Dr. Sarah Hicks received her MSW in 1997 and her Ph.D. in 2008. Sarah is Alutiiq, and is an enrolled member of the Native Village of Ouzinkie in Alaska.
Upon graduation, Sarah joined the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) in Washington, DC as Director of the Welfare Reform Program. NCAI is the oldest, largest and most representative national Indian organization representing the broad interests of tribal governments in the United States. Sarah's experience in leading NCAI's welfare reform reauthorization efforts gave her a sense of the need for timely, credible data to inform policy-making at the tribal and national levels. In 2003, Sarah became the founding Director of NCAI's Policy Research Center.
Sarah has been the recipient of many awards, including the Lynn Reyer Award in Tribal Community Development and the Emerging Scholar Award from the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Association, as well as her Master's degree and Ph.D. scholarships from the Buder Foundation. Her research experience is extensive, as evidenced by numerous publications, and she is called upon to speak to Native issues all across the country.
Dr. Sarah Hicks embodies the mission of the Buder Center to prepare future Native leaders for practice in tribal and urban settings, making significant contributions to the health, wellness, and sustained future of Indian Country. Today, Sarah is a leading authority on social welfare policy and programs in Indian Country. As a prominent Native leader, Sarah exemplifies the purpose of the Buder scholarship program.
Dr. Virginia Drywater-Whitekiller received her MSW in 1995 and is currently the Chair of Professional Studies (Social Work and Criminal Justice Programs), and a tenured Associate Professor of Social Work at Northeastern State University, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences in Tahlequah, OK.
She earned her Ed.D. from Oklahoma State University in 2004. While at Northeastern, Virginia has held the positions of Field Director and Title IV-E Child Welfare Enhancement Program Coordinator in the social work program. At Oklahoma State, she served as Principal Investigator/Director for the Health Careers Opportunity Program in the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Her research interests encompass the theory of cultural resilience as applied to American Indian populations as well as the influence of Indian women and elders upon Native communities.
She also serves as an external program evaluator for Indian child Welfare Programs and is a clinical specialist and family group mentor for county child welfare supervisors.
Her professional affiliations have included serving on boards, task forces and committees such as Northeastern's Indian Heritage Committee, Faculty Research Committee and Black Heritage Committee. In Oklahoma, Virginia served on the advisory boards of the Oklahoma State Breast Cancer Coalition and the Cherokee Nation Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Program.
Virginia's most recent honor was awarded to her by the Smithsonian Institution, presenting her with the Native American Community Scholar Award in June, 2009.
Jordan Lewis, MSW 2000 is finishing a doctoral degree in August, 2009 in Cross-Cultural Community Psychology at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
As a Buder Scholar, Jordan was awarded a summer internship through the Morris K. Udall Native American Congressional Intership Program and worked in the Washington, DC office of the Senate Democratic Minority Leader. This national level introduction to policy making influenced Jordan's decision to pursue a career in American Indian health policy. Upon graduation from Washington University, Jordan moved to DC and in 2003 was selected as one of three Kaiser Native American Congressional Fellows and spent a year working in a Congressional office, learning from policy makers, lobbyists and tribal leaders and helping to draft legislation for the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA).
Jordan returned to his native Alaska in 2005 to begin his doctoral studies. An Aleut from Naknek in the Briston Bay region, he is dedicated to working with Alaska Native communities to improve current health and social service programs to ensure elders can live their lives to the fullest in their own homes and communities.
During his doctoral studies, Jordan has been able to travel internationally to learn about circumpolar health issues and the unique situations Native elders face living in rural communities.
Jordan's dissertation research explores the concept of successful aging from an Alaska Native perspective. Upon completion of his doctoral education, Jordan plans to work with Indigenous communities in Alaska and the circumpolar North on health care issues, specifically promotion and prevention targeting Native elders.
He also plans to remain active in community activities and has recently accepted a faculty position with the University of Alaska, Fairbanks Native Studies Department where he will be teaching the course, "Cultural Knowledge of Native Elders".
