Danica Brown | Alison Whitemore

Danica Love Brown, MSW, CACIII, PhD, is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma born and raised in Northern New Mexico. Danica is the Behavioral Health Director at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and has worked as a mental health and substance use counselor, social worker, and youth advocate for over 20 years. Danica is an Indigenous Wellness Research Institute ISMART fellow alumni, Council of Social Work Education, Minority Fellowship Program fellow alumni, and Northwest Native American Research Center for Health fellow alumni. Her research has focused on Indigenous Ways of Knowing and decolonizing methodologies to address historical trauma and health disparities in Tribal communities.

Alison “Al” Whitemore, LCSW, RPT, is an enrolled tribal member of Round Valley Indian Tribes. She has 25 years of experience in social work bringing collaborative approaches in Neuro-relational, Ecological, Developmental and Cultural frameworks in Indigenous mental health and wellness. She works to be in right relationship with Mother Earth and the imperative social justice movements of our time. As well, she grapples to subvert colonial approaches by connecting with traditional ways of thinking to restore health and wellbeing to our communities.  Al has been privileged to work in both Tribal public health programs and with national Native organizations, currently focusing her energies on strengthening the relational health of families. As a current Napa Parent/Infant Mental Health Fellow, Al is expanding her understanding of how we nurture the development of our infants and young children.