WE - Executive Director: Shirley Williams, RN
WE - ONE MIND FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK
WE - ONE MIND FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK
Kusemaat became a licensed nurse in 2002. Twelve years were spent working within the scope of a western licensure. Now, like a salmon swimming upstream, she is focused on Indigenous Public Health. Her passion for holistic healthcare of ancient time began when she started to work for her own community, which is the federally recognized tribe of Lummi Nation, located in the upper most corner of the Pacific Northwest.
Today, because of Seli7 etse Sxwo’le – Spirit of the Sxwo’le (reef-net), Kusemaat addresses root cause of trauma for Indigenous Peoples and Nature. She is bound to protecting the sovereignty of the Salish Sea for 7th generation sustainability. She envisions these ancestral homelands as a medical office based in nature, for without mother earth, we do not have our health.
Taking the guidance of her respected elders and the spiritual signs of her ancestors, she is guided by these words:
As Indigenous ways of knowing merge with modern science and research, she states, and as neuroscience, epigenetics, adverse childhood experience and resilience is now showing memory is stored in DNA.
Today, because of Seli7 etse Sxwo’le – Spirit of the Sxwo’le (reef-net), Kusemaat addresses root cause of trauma for Indigenous Peoples and Nature. She is bound to protecting the sovereignty of the Salish Sea for 7th generation sustainability. She envisions these ancestral homelands as a medical office based in nature, for without mother earth, we do not have our health.
Taking the guidance of her respected elders and the spiritual signs of her ancestors, she is guided by these words:
- The Creator gave us the sacred responsibility to the land, water, salmon, reef-net and language that belongs to it and if it is not supported it is cultural spiritual genocide.
- The first part of any healing process is to know who you are and where you come from.
As Indigenous ways of knowing merge with modern science and research, she states, and as neuroscience, epigenetics, adverse childhood experience and resilience is now showing memory is stored in DNA.
WE DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
WE - ONE MIND FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK
WE - ONE MIND FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK
Lisa Gruwell Spicer combines the fields of media production, communications, and nonprofit development. In 2012, she fortified her work with an MA in anthropology, integrating social science research methods into media production and editing techniques. Starting out at KCTS/9 Seattle in the Documentary Unit, she later worked on the Bill Nye the Science Guy show, earning three Emmy Awards in Editing. During the early 1990s, Lisa documented the international outreach work of two Lummi tribal members in a film project called Without the Trees, the Sky Will Fall. In 2007, she traveled to Kenya to produce The Best Medicine, and Ombogo Girl, films about resilience during the AIDS crisis. After writing and managing grants to fund independent filmmaking, Lisa has applied these skills to the position of Development Director for Native Action on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana, the Arts Council of Snohomish County, KSER Community Radio in Everett, and today, for Whiteswan Environmental in Bellingham. In 2013, Lisa formed SpicerDent Productions with Fredrick Dent, producing educational and promotional videos for small businesses and nonprofit agencies; they produced the award-winning web series Homeless in Bellingham, a four-year episodic project giving voice to people experiencing homelessness with a forum for telling their stories; the series also showcases proven solutions. Lisa's approach to any task is: Let's focus on what works. This is her philosophy for Development: build relationships among people who support the vision of the organization. Assets include financial as well as in-kind resources; mapping of assets among supporters and partners reveals capabilities and provides opportunities for sharing skills, expertise, resources, and funding strategies. Development and communication rely on listening, outreach, telling our stories, and building relationships with the shared purpose of creating sustainable change for the seven generations yet to come. Vimeo.com/lisaspicer
WE INTERNS
WE - ONE MIND FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK
WE - ONE MIND FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK
- Jaden Phair-Williams, Northwest Indian College
- Daniel Holmes, California Running Start
- Sadie Olsen, Northwest Indian College
- Christina Kisskeys, Western Washington University
- Alice Heibert, Western Washington University
WE - ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Executive Assistant
- Intern & Volunteer Manager
- Interns
- Operations & Development Associate
- Project Manager
- Program Associates
- Partner Engagement Manager
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Whiteswan Environmental relies on donations from the community to make this vision a reality.
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