Meet Our Board of Directors

Executive Director

Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council’s PeaceKeepers Program

Ms. Tsoodle-Marcus currently serves as the Executive Director of the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council’s PeaceKeepers program. She is from the Taos Pueblo (fluent) and Kiowa tribe (fluent) and actively participates in cultural and religious functions in both tribes. For over 40 years, Ms. Tsoodle-Marcus has dedicated her career to the criminal justice field, including but not limited to, tribal Chief judge, police, courts and corrections. From 1972-1982, Judge Tsoodle-Marcus was an Indian Justice Specialist for the NM Criminal Justice Department. She was responsible for developing the first Police, Court, and Corrections programs under the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration for tribal reservations in New Mexico. As the NM Criminal Justice Department transitioned to the NM Corrections Department, Ms. Tsoodle- Marcus worked for another 15 years under the NM Corrections Department. Her educational degrees are from Monterey Peninsula College, California and New Mexico State University. Judge Tsoodle-Marcus worked for Taos County for five years as a Jail Supervisor/Warden. She served Taos Pueblo as a Tribal administrator for the Governor of Taos Pueblo in 1993. She also worked as a professor at Northern NM College, where she taught Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Criminal Justice/Community Relations. Ms. Tsoodle-Marcus’ long dedicated career has included work for State, County and Tribal Government of Taos Pueblo.

Executive Director

Native American Professional Parents Resources

Lorraine Edmo is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe of Fort Hall, ID. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Montana and her Master of Arts degree in Public Administration from the University of New Mexico. She retired as Deputy Director for Tribal Affairs in the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). In this capacity, she supported the Director in all matters relating to the Safety of Indian Women, pursuant to Title IX of the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 (VAWA 2005). She directed OVW’s Tribal unit that manages the Grants to Tribal Governments Program and the Tribal Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions Program.

Lorraine has more than 40 years’ experience working on behalf of American Indian and Alaska Native people at the regional and national level. Ms. Edmo’s federal career includes positions at the U.S. Department of Interior where she directed the National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education; the U.S. Department of Education where she worked on implementing Executive Order 13096 on American Indian and Alaska Native Education; and the U.S. Department of Health Services where she managed grants for the Administration for Native Americans.

Prior to her federal service, Ms. Edmo directed two national non-profit Indian organizations, including the American Indian Graduate Center in Albuquerque, NM and the National Indian Education Association in Alexandria, VA. She served on numerous boards and commissions working for the betterment of Indian people, and, in 1992, was named Outstanding Alumnus by the University of New Mexico’s Public Administration Department. She began her career as editor of her tribe’s newspaper and founded the currently published Sho-Ban News.

Assistant Controller

Pueblo de San Ildefonso

“CSVANW’s mission to provide ‘support, education, and advocacy … to create violence-free communities’ struck a cord with me because of the violence I experienced in my family as a child and continue to witness as an adult.”

A citizen of the Taos Pueblo Nation located in Northern New Mexico, Daniel has personal knowledge of the violence that permeates many Native communities. In his first job upon his graduation from UC Riverside with a Bachelors in Business, he worked as a native community youth activities coordinator in Los Angeles County, California. This experience provided a view into the types of challenges with violence that are a daily reality for many Native families in urban settings. From this experience and from a desire to give back more to his community, Daniel set out to acquire a Master’s degree in accounting.

It has since become his personal goal to lend his fifteen plus years of accounting, analytical and management experience working with private, governmental and not-for-profit entities to CSVANW and other organizations, whose mission it is to end violence in our communities, in either leadership or supportive roles that help to create long-term sustainability.   Daniel proudly serves as the CSVANW Board Treasurer.

An avid hiker and overall outdoor enthusiast Daniel enjoys spending time traveling to remote locations with his wife Germaine Omish_Lucero and his son Samuel Lucero. One of the most pleasurable activities remains for Daniel, time spent with close family and friends in whatever setting.

Daniel may be reached via email at lucero.dr@gmail.com or through Facebook.

Williamson’s Survivors Justice Initiative

Coleen Widell is executive director of The Nest, Lincoln County’s shelter for victims of domestic violence.  She is also president and co-founder of the American Institute on Domestic Violence.  With degrees in psychology from Western Washington University and the University of Washington, she has held professional positions in criminal justice, direct service and public administration.

Ms. Widell has served as a Probation Officer in Washington for fifteen years working with criminal offenders and victims of domestic violence.  She also conducted investigations of child abuse and neglect for the Department of Social & Health Services.

In 1998, Coleen founded the American Institute on Domestic Violence (AIDV), which provides national consulting services for the business community on domestic violence spillover into the workplace.   She authored the book “Domestic Violence Targets the Heart of American Business” which outlines workplace training programs she created for AIDV.  These programs have been highlighted by the National Crime Prevention Council as a “Best Practice” for employer intervention to address domestic violence as a security threat and workplace issue.

Coleen has been at HEAL for ten years.  Her primary work involves legislative advocacy, government relations, community mobilization and messaging.  In 2010, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson honored Coleen as one of the state’s Outstanding New Mexico Women for her exceptional contributions to the state as evidenced by her exemplary leadership and advocacy.  She served as the Board Chair of the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence from 2009-2011.

