NATIVE AMERICAN ADVANCEMENT FOUNDATION

Jordan Evans, originally from Texarkana, Texas, grew up spending summers with her grandparents in the District of Gu Vo on the Tohono O’odham Reservation. Jordan attributes many of her character traits to her experiences on the reservation, including her sense of curiosity and respect for tradition. 

Jordan’s passion for community and helping others served as a catalyst to move from the corporate arena into the world of nonprofit. Having always been proud of her heritage and thankful for how it shaped her as a person, joining NAAF was nothing short of a dream come true.

Chief Executive Officer -

Jordan Evans

Selina Jesus is a lifelong resident from the GuVo community / GuVo District on the Tohono O’odham Nation. Selina’s background includes service to the community and GuVo District as a former council member sitting on the Housing, Education, Economic Development, Natural Resource & Domestic Affairs committees.

As Director, Selina oversees NAAF’s educational programs which are: GuVo Community After School Program, GED, Virtual Learning Center, and Summer Adventure Program. Selina earned her Tohono O’odham Language Teacher Certification in October 2017 and teaches the O’odham language in the NAAF After School Program. She is fluent in her language and is a very proud member of the Tohono O’odham Nation.  In her spare time, Selina researches and documents the lesser-known Western dialects of the Tohono O’odham language.
 

Director of Programs  & Tribal Relations -

Selina Jesus

A native of Tucson, Arizona, Jeremy has always had a deep appreciation for the sparse beauty of the Sonoran desert. With a background in education and Montessori schools, Jeremy is passionate about NAAF's mission to bring much needed educational resources to the GuVo community.

Director of Development, Outreach & Operations -

Jeremy Paxton

Adriana “Addy” Fitts is from Ajo, Arizona. She graduated from Tohono O'odham Community College in 2016 with a degree in business management. Previously, she worked with Johnson O’ Malley as Grant Coordinator for Ajo Unified School District. Alongside our Director of Programs and Tribal Relations,  Addy develops and implements program curriculum. She joined NAAF to help native children and youth to improve their cultural, educational, health, and environmental skills. 

Program Coordinator -

Adriana Fitts

Cheyenne is coordinating NAAF's language documentation project, which is projected to begin January 2020. The goal of this project is to collect audio, video, and transcripts in the O'odham language that can contribute to NAAF's after-school language program. Cheyenne is pursuing a Master of Arts in Native American Languages and Linguistics at the University of Arizona. She has an educational background is in linguistics and holds a BA in TESOL from BYU-Hawaii. Cheyenne first gained experience with the O'odham language at the Heard Museum (in Phoenix, AZ) where she worked to process a The Madeleine Mathiot Collection on Tohono O'odham Linguistics. As a Masters student at UA, she works closely with O'odham scholar, Ofelia Zepeda, exploring computational methods to increase accessibility to language documents for the benefit of language learners.

Language Program Coordinator

Cheyenne Wing

Jen McCormack has worked in policy and research with Native Nations for over two decades. A former instructor for Tohono O’odham Community College (TOCC), Jen is honored to be working with NAAF and the GuVo community. From 2007-2013, she was a research analyst with the Native Nations Institute at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona (UA) and wrote on unique issues faced by Native Nations in international border regions. She holds a M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas-Austin and a Ph.D. in Geography and American Indian Studies from UA. Jen has taught for TOCC, UA, Prescott College, Colorado College, Houston Community College and Sul Ross State University.

Writer & Research Analy

Jen McCormack

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Cook

Molly Arellano