Biography
Tonya, a citizen of the Diné/Navajo Nation, is Kinyaa’áanii (Towering House Clan), born for Tódích’ii’nii (Bitter Water Clan). Her maternal grandfather is of the Haltsooí Clan (Meadow People) and her paternal grandfather is of the Bit’ah’nii Clan (Folded Arms People). Tonya is a graduate of Dartmouth College and obtained a BA degree in Neuroscience and Psychology. She joined the Center in August of 2024 as a Tribal Services and Solutions Project (TSSP) Fellow under Dartmouth’s Native American and Indigenous Studies Department. Through the TSSP fellowship, Tonya is working with the Center’s Hozhó Horizons program where she is involved in implementing and coordinating behavioral health programming for the Hozhó Horizons summer camps and the reproductive health course sessions.
Prior to joining the Center, Tonya was involved at Dartmouth College as a Dartmouth Bucci Fellow; worked as a student researcher at the Dartmouth Center for Technology and Behavioral Health; and completed Dartmouth’s Management & Leadership Development Program as well as the Dartmouth Rockefeller Global Leadership Program. Along with her experiences at Dartmouth, Tonya also worked as a behavioral health intern with the Felton Institute, a nonsectarian relief organization based in San Francisco that provides social services and resources to families in crisis, and as a substitute teacher for the Ch’ooshgai Community School in Tohatchi, NM.
Through each of these experiences, Tonya developed a passion for community-led health initiatives and finding solutions for improving the health and wellness of Indigenous communities. In her free time, Tonya enjoys painting, hiking, photography, rodeo, and listening to podcasts.