Cortney E. Yarholar, MSW 2006, is a mental health professional specializing in children, youth and family services.
Upon graduation, Cortney took a Cultural Coordinator position with the Western Heights School District as well as a Therapist with the Center for Positive Change, Inc. in Oklahoma City, OK.
Currently, Cortney holds dual positions with the State of Oklahoma Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) as a Tribal Transformation Agent with the Innovation Center, the host agency for Oklahoma’s state infrastructure grant, working with a team of individuals to facilitate transformation of care-giving systems in the State of Oklahoma. The goals of the agency are guided by the 2002 President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health: Transforming Mental Health Care in America. Cortney also serves as the Tribal Liaison for the Children and Family Services Division.
As a Tribal Transformation Agent, Cortney is charged with building tribal and state relations with the belief that access to service can be reached through cooperation between state governing and tribal governing entities. This is particularly challenging considering Oklahoma’s history of strained state/tribal relations. Cortney and his team are pursuing policies that will solidify tribal inclusion in state decision-making and ongoing consultation. There are challenges on both sides; many tribal communities in Oklahoma provide excellent comprehensive care, while others vary in capability of sustaining minimal services for their tribal citizens. It is his goal to recognize current community strengths, link with appropriate partners, and empower tribal communities to provide culturally competent services for their tribal citizens.
As tribal liaison with the ODMHSAS Children and Family Services Division, Cortney works to achieve the department’s mission to provide a unified comprehensive system of care for children, youth and their families across all counties in Oklahoma. In this role, building and nurturing tribal relationships is again critical for success.
In addition to the above, Cortney independently provides consulting services to schools, as well as local and national non-profits. He has spoken at national education conferences, workshops in cultural competency and motivational workshops.
When contacted for his profile, Cortney offered this advice for current students: “If there is never enough time to do all you want, please don't bother trying to make time. Time is what it is. We cannot make time, but we can take the time. So please take the time to enjoy, embrace and seek new knowledge. Also, the classes at GWB are wonderful, but cherish and nurture the relationships you make on this journey. Don't be afraid to share your stories and create new ones”.
Melissa Clyde, MSW, 2007, is a Senior Program Director at the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) in Portland, OR.
Melissa journeyed to Portland to jump start her MSW career at NICWA in February, 2005 completing her practicum as an intern in the Government Affairs and Policy Department. She wrote testimony for congressional committees on appropriations for tribal children’s mental health programs; developed briefing papers on child welfare with a focus on foster and adoptive families; assisted Indian parents, tribes, individuals and agencies in understanding how the Indian Child Welfare Act applies to the placement of an Indian child and participated in planning a national conference that included such important organizations as the Bureau of Indian Affairs , NICWA and Casey Family Programs.
She was offered a position as a Community Development Specialist upon her graduation. During her ten months in this position, Melissa traveled extensively to many tribal communities in an effort to improve and implement child welfare and children’s mental health programs. She was able to help tribes assess their resources and level of community involvement, as well as facilitate dialogue that is often hard to have in tribal communities.
NICWA Executive Director, Terry Cross, saw a young leader in Clyde and expressed his to wish to teach and mentor her as she was being groomed for a more senior position in the organization. Today, Melissa is the Senior Program Director and sees her association with an agency that is influential on the national level as being “in the right place”. She emphasizes the need to empower tribes to recognize their inherent strengths and sovereignty so that they can make good decisions for their children.
She cited the hardship for some social workers, especially tribal social workers, to return to their respective communities to work. But she suggests not giving up hope on their communities. “I’ve entered many tribal communities in the last year and they need you, but they may not openly express it. While in school, it is the time for you to reconnect by reaching out to the elders, tribal leaders, and let them know who you are. Let them know you care about them and you want to learn from them to be a good service provider”.
Melissa recently returned home to her native New Mexico to provide a keynote address to her tribe and at the end of the event, the Navajo Nation Program Manager told her, “You are our hero”.