WHO WE ARE

Melissa Colbert-Taylor, Operations Manager, provides executive leadership support, operations design, financial systems support  and overall team management. She brings her organizational expertise, creating new operating systems that focus on collectively achieving goals while prioritizing efficiency and effectiveness. Prior to joining Roanhorse Consulting,  Melissa worked alongside small businesses and nonprofits with a focus on revenue growth and development, consistently surpassing revenue goals. Melissa has an innate ability to see a problem and tackle it.  She is a musician and spent many years performing in various rock and experimental bands in Chicago IL and Athens GA, recording records and sharing the stage with members of bands such as Pylon, Roky Erickson, Wovenhand, Olivia Tremor Control, and many more. She weaves her love for music, people, and organizing to help everyone at RCLLC achieve their goals.  She brings her professional as well as lived experience as a Black woman into the way RCLLC can restructure the way businesses and organizations operate with a focus on anti-racism, anti-colonialism, and complete liberation for the new majority. She is a mother of three and lives in Albuquerque, NM with her partner, dog, and two cats.

Justine Correa, Capital Strategies Senior Associate, provides support to key portfolio efforts, with particular focus on access to capital and ecosystem building. Justine is a co-creator, building and defining processes that center people, relationships, and emergent thinking to help create new ideas for equitable capital design and direct deployment. Prior to joining the RCLLC team she worked at a Native Community Development Financial Institution that focused on mortgage lending in New Mexico and Arizona tribal communities, where she got her experience as a Loan Officer, assisting with financial education and credit counseling to Native people seeking resources. After a few years, she was quickly promoted to Operations Manager where she helped develop both internal and external processes needed to move millions of dollars of capital to Native American borrowers. Justine has over ten years of experience working directly with tribal community programs and efforts and continues to be involved in any way she can. She is driven by her passion to empower Indigenous people, people of color,  and their respective communities toward justice. She leans into her cultural knowledge, and professional and lived experience to guide her forward. She is currently pursuing her degree at The University of New Mexico in Community Health Education. Justine currently resides in Laguna Pueblo, NM with her two children and partner. She has Acoma Pueblo and Hopi roots and is also of Hispanic descent.

Elyse V. Dempsey, Capital Strategies Associate, provides support to key portfolio efforts, with a particular focus on research, data management, and systems design for all projects. She seeks to foster a community-led economy that centers on self-determination, capital building, and creative resourcing. With a background in social justice design and training development, Elyse has worked in and for Indian Country for over 10 years in educational, non-profit, and government sectors seeking to build avenues for access that would ultimately improve the quality of life for individuals, communities, and nations. Elyse understands how to bring complex stakeholders together to craft solutions and communications strategies that achieve multiple goals, while still centering Indigenous people and their needs. She earned her B.A. cum laude in American Studies from Macalester College. Elyse is Diné and resides on the lands of the Salt River Pima (Scottsdale, Arizona).

Shawna Douma, Research and Evaluation Associate, provides support to key portfolio efforts, with a particular focus on research, evaluation and data management to  support data-informed strategic planning for project management decision-making. Prior to joining RCLLC, Shawna was the youngest member of the Pueblo of Laguna COVID-19 Emergency Operation Center Command Staff serving her tribe as the Public Information Officer, effectively leading communications and COVID-19 vaccination efforts, achieving 85% vaccination rate. In this role she had to create new systems that did not exist, coordinating tribal, state, and federal information and resources to the people of Laguna Pueblo, which continues to be utilized to date. She has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 15 years creating positive youth development programming and managing strategic community-led volunteer engagement projects for Indigenous youth and communities in the Southwest. Shawna received her Bachelor’s degree in American Indian Studies from Haskell Indian Nations University. She remains committed to obtaining a Master’s Degree in Public Health at the University of New Mexico. Shawna is a member of the Laguna, San Felipe, and Hopi Tewa Pueblos and currently resides in Albuquerque, NM with her three children.

Casey Long, MPH, Research and Evaluations Manager, provides project management over the entire Research and Evaluation Portfolio, leading efforts that are focused on using Indigenous evaluation methodologies and employing ….research strategies that center lived experiences. Casey is an outgoing and passionate worker with 8 years of experience working in Native Communities, especially with their youth. Casey spent one year working with the National Indian Health Board and working with tribal communities on their oral health initiatives and realized he wanted to work directly with the practitioners on the ground directly co-creating solutions that could have local and meaningful impact. He’s worked in spaces with Wings of America and Community Outreach & Patient Empowerment to provide Navajo youth with youth development resources they tend to not receive when they are in school. Casey has his Master’s degree in Public Health from Grand Canyon University and an undergrad degree from Fort Lewis College. Casey is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and lives in Gallup, NM. 

