The focus of the Professional Program is “Leadership and Change.” AISES is dedicated to supporting its professional members in STEM, providing a network of Professional Chapters an annual Professional Awards Program to celebrate excellence in the field.
The Professional Program supports early, mid and executive professionals in STEM fields through professional development, career opportunities, networking and opportunities to mentor and support students in STEM.
Celebrate Indigenous excellence at the 2024 AISES National Conference in San Antonio as we celebrate outstanding individuals who epitomize brilliance within Indigenous communities and institutionally in their workplaces.
AISES professional honorees go beyond personal achievements, extending their commitment to excellence to co-workers, family, community youth, and Tribal and First Nations. Their narratives, intricately woven with resilience, hard work, dedication, and discovery, form the core of AISES stories.
The 2024 AISES Professional Awardees are perpetual learners and visionaries, driven by a fervor for fostering high-quality collective thinking. As builders, they craft platforms that empower their organizations and communities. Whether embracing formal science later in life or creatively infusing Indigenous values into their work, these trailblazers produce innovation and inspiration.
Let's honor those who are making a lasting impact.
AISES Professional of the Year: Joseph “Joey” Owle (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)
The AISES Professional of the Year Award is presented for overall leadership and technical achievement. Because this individual is selected from among the top candidates submitted in all categories, individual nominations for this award are not accepted.
Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Joseph “Joey” Owle, of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), is the AISES 2023 Professional of the Year. Secretary Owle is responsible for a range of environmental resources, regulatory, and renewable energy initiatives for this tribal nation of more than 16,000 citizens. His team worked to bring the first electric school bus in the entire state of North Carolina to the EBCI reservation, known as the Qualla Boundary. This process involved multiple buses as well as solar power, and Owle also helped the tribe’s casino set up a solar farm to offset its electricity usage. Secretary Owle oversees a staff of more than 30 people, interacts with the tribe’s executive and legislative branches, and coordinates with all levels of local and national government agencies. Besides leading coordination of the EBCI agricultural economic development plan, he has lobbied for millions of dollars for a new tribal fisheries program, new cannery, and stream restoration. After a period of advocacy, Owle and multiple partners have raised $10 million to decommission and remove the hydroelectric Ela Dam that, for 100 years, has blocked Oconaluftee River connectivity and fish migrations to EBCI lands. With a master’s degree in crop science, Owle was born and raised in Cherokee, NC, and in 2017 was appointed the very first secretary of the EBCI Agriculture and Natural Resources Division by Principal Chief Richard Sneed.
Executive Excellence Award: John Desjarlais (Nehinaw Metis)
This category is for Indigenous senior executives who are in upper-level management or is an experienced engineer, scientist, professional, or academician. The category includes budget concept, management practice, technical achievement, and contributions to business.
AISES 2023 Executive Excellence awardee John Desjarlais has 20-plus years of experience helping Indigenous communities maximize their resources and land in ways that are sustainable, respectful, and helps them thrive. He is executive director of Indigenous Resource Network, a platform for Indigenous workers, business owners, and leaders who support environmentally responsible projects that have the consent and involvement of the communities most affected go ahead. With 15 years of his own engineering experience, Desjarlais in 2022 became the first Indigenous president of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, a provincial regulatory body involving 15,000 engineers and geoscientists. He previously served as general manager of Great Plains Contracting, an industrial construction company and First Nations partnership focused on industrial mining and energy. Desjarlais is Nehinaw (Cree)-Metis from Kaministikominahikoskak (Cumberland House), Saskatchewan, and has been honored numerous times for volunteer work promoting Indigenous education, self-determination, and reconciliation. He is a co-founder of the Canadian Indigenous Advisory Council guiding the AISES network in Canada.
Technical Excellence: Keith Parker (Yurok)
The Technical Excellence nominee must have made a significant contribution to science, engineering, or technology by having designed, developed, managed, or assisted in the development of a product, service, system, or intellectual property.
