TIWAHE 5-YEAR PLAN
March 5 & 6, 2026
Sky Ute Casino Meeting Room
Tribal Council
Selwyn Whiteskunk
Selwyn.Whiteskunk@utemountain.org
Gwen.Cantsee@utemountain.org
Kathryn.Jacket@utemountain.org
Alston.Turtle@utemountain.org
Background
As part of the former Obama-Biden Administration’s commitment to protect and promote the development of prosperous and resilient tribal communities, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) received funding in Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) to support and implement a program called the Tiwahe Initiative. In 2015, the BIA offered (4) tribal communities an opportunity to participate in the Tiwahe Initiative. Each Tiwahe Initiative site was given financial and administrative resources to develop a coordinated service delivery model centered on the needs of the family and community. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe was selected to participate, and has received Tiwahe funding for 10 years, leading the charge to expand and enhance the program to benefit other tribes. Currently the Tiwahe Initiative benefits 22 tribes due to the success of the pilot tribes and the role Ute Mountain Ute Tribe played in developing a framework for the Tiwahe Initiative.
Currently, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is working with the National Tiwahe Director and legislators to write the program into law for permanent funding. The purpose of the 2026 Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Five Year Planning Retreat was to demonstrate to Congress tribes best understand their challenges and solutions to community needs. In addition, if given a chance to establish their own goals and objectives, rather than adhere to strict grant guidelines, the tribe can positively impact more of its members. The 2026 Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Five Year Plan provides SMART Goals and Objectives, as well as Logic Models with work plans to ensure the work gets done over the next five years through 2030. Of major significance is the integration of Social Services in the plan, along with a continuation of Youth Development Services, and Housing Rehabilitation.
NEW MEXICO
COLORADO
ARIZONA
UTAH
WHITE MESA
TOWAOC
Introduction
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s reservation is in Montezuma County, Colorado and San Juan County, Utah. The Ute Mountain Ute people have lived on this land for over 100 years. Today, the homelands for the Weeminuche, or Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, total about 600,000 acres. The tribal lands are on what’s known as the Colorado Plateau, a high desert area with deep canyons carved through the mesas.
Towaoc is secreted away southwest of Mesa Verde National Park and northeast of scenic Monument Valley.
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (UMUT) has a membership of about 2,100. Most Tribal members live on the reservation in Towaoc, with a smaller population in the White Mesa community.
This is a harsh, isolated land, with no nearby cities to provide specialty services for the residents living on tribal lands. There is a severe housing shortage, widespread poverty, a shortage of water, healthy food, quality healthcare and educational opportunities and high paying jobs.
Over 40% of the population live in poverty and the average life expectancy is only 55 years in comparison to 76 years in the United States.
LISAJANN BEGAY
lbegay@utemountain.org Social Services
PATTI FRENCH
PattiFrench@utemountain.org Indian Health Service
MORGAN JANNOT
mjannot@utemountain.org Executive Leadership
KARINA BRANSON
karina@conversketch.com Consultant
MARILYN HOUSE
marilyn.house@utemountain.org Tribal Council
CHARINDA JONES
CJones@utemountain.org Child Care
GWEN CANTSEE
gwen.cantsee@utemountain.org Tribal Council
KATHRYN JACKET
kathryn.jacket@utemountain.org Tribal Council
CRYSTAL KEUNG
Crystal@whanautahi-usa.com Tiwahe Advisor
TAWNIE KNIGHT
tawnie.knight@utemountain.org
Tribal Council
PATRICK LITTLEBEAR
plittleear@utemountain.org Grants and Contracts
NAOMI LOUISE
naomi@innovativeeducator.org Consultant
SHERRELL LANG
slang@utemountain.org Higher Education
REINER LOMB
reiner.lomb@boomerangcoach.com Consultant
GREG MILLS
gmills@utemountain.org Grants and Contracts
CONSTANCE LEHI
clehi@utemountain.org Vocational Rehabilitation
JOE LOPEZ
jlopez@weeminuche.com WCA
JUANITA PLENTYHOLES jplentyholes@utemountain.org Tiwahe
PRISCILLA RENTZ
PRentz@utemountain.org Courts
MILES STURDEVANT
msturdevant@wcaconstruction. com WCA
ARVIN WALL
awall@wcaconstruction.com WCA
BEVERLY SANTICOLA
bevsanticola@outlook.com Consultant
ALSTON TURTLE
alston.turtle@utemountain.org Tribal Council
ALIVIA WHITESKUNK awhiteskunk@utemountain.org Grants and Contracts
MARC SANTICOLA
mhsanticola@outlook.com Consultant
ANTHONY TWO MOONS
a2moons@gmail.com Photographer
Facilitators