Matthew Perez, Design and Marketing Manager, leads the creative design for RCLLC, with experience in Photography, Brand Development, Illustration, Video Production, Social Media Management, and Event Marketing. He worked on numerous projects, ranging from full-scale branding for businesses to community-driven, grassroots, non-profit initiatives to on-location, video and photography. Early in his career, he worked for the design & marketing group, Iroots Media, LLC, as a junior designer, photographer, and project manager, eventually moving into a Managing Director position. He was on the re-brand team for the Museum of American Indian Arts & Culture (MIAC), as well as, community branding projects for the Laguna Community Foundation and Jemez Public Health. At Iroots, he also worked with the Notah Begay III Foundation on various media projects, helping their organization impact Native youth. Mateo’s creative roots are deeply connected to his Indigenous identity, where art is tradition. With this idea in mind, he believes each client & project has meaning, importance, and a connection to something greater. Once a professional Disc Jockey (DJ) and event producer, Mateo blends his skills, identity, and experience to inform his workflow & design to this day. His goal is to create with passion, purpose, and heart. When he’s not in front of a computer or behind a camera, you can find him out on the trail, training for the next race. He is currently living the tea life in Santa Fe, NM. He is an alumnus of Dartmouth College and a proud Picuris Pueblo tribal member.

Olivia Roanhorse, MPH, COO and Portfolio Lead, provides leadership and oversight of key policy, research and evaluation projects. Prior to joining RCLLC, Olivia was the Vice President of Programs for Notah Begay III Foundation where she oversaw the strategic and operational responsibilities for all program areas. Before returning to New Mexico in 2012, Olivia held several health program and policy positions in Chicago. She was a Policy Associate at the Ounce of Prevention Fund; a Project Coordinator for RWJF National Project: Finding Answers Program: Disparities Research for Change; and a Clinic Manager for Community Health, the largest free health clinic in Illinois. Olivia has a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Illinois in Chicago and an undergraduate degree from Colorado College. Olivia attended Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health from 2018 to 2021 working on her Doctorate of Public Health. Recognizing that the institution did not value health equity and social justice, she withdrew and decided to instead focus on her lived experiences and the opportunity to co-design meaningful solutions with communities. Olivia is a board member with the Health Equity Council in NM, and a Peer Review Committee Advisor with Black Brain Trust. Olivia is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and lives in Albuquerque, NM with her daughter.

Vanessa Roanhorse, CEO and Portfolio Lead, provides leadership and oversight over the entire portfolio of work as well as leads key strategies focused on ecosystem building, access to capital and community-led economic development activities. Vanessa got her management chops working for 7 years at a Chicago-based nonprofit, the Delta Institute, focused throughout the Great Lakes region to build a resilient environment and economy through creative, sustainable, market-driven solutions. Vanessa oversaw many of Delta’s on-the-ground energy efficiency, green infrastructure, community engagement programs, and workforce development training. Vanessa is a 2022 Miss Porter’s School Donaldson Awardee, a 2021 Paypal Maggie Lena Walker’s Emerging Leader Awardee and a 2020 Conscious Company Media’s World Changing Woman in Sustainable Business Awardee. She is a 2021 Purpose Fund-Building fellow and a 2020 Boston Impact Initiative Fund-Building fellow. She is a founding member of the Zebras Unite Co-op, and an advisor to Angels of Impact Fund.  She sits on the boards of Delta Institute, Seven Fires, Potlikker Capitals and is an advisor to Decolonizing Wealth, The Investment Integration Project Working Group, PopCollab’s We Write The Future and Sandia Lab’s BOOST initiative. She is one of 8 co-founders of Native Women Lead, an organization dedicated to growing Native women into positions of leadership and business. Vanessa is Diné (Navajo) citizen and resides on Tiwa Territory (Albuquerque, NM).

Stacey Wells, Calendar Specialist, provides management and organization of the calendar of CEO and team projects. With over 20 years experience Stacey is a dedicated calendar scheduling specialist.  Stacey’s expertise lies in orchestrating intricate schedules and coordinating appointments for the CEO and team.  Stacey understands that a well-organized calendar that maximizes productivity and minimizes conflicts creates a harmonious schedule for all.  Stacey takes pride in strong communication skills focusing on being courteous, respectful, and accommodating, which fosters positive relationships.  Stacey grew up in Vancouver, BC, Canada is part of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and currently resides in Wetaskiwin, AB, Canada on ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ ᐊᐢᑭᕀ Nêhiyaw-Askiy (Plains Cree) land with her partner, son and dog.