Keith Parker is the AISES 2023 Technical Excellence awardee. He is a senior fisheries biologist for his Yurok Tribe, working at the intersection of Western and Indigenous science. Parker is a frequent speaker on the impact of climate change and drought on salmon populations, and witnessed the largest adult fish kill in U.S. history (68,000 adult Chinook salmon) on the Klamath River in 2002. The kill was due to unjust water flow management relative to multiple river dams; and today the Yurok Tribe is preparing for the nation’s largest-ever dam removal project, which will reopen 400 miles of Klamath fish habitat. In childhood, Parker watched his grandfather protest federal bans on tribal fishing rights; and ironically, he is responsible now for co-stewarding the Klamath River’s 44 miles through the Yurok reservation. He also has family in Karuk, Hupa and Tolowa communities. A participant in AISES’ Lighting the Pathway Indigenous research career program, Parker’s own research has combined thousands of generations of scientific tribal observation with cutting-edge genetic sequencing. In 2018, he discovered two new subspecies, or ecotypes, of Pacific lamprey (a jawless fish that resembles an eel)—one that matures in the river and one that matures in the ocean. Lamprey has great cultural and historical value to Pacific Northwest tribes.
Most Promising Engineer: Aurora White (Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians)
Nominees for the Most Promising Engineer or Scientist Award must be a professional engineer or scientist with less than five years of workforce experience after earning a professional degree. The candidate’s early technical contributions must indicate a promising career.
Aurora White loves hands-on work, whether it’s being in a vehicle as a calibration engineer or building furniture at her mom’s house. As the AISES 2023 Most Promising Engineer, White works for Stellantis N.V., a multinational automotive company and mobility provider that includes Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Fiat brands. White has worked in a variety of such engineering roles as instrumentation and diagnostics, receiving numerous awards for leading projects in vehicle testing and analysis. She earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, received a Design for Six Sigma Green Belt certification, and was selected for a new Stellantis leadership development program in 2022. White now serves on that program’s board, while serving as treasurer for the Indigenous Cultural Opportunity Network, a Stellantis business resource group. White helps coordinate multiple Indigenous education activities internally and STEM outreach externally. The youngest of four children growing up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, White recalls finding her life purpose at age 7 when she was gifted her first traditional dance regalia. The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Ojibwe tribal member learned early that she had to work hard to attain her goals, and is grateful to AISES for easing a sometimes lonely journey of education. Her future interest is in automotive electrification, while also promoting Indigenous values into design and the workplace.
Blazing Flame: Heather Heckler (Brothertown Indian Nation)
As its name suggests, the Blazing Flame Award is presented to an individual who “blazes” a path for Indigenous people in STEM careers. This award recognizes individuals with 10 or more years of professional experience with significant accomplishments in advancing STEM education and careers.
Heather Heckler is the 2023 AISES Blazing Flame awardee. At General Motors, she is president of the company’s Indigenous Peoples Network, leading GM’s efforts to provide STEM activities for Indigenous youth across the country. As a volunteer, Heckler has served in this employee resource group leadership role for 16 years, continuously advocating for more support within the company. She is a mainstay at AISES events, including coordinating ongoing youth engagement at AISES STEM Days, supporting GM recruitment, and serving on the AISES Corporate Advisory Council. In her day job, Heckler is a subject matter expert in industrial engineering with 28 years of experience. With a master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, she currently leads a global team to define computer application needs and provides engineering training in manufacturing plants. Even as a high school student, she provided critical computer training to workers at her Shawano, Wisconsin, hometown’s biggest employer, a food systems plant. As a steadfast advocate for Indigenous representation and advancement, Heckler follows in the footsteps of her maternal grandfather, a leader of the Brothertown Indian Nation. He advocated for tribal recognition of their tribe, the only one based in Wisconsin that is not federally recognized, due to a complex history of migration and interaction with the U.S. Government.
