowering Indigenous women. She is the founder and Executive Director of The Chapter House. Emma is also Managing Director of Planet Women, organization collaborating with femme-led conservation groups.
For 7 years, Emma served as the Executive Director of the Navajo Water Project at DigDeep Water. While there, she collaborated with communities to expand access to clean, running water to the one in three Navajo families without it on her reservation.
Emma completed her BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and studied Modern Latin American Art History in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has exhibited both in the U.S. and internationally. Through her artwork, she strives to educate viewers about issues like broken treaties and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis. Emma serves on the Arizona Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is a senior Aspen Institute Fellow.
S.A. Lawrence-Welch | Michif (Métis) / Néhiyaw (Plains Cree)
S.A. is an Métis / First Nations Advocate, Organizer, Speaker, & Artist. Their main focus of work has been on the lasting impact the Residential School System, Indian Boarding Schools & The 60’s Scoop left on First Nations and Métis people. They are a strong advocate for community gathering and cultural connection as a form of healing trauma. They enjoy textile arts, including Métis finger weaving, fabric arts and garment creation along with language preservation.
Isabella Shey Robbins | Diné + Jewish + Bilagáana
Isabella is a Diné scholar and PhD candidate in the History of Art and American Studies departments at Yale University. Her dissertation, “Relationality and Being: Indigeneity, Space, and Transit in Global Contemporary Art,” considers how artists engage with their own communities and others within and across the settler states of the United States, Canada, and Australia. She has held curatorial positions at the Yale University Art Gallery, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, and Cantor Arts Center. In addition to The Chapter House, she serves as treasurer on the board of the Diné Studies Association. She loves being a cat mom to her rez cat Kiwi, and an auntie.
Oli Rodriguez
Oli is an interdisciplinary artist working in video, photography, performance, installation and writing. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in the Art Department (Photography) at California State University, Los Angeles. His intersectional research and interdisciplinary projects conceptually focus on queerness, notions of passing, visualizing the performativity of gender, explorations in appropriation, performative interactions with the public as collaborator, visualizing other representations of the AIDS pandemic while referencing historical movements in gender, racial and feminist histories.
Chantel Yazzie | Diné
Chantel was born and raised in Tuba City on the Navajo Nation. She is currently the Social Media and Marketing Specialist for Tuba City Chapter. Chantel is an advocate for her community: in her job, she manages all the marketing platforms for the Western Navajo Fair, has helped host events such as Navajo Nation Presidential Forums, Spring Festival, community dinners, and community bazaars. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Chantel produced daily news updates to her community about case rates. She is currently working on a Public Health degree from Diné College.
Thanh Mai
Thanh Mai (they/them) of @MoonBabyMedicine is a plant tender based in Tovangaar. Thanh grows, dries, and prepares blends of medicinal teas as a way of [re]connecting with the plant traditions + exchanges in their lineage. They work specifically with plants of the southeast Asian + Pasifika diaspora, and Chumash + coastal Natives of Southern California. Thanh encourages folks to learn about the native plants + traditions in their area and support Indigenous-led land work.
Joey Clift | Cowlitz
Joey Clift is a comedian, Emmy nominated producer and TV writer, and enrolled Cowlitz Indian Tribal Member. Writing credits include Spirit Rangers on Netflix, New Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network, Paw Patrol on Nickelodeon and Molly of Denali on PBS. He created, wrote and directed the Shorty Impact Award winning Comedy Central digital series "Gone Native" and his short films have screened everywhere from Just For Laughs to The Smithsonian Museum. Most importantly, he started the LA Underground Cat Network, which is a 16,000-member strong online community for Los Angeles comedians to share pictures of their cats. He's kind of a cat guy.
COLLABORATORS
Katie Janss
Katie Janss (she/her) is a collaborator at The Chapter House. Currently, she is the Development Manager at Clockshop, a Los Angeles based arts and culture organization working to deepen the connection between communities and public land. Before Clockshop, Katie was the Program Operations Manager for the Navajo Water Project at DigDeep, where she started the Water Is Life Fund, a microgrant program aimed towards funding community-led grassroots water access projects on the Navajo Nation. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dria Yellowhair | Diné
Social Media and Outreach Coordinator
Dria (she/her) is Diné, born and raised on Tongva Land. She is currently completing her B.A. in Social Work at CSULA. She is also receiving her Certificate in Youth Agency Administration, which specializes in non-profit organizations dedicated to youth populations. Dria is passionate about serving Indigenous communities and creating fundamental change. In her free time, she enjoys being an auntie and attending community events.