Vice President of Programs

Notah Begay III Foundation

Olivia is Diné (Navajo) and from Window Rock, AZ. She has over 15 years of experience in the public health field. She is currently the Director of Native Strong: Healthy Kids, Healthy Futures at the Notah Begay III (NB3) Foundation in Santa Ana Pueblo, NM.  Prior to joining the NB3 Foundation, Olivia worked in the areas of health prevention programming and policy change in Chicago, IL. Olivia received her Masters in Public Health in Health Policy and Administration from the University of Illinois in Chicago and her BA degree in Environmental Science from Colorado College.

Government & Legislative Affairs Associate

Navajo Nation Washington D.C. Office

Ms. Todacheene is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and was raised in Farmington, NM. She is a recent graduate from the University of New Mexico School of Law where she received her Law of Indigenous People Certificate, served as an editor on the Tribal Law Journal, and published a legal articled titled: “She Saves us from Monsters”: Navajo Creation Stories and Modern Tribal Justice, 15 TLJ 2 (2015). During her time in law school, she worked in the Southwest Indian Law Clinic (“SILC”) where she wrote an appellate brief and executed an oral argument at the New Mexico Court of Appeals. Represented Native clients and implemented the first restorative justice mediation for a one of the Pueblos.

Additionally, Ms. Todacheene had the opportunity to serve as a legal observer at the 9/11 Hearings at the Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions in Cuba and interned at the United States Department of Justice at the Office of Tribal Justice in Washington, D.C. through the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation. She also interned at the Office of the District Attorney’s Office in the Gang Crimes Division for a brief period of time, graduated with Honors from the Southwest Indian Law Clinic, and received the UNM SOL’s Art Committee’s Purchase Award in 2014. Ms. Todacheene was formally with the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department (2015-2016) as the Management Analyst in Santa Fe, NM where she primarily worked on legislative initiatives affecting all tribal/pueblo communities within the State and worked with the designated Tribal Liaisons at each of the New Mexico State agencies. In her free time, she likes to run and continue to work on her art pieces that primarily consist of oil pastels.

Director Community Relations

Poeh Cultural Center

Joannie Romero is from the Pueblo of Cochiti and is an experienced administrator with a demonstrated history of working within Tribal Programs and non-profit organizations that specifically serve Native American communities. Joannie recently completed the requirements for the Master of Jurisprudence degree, in Federal Indian Law, from the University of Tulsa, College of Law. Joannie’s capstone thesis, entitled “The Reclamation of Educational Sovereignty in Pueblo Communities: An Evaluation of Multi-Jurisdictional Frameworks & the Catalyst for Sovereign Schools” is an in-depth analysis of Indian Education and the past 100 years of Federal Indian Policy, within the State of New Mexico. This research also focuses on historical trauma as well as policy recommendations for reclaiming our Native children through education.

She currently manages the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Continuing Education Program, serves as the Co-Sponsor for the Indigenous Liberal Studies Student Organization, and continues to work towards developing programming that focuses on empowering Tribal communities. Joannie is a proud wife and mother to four children. She is extremely passionate about teaching Keres to her family, practicing archery with her compound bow, as well as being outdoors.

Social Services Manager

Pueblo of Santa Ana

Theresa Ortiz grew up within the Pueblo of Isleta. Growing up, Theresa witnessed domestic violence within her home; it was something that her mother experienced as a young bride and mother of young children. As Theresa learned more about her mother’s experience, she learned that her mother did not have any help, but went through this very heartbreaking experience alone. Theresa centered her own experiences and those of her mother, and through the awareness, she developed a passion for advocacy.

Theresa’s mother later shared that there was no help for Native women who were experiencing the violence she went through. Theresa has always felt that in her heart, this was her purpose: to help those who may be vulnerable, may not have a voice, and felt helpless in their situations, specifically for women who have been violated and who have been abused. She feels it is very important that we have every opportunity to teach and empower our women of every generation by acknowledging their value and worth as Native women.

Because of her mother, Theresa pursued her education, receiving a BA in Psychology from the University of New Mexico and then a Masters in Social Work from New Mexico State University. She is a Licensed Social Worker and is currently working on attaining her Independent License. She is a mother of three: Joe, a freshman at the Air Force Academy; Melanie, a senior at Cibola High School, and Jeremiah, an 8th grader at Taylor Middle School. She is also a breast cancer survivor and a survivor of sexual assault. Her hope is to bring the awareness and education of domestic violence and sexual assault to the forefront of the communities that she works within so that we may provide those with a voice and support needed to become a survivor.

VOICES Program Manager

Tewa Women United

Kena Leigh Chavez is an enrolled member of the Pueblo De Cochiti, NM.  She is also from the Hopi Tribe from the Village of Walpi and is of the Coyote Clan.  Ms. Chavez is the Tewa Women United V.O.I.C.E.S. Program Manager, a culturally-based response to sexual violence and other trauma related to sexual violence in the diverse communities located in Rio Arriba and northern Santa Fe counties, and the Pueblo and Tribal Nations in New Mexico.  Ms. Chavez received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from The College of Santa Fe and her Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice from Central New Mexico Community College, NM.  Previous to TWU Ms. Chavez worked with both her Pueblo & Hopi Tribes. Former Social Services/ICWA Coordinator for Pueblo De Cochiti And former Project Coordinator for The Hopi-Tewa Women’s Coalition to End Abuse.  She also has experience as a Juvenile Probation Officer and photographer.

Ms. Chavez is a survivor of sexual assault & domestic violence.  She has a handsome son, Yursh age 16, and two beautiful daughters,  Skada age 11 and CeCeKa age 8.   She shares her story openly in hopes that she can help at least one of her listeners.