Indigenous Excellence Award: Ashley Lomboy (Waccamaw Siouan)
The Indigenous Excellence Award acknowledges an individual who has done substantial work for 10 or more years to advance programs and opportunities for Indigenous students and professionals within their Indigenous community and/or in support of Indigenous people at the national level.
In 2019, Ashley Lomboy founded Waccamaw Siouan STEM Studio, a program that aims to increase community understanding of STEM, while providing STEM opportunities to Indigenous youth. Lomboy is the recipient of the AISES 2023 Indigenous Excellence award. With 22 years of information technology (I/T) and computer science experience, Lomboy’s “day job” is global information security manager for Corning, Inc. She also leads the Corning Native American Council. In order to provide community-based STEM exploration, the STEM Studio involves marshalling a multidisciplinary team of science, math, engineering, and I/T instructor-role models, as well as several sponsor-partners that include universities and museums. STEM Studio has delivered more than 40 program events, encompassing tribal culture, language, history, and STEM (ranging from robotics to reforestation), while celebrating and educating about Indigenous people’s contributions to STEM. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Lomboy arranged for her Waccamaw Siouan Tribe to distribute 185 STEM activity kits to Indigenous youth. Lomboy is an active volunteer board member and community leader in southeast North Carolina, advocating on such issues as Indigenous Peoples Day and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Lomboy is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
2022: Rachel Yellowhair
2021: Leona Anderson
2020: Frances Dupris
2019: Sheila Lopez
2018: Deanna Burgart
2017: Brandon Polingyumptewa
2016: Marie Capitan
The Professional of the Year:
2022: Deneen Hernandez
2021: Dr. Crystal Tulley-Cordova
2020: Kathleen Jolivette
2019: Dr. Wendy F. Smythe
2018: Naomi Lee, Ph.D.
2017: William Tiger
2016: Karletta Chief, Ph.D.
2015: Pat Gwin
2014: Dr. A. D. Cropper, Kalinago Carib
2013: Randall McKee, Cherokee
2012: Jeff Kinneeveauk, Inupiat Eskimo
2011: Jerry R. Roberson, D.V.M., Ph.D., Cherokee
2010: David Daniel, Cherokee
2009: Kimberley Oldham, Musgogee Nation
2008: Jason Cummings, Ph.D., Lumbee/Coharie
2007: Lorena Hegdal, Inupiaq Eskimo
2006: Frank Martinez, Navajo
2005: Nancy Jackson, Ph.D., Seneca Nation of New York
2004: Richard Kevin “Savik” Glenn, Inupiaq Eskimo
Executive Excellence:
2022: Christian O'Gorman
2021: Tobin Beal
2020: Brendan Kinkade
2018: Christopher Payne
2017: Gary Burnette
2016: Richard Johnson
2015: Mel Yawakie
2014: Mike Laverdure, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa
2013: Robbie E. Hood, Cherokee
2012: Linda Benson Kusumoto, Tsimshian Nation, Annette Island, Metlakatla
2011: Terry-Lee Braun, Seneca Nation
2010: Not awarded
2009: Olav Kjono, Mohawk
2008: CAPT. Jeffrey Trussler, Cherokee
2007: Gary Bishop, White Earth Ojibway
2006: Ray Hanes, Ph.D., Cherokee
2005: Johnpaul Jones, Choctaw/Cherokee
2004: Richard Stephens, Pala Band of Mission Indians
2022: James Leatham
2021: Aaron Yazzie
2020: Laura Smith-Velazquez
2019: Dr. Otakuye Conroy-Ben
2018: Nedlaya Francisco
2017: Ginger Hernandez
2016: Tara Astigarraga
2015: Sarah Lauff
2014: Joe Connolly, Haudenosaunee of the Onondaga Nation-Wolf Clan from Six Nations Reserve of the Grand River
2013: Lawrence Short Bull, Rosebud Sioux
2012: Christopher "Scott" Nordahl Ph.D., Doyon Limited, Alleut Alaskan Native
2011: Tony Ferguson, Citizen Band of Potowatomi
2010: Karen McDaniel, Navajo
2009: Robert Harper, Ph.D., Mississippi Choctaw
2008: Jacklin Adams, Wyandot
2007: Stanley Atcitty, Ph.D., Navajo
2006: Chris J. Cornelius, Ph.D., Oneida
2005: Mark Hakey, Abanaki tribe, St. Francis-Sokoki Band
2004: Not awarded
Most Promising Engineer or Scientist:
2022: Angela Teeple
2021: Dr. Josiah Hester
2020: Dr. Serra Hoagland
2019: Dylan Moriarty
2018: Joshua John
2017: Thomas Reed
2016: Michael Dockry, Ph.D.
