Meet Our Board of Directors

Chief Judge

Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Court

Pueblo of Pojoaque Chief Judge Kim McGinnis earned a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from the University of Michigan in 1999 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Neurology, Molecular Neurogenetics Unit. Judge McGinnis graduated from Boston University School of Law in 2004. She clerked at the Michigan Court of Appeals before joining Detroit Legal Aid and Defenders as a felony-level public defender. In 2008, she became an assistant defender with the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office, where she was the principal appellate attorney investigating convictions tainted by Detroit Crime Lab malfeasance. In 2011, Judge McGinnis moved to Taos, New Mexico and practiced family law, primarily representing victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in state and tribal courts. The Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Council appointed her associate judge in 2013 and chief judge in 2015. Judge McGinnis presides over Pojoaque’s Path to Wellness Court, healing to wellness court, and Children’s Courts. She is also program director for Pojoaque’s Opioid Prevention and Intervention Project, Substance Use Disorder Pre-Prosecution Diversion Project. Domestic Violence Education and Outreach Project, and Sober Living/Re-Entry Pilot Project. Judge McGinnis is a member of the New Mexico Tribal-State Judicial Consortium.

Chief Executive Officer

Paula Feathers is Cherokee and Pawnee. Her family roots are in Oklahoma but she was raised in Zuni, NM. Paula is the founder and CEO of Kamama Consulting, a business that provides services in training, facilitation, strategic planning, curriculum development, logistical coordination, project management, team building, and grant writing. Paula works with Tribes, state agencies, and community organizations. Kamama Consulting specializes in substance abuse prevention, professional skill development, and systems/organizational development. Over the past 10 years, as part of the New Mexico Tribal Prevention Project, Ms. Feathers and colleagues have brought in close to 10 million dollars in grants for substance abuse prevention in NM Tribal communities. Further, Ms. Feathers and her colleagues have developed a strength and outcome based approach that can be used in Tribal communities to increase community wellness and address a variety of problems. Paula’s undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico focused on psychology and Native American studies and her master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma is in Administrative Leadership.

[Bio will be available soon.]

Education Program Manager

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains

Becki Jones is Diné, she is Big Water and born for the Salt People. She is the Program Manager of the Community Health Worker program for the Responsible Sex Education Institute at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico. She has been a sex educator with them since August 2015. She sits as co-chair for the Southwest Indigenous Initiative, an HIV prevention group that does risk reduction in Indigenous Communities. She is also a board member with Young Women United (YWU), a reproductive justice organization that leads policy change, research, place-based community organizing, and culture shift by and for women and people of color in New Mexico. She is an indigenous feminist that approaches intersectional issues with reproductive justice frameworks. When she is not teaching sexual health she is attending school, playing in her bands, and hanging out with her four legged relatives.

Executive Director

Southwest Women’s Law Center

Terrelene G. Massey is the Executive Director for the Southwest Women’s Law Center.  Terrelene holds a Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico School of Law, and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.  She is licensed to practice law in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation.

Terrelene most recently served as the Executive Director of the Navajo Division of Social Services. She was appointed by the President of the Navajo Nation, and confirmed by the Navajo Nation Council.  She served in this capacity from May 2015-January 2019.  Prior to her appointment with the Navajo Nation, Terrelene was employed as an attorney at Johnson Barnhouse & Keegan, LLP, in Albuquerque. She also served as a staff attorney at New Mexico Legal Aid, Inc., where she provided legal services to low income clients regarding federal Indian law, family law, and tribal law matters.

Terrelene also worked as the Tribal Liaison for the New Mexico Human Services Department where she managed tribal related projects impacting Native American health and human services programs. Terrelene also served as the Associate Director of Honoring Nations at the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Harvard University, where she co-authored reports and case studies evaluating tribal sovereignty programs and governmental best practices.

Terrelene is a tribal member of the Navajo Nation. She is originally from Pinon, Arizona, which is on the Navajo Nation.

Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative (DVPI) Coordinator

CarlyJo Chavarria is a tribal member of Santa Clara Pueblo. She is also from Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe from Nevada. CarlyJo is the current Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative (DVPI) Coordinator for Santa Clara Pueblo. She has been in this position since the beginning of the year 2019. Ms. Chavarria started out as a high school intern in the Department of Youth and Learning in high school. She was hired into the department as a recreation assistant and earned her way into the DVPI Position. Throughout her time at Santa Clara she has earned certificates in such as Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA), Domestic Violence Advocate, and more. She is in the last semester of completing her degree in Paralegal studies and was also awarded the NIHB Health Policy Fellowship for the 2020 cohort.  She currently volunteers with the Santa Clara Pueblo Fire Department. She uses her knowledge from her position and community work to provide a healthier outlook for her community. CarlyJo finds herself on the land, beading, or supporting her younger siblings at games or events on her free time.