Jessica Barnes-Najor
Jessica Barnes-Najor is a developmental psychologist who focuses on engaging community partners in the research process. Barnes-Najor is a co-investigator for the Tribal Early Childhood Research Center, partnering with Indigenous communities across the continental United States to address community-defined research topics in early childhood education. Barnes-Najor is also a co-PI of Wiba Anung, an early childhood research collaborative of partners representing seven Michigan tribes. The research conducted by Barnes-Najor focuses on examining (1) the influence of Native language and cultural experiences on children’s development and (2) the cultural alignment of early childhood education and care theories and research methods. Since 2020, their work has woven Indigenous foods into early childhood education.
Jahi Chappell
M. Jahi Johnson-Chappell is a scholar, organizer, son of social workers, and grandson of Michigan farmers. He is the Director of the Center for Regional Food Systems and a Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University, where he additionally holds the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Endowed Chair for Food, Society, and Sustainability.
Over the past 22 years, Jahi has researched and advocated at international, national, and local levels for participatory, socially just, and ecologically sustainable agrifood systems that center the voices of farmers, laborers, and the communities they serve. His work has been covered in The New York Times, The Baffler, The Intercept, The Counter, La Jornada (Mexico), Associated Press Wire, and Vice.
Douglas W. Craven
Douglas W. Craven feels that effective management of natural resources involves understanding human dynamics as much as natural systems. He is committed to the natural resource community of Michigan and has been on various boards/committees including the Great Lakes Leadership Academy Board, 2011 MSU Environmental and Natural Resource Governance Fellow, Getting Kids Outdoors Emmet County, Great Lakes Fishery Trust Board (current), Pellston Planning Commission (current). He has over 20 years of private and public experience in natural resources, has a dual degree in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Studies from Western Michigan University, is a father, dedicated community member and avid outdoorsman who appreciates exercising Tribal Treaty Rights and continuing Tribal traditions with his children and family.
Martin Reinhardt
Dr. Martin Reinhardt is an Anishinaabe Ojibway citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians from Michigan and a descendant of the Garden River First Nation in Ontario. He is a retired professor emeritus of Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University. He is a member and former president of the Michigan Indian Education Council, and the lead singer and songwriter for the band Waawiyeyaa (The Circle). His current activities include serving as a member of the Food Sovereignty Committee for his Tribe, and continuing to learn about relationships between humans and Indigenous plants and animals of the Great Lakes Region, treaties between the Anishinaabe and others, and Anishinaabemwowin. He has taught courses in American Indian education, tribal law and government, and sociology. He has a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the Pennsylvania State University, where his doctoral research focused on Indian education and the law with a special focus on treaty educational provisions.
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