2015: Franklin Dollar
2014: Mitchell Martin, Cherokee
2013: Kristina Halona, Navajo
2012: Lauren M. Wolf, Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma
2011: Benjamin Mar, Cherokee
2010: Karletta Chief, Ph.D., Navajo
2009: Not awarded
2008: Nathaniel Todea, Navajo
2007: Tara Astigarraga, Choctaw
2006: Bevan Baas, Ph.D., Navajo
2005: John DeBassige, Ojibwe
2004: Aaron Thomas, Ph.D., Navajo
Indigenous Excellence:
2022: Dr. Sonia Ibarra
2021: Deborah Tewa
2020: Sandra Begay
2019: Yona Wade
The Ely S. Parker Award is the highest award bestowed by AISES, given in honor of the first recognized Native American engineer. Born “Ha-sa-no-an-da” in1828 on the Tonawanda (Seneca) Reservation near Buffalo, New York, Parker went on to earn an engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. During his lifetime, he made many important civil engineering contributions and was a Chief of the Seneca Nation and a Union Army General.
This award, named for Ely S. Parker, recognizes exceptional Indigenous leaders who clearly embody the AISES mission through their achievements and contributions to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The AISES Board of Directors is responsible for selecting one award winner annually. Members of the AISES Board of Directors, officers, and staff are not eligible.
2023 Awardee
Dr. Wren Walker Robbins
(Mohawk)
1983 - A T (Andy) Anderson, Chemical Engineering (Seneca) - Awarded Posthumously
1984 - Phil Stevens, Engineering (Oglala Sioux)
1985 - Mary Ross, Mathematics & Aerospace Engineering (Cherokee)
1986 - Al Qöyawayma, Mechanical Engineering (Hopi)
1987 - Phil Lane Sr., Civil Engineering (Yankton Sioux)
1988 - Tom Dawson, Electrical Engineering (Cherokee)
1988 - Don Ridley, Aerospace Engineering (Shoshone)
1989 - Dr. Lois Steele, Medicine (Assiniboine)
1990 - Dr. George Blue Spruce, Dentist (Pueblo)
1992 - Fred Begay, Ph.D., Physics (Navajo)
1993 - Dr. Taylor MacKenzie, Medicine (Navajo)
1994 - Dwight Gourneau, Electrical Engineering & Physics (Chippewa)
1995 - Cliff Poodry, Ph.D., Biology (Seneca)
1996 - Fred Cooper, Ph.D., Civil Engineering (Shoalwater Bay)
1997 - Jane Mt. Pleasant, Ph.D., Agronomy & Soil Science (Tuscarora)
1998 - Dick French, Forestry (Yakama) - Awarded Posthumously
1999 - Robert Megginson, Ph.D., Mathematics (Lakota)
2000 - Jim May, Ph.D., Engineering/Business/ Library Science (Cherokee)
2001 - Carolyn Elgin, Ed.D., Educator (Choctaw)
2002 - Dr. Judith Kaur, Medicine (Choctaw/ Cherokee)
2003 - Carole Gardipe, Geology, (Penobscot)
2004 - Jerry Elliott, Physics, (Osage/Cherokee)
2005 - George Thomas, Engineering, (Cherokee)
2007 - Governor Joseph Garcia (Ohkay Owingeh)
2008 - Norbert S. Hill Jr. (Oneida)
2009 - Sandra Begay-Campbell (Navajo)
2010 - Dr. Robert Whitman (Navajo)
2011 - Everett Chavez (Kewa Pueblo)
2012 - Dr. Henrietta Mann (Cheyenne)
2013 - Bessie Newman Spicer (Navajo)
2014 - Dr. Jason Younker (Coquille)
2015 - Dr. Bret Benally-Thompson (White Earth Band of Ojibwe)
2016 - Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer (Citizen Potawatomi Nation)
2017 - Dr. Patricia Nez Henderson (Navajo)
2018 - Cheryl McClellan (Sac and Fox)
2019 - Dr. Roger Dube (Mohawk Turtle Clan)