BEVERLY SANTICOLA turned an agricultural childhood and lifetime of work experiences into a purpose driven mission to grow a new generation of leaders for the future of America. She is an award-winning film producer, social entrepreneur, idea generator, problem solver, program developer, project facilitator, public speaker, and grant writing consultant. Over the past ten years Santicola has dedicated her expertise and energy in the arenas of community development, language and cultural preservation, intergenerational leadership, and collaborative partnership building for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Working with a team of professional grant writers for 25 years that have generated more than $1 BILLION in grant funding for clients, she has been nationally recognized for social innovation and leadership excellence by the US Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs in connection with the Tiwahe Initiative, as well as Encore. org as a 2010 and 2014 Purpose Prize Fellow sponsored by the Atlantic Philanthropies and John Templeton Foundation (encore.org/purpose-prize/beverly-santicola-2) In her role as Grants Consultant, Santicola also provides facilitation services for multiple grant funded programs communicating regularly with federal government officials to assure systemic integration and the implementation of coordinated service delivery systems.
REINER LOMB is the President and Founder of BoomerangCoach. His mission is to mobilize and develop leaders that help create a more sustainable and positive future for all. That’s why he decided over a decade ago, at the height of his corporate career, to follow his passion and become an Executive Coach, specialized in leadership development, innovation and transformational change. Reiner also enjoys sharing his insights about leadership through writing and blogging. He is the author of “The Boomerang Approach — Return to Purpose, Ignite Your Passion” and “ASPIRE: Seven Essential Emotions for Leading Positive Change, No Matter Where You Are” (both sold on Amazon). His expertise draws on more than 35 years of experience in global management roles in the U.S. and Germany and spans multiple industries with companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Sperry Univac (Unisys) and several European Companies. At Hewlett-Packard, Reiner started and launched multiple new software products and initiatives and helped to start and develop HP Software into a multi-billion-dollar global business unit. He was also part of the Fort Collins, Colorado Climate Taskforce to help shape the city’s climate policies and since 2015 has supported the leadership of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Colorado in transforming their community. Reiner has earned an MBA in Sustainable Business from Pinchot University (now Presidio) and a master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Paderborn (Germany).
MARC H. SANTICOLA is a retired financial/accounting executive with over 40 years of experience in manufacturing and the energy industry. He held various Controllership and Director of Finance positions with Fortune 500 companies (Schlumberger, Cameron International, Cooper Industries, Smith International) at the corporate, divisional and plant levels working in executive leadership, project management, financial planning, systems implementation, organizational restructuring and divestiture. Marc holds a MBA degree from the University of Pittsburgh and is now working as a consultant with NeoFiber on the Tribe’s $40 million Broadband Initiative.
KARINA BRANSON is a visual facilitator, founder, and owner of ConverSketch where she uses hand-drawn images and text to reflect and distill the key ideas as graphic recording charts. With a master’s degree in science communication, Karina’s scientific training and an innate ability to connect with people across cultures creates a unique blend of intelligences that enable her to synthesize and creatively capture meaningful content. She has facilitated and supported collaborative strategic planning, community engagement, innovative brainstorming and critical systems thinking to help groups move forward and into action. She has worked across academic, corporate, governmental, and non-profit sectors. Her clients are local and international, including Adobe, Cisco Systems, International Science Council; Future Earth; the National Security Agency; a multi-generational family of wealth; the United Nations University; Arizona State University; the National Park Service; the US Forest Service; the City of Fort Collins; The Center for Public Deliberation; and others.
ANTHONY TWO MOONS is an Indigenous artist and photographer of Arapaho, A:Shiwi and Diné lineages. Following his studies, he started his career in New York City as a fashion photographer, and continues today as a photographer and director based in New York and working everywhere. His work has appeared in publications around the world. He is the author of multiple award-winning books, including Growing Ute: Preserving The Language and Culture, volumes 1 & 2, and Wíssiv Káav Tüvüpüa (Ute Mountain Lands). Anthony recognizes the extraordinary privilege and abundance of knowledge he has gained while working with talented individuals throughout his career. As an Indigenous professional photographer and artist, equity plays a vital role in Anthony Two Moons’ work.