2020 - Dr. Cara Cowan Watts (Cherokee)
2021 - Rick Stephens (Pala Band of Mission Indians)
2022 - Dr. Wren Stephens (Mohawk)
AISES goal is to assist professional chapters in building and strengthening chapters to meet the AISES Mission and to encourage chapters to increase membership, build on current strengths, and develop leadership among chapter members. The Professional Chapter Awards Program allows chapters to identify their strengths and recognize the accomplishments of their fellow chapters.
AISES Distinguished Professional Chapter of the Year
Lower Columbia/Willamette River Professional Chapter
Community Service Award
AISES Texas Professional Chapter
Impact to the AISES Mission Award
North Star AISES Alliance and Professional Chapter
For more information about the Professional Chapter Awards program, contact Engagement and Advocacy at engagement@aises.org.
AISES, in partnership with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, is excited to announce the 2024-2025 Full-Circle Mentorship program. This year-long program will match and support participants in one-on-one academic and career mentorship. Mentorship matches are only available to college and professional members. Take advantage of this program and receive the benefits of mentorship!
Qualifications
Benefits of being a Mentee
Benefits of being a Mentor
As part of the Full-Circle Mentorship program and with AISES staff coordination, participants will co-create a mentorship commitment plan, check-in monthly, and are encouraged to
participate in webinars to enhance their mentorship relationship. Applications will be reviewed and accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis May 1, 2024 – June 15, 2024.
Don't miss your chance to strengthen your journey by getting a mentor or becoming one; apply for the AISES Full-Circle Mentoring opportunity!
If you are already a part of the Full-Circle Mentorship program and want to stay with your mentor or mentee, you do NOT need to reapply.
Contact AISES Program Officer Crystal Lepscier clepscier@aises.org for more information.
Through AISES, members are connected with employers seeking to hire in STEM fields. AISES members have access to AISES Career Hub. Additionally, by signing up for AISES Paths to Opportunities newsletters, you will receive information about job postings, scholarships, internships and other STEM opportunities.
Posting jobs on the AISES website enables employers to advertise opportunities within their organizations to AISES’ top-talent membership of professionals, students, educators, and others in the STEM fields.
Establishing a leadership pipeline is fundamental to developing today’s best science, technology, engineering, and math talent. Students from high school through postdoctoral studies, as well as emerging and mature professionals, value the AISES Leadership Summit as an opportunity to acquire the skills they need to be confident leaders. Through workshops and sessions — along with built-in time to relax, socialize, and have fun — the AISES Leadership Summit delivers on strategies that enable Indigenous STEM professionals, students, and leaders to learn from each other, network, and find support.