Tiwahe Slide Presentation
The Dawn of Tiwahe
Tiwahe
“The Tiwahe Initiative is a new approach…the idea that we need to be serving families. Tiwahe is the Lakota word for family. We need to be bringing our services together more around serving families rather than leaving them in silos serving individuals.”
- TIWAHE: Lakota for Family, where connection and belonging begins -
CHIOKOEUTTE'ESIA PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE (HIAKI
KÉNEI’IHÉI’AAN’ƆFBIC (AANIIIH) PINAMIYA FBIC (NAKODA)
TOWÉIYAK UMUT (UTE MOUNTAIN UTE) THANKYOU
MII-GWETCH RED LAKE NATION (OJIBWE) QUYANA AVCP (YU’PIK)
PRESERVE AND MAKE PERMANENT
PIDAMIYA SPIRIT LAKE NATION (DAKOTA SIOUX)
NOKI)
CROPS Slide Presentation
9:15-9:45am
CROPS Slide Presentation
CROPS Slide Presentation
Graphical Recordings
Graphical Recordings
Graphical Recordings
TIWAHE 5-YEAR PLAN
Initiative
Inputs
Referrals in Place: Make Consistent Across Teams
Revise & Make
Universal Across Teams
Activities
Communicate and Update Referrals
Create Procedures and Train All Departments
Create Universal ROI Across All Departments
Funding
Placement for Families is Fair
Skilled Laborers
Evaluate White Mesa Trailers
Research Funding Opportunities
Collaborate with Housing Entities
Recruit Skilled Labor
Roles
Katherine Jacket
Marilyn House
HS Dept Heads
Educational Leads
TIWAHE 5-YEAR PLAN
Initiative
Inputs
Current Policies Updated
Streamline Procedures
ICWA Policy Defined
Standardized Operations
Activities
Collaborating with Legal for Codes
Improve Comms about Process Review & Update Policies
Qualified Staff
Resources Online
Physical Space & Vehicles, Tech
Clear Budget
Training
On-Site File Management
Provide Educational Pipeline for Qualified Social Service Employees Partner with Universities Career Fair
Compliance
Family Goals by Family
Community Resources
Consent Forms
Court Orders
Traditional Practitioners Strengthen
TIWAHE 5-YEAR PLAN
Initiative Inputs Activities
Cultural Sensitivity
Develop Metrics
External Resources / Partners
Staff Dedication
IT Support
Select Core Group as Resource
Develop Mission
Statement & Metrics
Council Support
Re-Branding
Cultural Sensitivity
Updating Policies & Procedures
Cultural Sensitivity
Case Workers & Background Checks
Community Assessment
Job Fair
Updated Policies & Procedures Outreach to Other Tribes
Hosting Social Service Events
Roles
HR
Social Services
Council
Education Department
Elder Committee
Youth THPD
Greater Community Awareness
Family Unification
More Foster Placement
Software for Tracking Cases
Understanding Processes with Social Services
Better Organization Collaboration
Foster Care Certification
Improve Tracking Metrics
Cultural Sensitivity
Family Support
Stronger Traditional Values
Grow Your Own Opportunities
Success Stories
Stabilization in Families
Youth Group Leadership
HR, Staff Development,
Higher Education, Enterprises
HR & Social Services
HR & Social Services
Social Services & HR
Collaborating –Background Checks
Communication (Taking Feedback, Open Mind)
Who Is Interested in the Community (Grow Your Own)
Set Policies & Procedures
Technical Assistance in the Field
Building Trust
Meeting Goals
Trust in Institutions in Community
Working Together to Support Community
Following Policies, Procedures & Protocols
Dedicated Employees Enjoying Their Jobs
S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Health
Document & Policy for Process
Renovate 15 Homes in White Mesa and 7 in Towaoc
Developing an Educational Framework with Strong & Visionary Curriculum
Develop Policies & Procedures for Social Services
Internal MOU with All Departments. Finished & Walk Through with Owner Development of Curriculum, Training & Certification Include: Staff Goals
Hiring