Goals of the Summit
For more information visit the AISES Leadership Summit website at
The AISES National Conference has been held annually since 1978 and is an unparalleled opportunity to connect companies with over 2,500 Indigenous high school juniors and seniors, college and graduate students, educators, workforce professionals and our corporate, government, private foundation, nonprofit, and tribal partners for professional development, networking opportunities, research presentations, workshops, awards, and traditional Indigenous cultural events. The National Conference hosts the largest college and career fair in Indian Country with many companies also hosting hiring events by conducting onsite interviews. Job seekers are provided interview coaching, and resume development, as well as career planning and other skills necessary to be successful in today’s job market. For students considering college or graduate school, resources are provided to assist in financial planning, applying to college or graduate school, as well as information on the many STEM majors and careers available. AISES members and attendees from the U.S. and Canada, and as far away as Alaska and Hawai’i make connections and they find the resources and services to advise and advance their academic studies and careers.
For 43 years, the AISES National Conference has provided:
For more information visit the AISES National Conference website at:
AISES’ Regional Conferences take place every spring and provide an opportunity for AISES College and Professional Chapters to gather and share information, form partnerships, and to network with each other and with selected presenters and partners.
Each regional conference has a number of informative sessions and activities for both college and high school students. Among the activities provided are mini career fairs, poster presentations, and engineering competitions. AISES’ student representatives and the host chapters for the following year are selected at the regional conferences.
Local and national professionals within a variety of fields provide workshops, seminars, and discussion groups about a wide variety of topics. Generally, each Regional Conference host develops a theme or focus area for the Regional Conference (environmental, bridging native cultures with science, etc.).
The host chapter for the following spring’s regional conference is determined during the Regional Conference held each spring.
Chapters interested in hosting the regional conference indicate their interest in hosting and make a verbal presentation regarding their resources, planning, and ability to host the conference. Each college chapter in "Good Standing" is allowed one vote; the majority of votes determines the location of the regional conference.
The ASSIST program engages early-career faculty, post-doctoral professionals, and graduate students in Engineering toward increasing diversity of the Engineering professorate. This program provides registration and travel to attend the Faculty Career Development Workshop as pre- events to the AISES National Conference and Leadership Summit for the purpose of collaboration and networkin
Through the generous support of the National Science Foundation, AISES collaborates with leading national diversity-serving professional organizations supporting engineering:
Applications open in March for Leadership Summit and in July for National Conference!
The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Comanche Nation, Kiowa Tribe, and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes have partnered on an Administration of Native Americans Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS) project.
AISES and the Comanche Nation, Kiowa Tribe, and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, collectively referred to as the Coalition of SW OK Tribes, are collaborating on the development and implementation of programs in three focus areas—Asset Building, Career Pathways, and Entrepreneurship—to meet the economic development needs of the tribal communities of southwestern Oklahoma. This partnership will provide culturally relevant financial literacy, STEM college and career readiness, and STEM business development.
Through culturally relevant, financial education curriculum, a goal of the SEDS project is to increase the financial literacy of kids and teens living in tribal communities of SW OK by helping build skills such as learning how money works, how to open and maintain checking and savings accounts, how to budget, and understand student loans and other debt.
For college and career readiness specific to STEM, the AISES and the partners want to encourage students looking to pursue college or careers in STEM by exposing them to STEM career awareness, teaching them to set goals, and attending workshops to be exposed to STEM careers and college majors.
Lastly, the partners are adapting a culturally-contextualize series of STEM entrepreneurship and business development workshops to build the skill set of community members to develop, start, and maintain STEM businesses in southwestern Oklahoma.
For more information, please contact: Taylor Kingsbery, AISES Program Officer, programs@aises.org
The AISES Corporate Advisory Council (CAC) is a professional association of corporate representatives who support AISES in its mission of increasing the number of Native people in STEM. The CAC provides industry advice and counsel for the AISES Executive Leadership and the Board of Directors and contributes to advancing the AISES mission by:
If you are interested in being involved in the Corporate Advisory Council, please contact Kellie Jewett-Fernandez, Chief Development Officer at kjfernandez@aises.org.
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