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September 23 - 25, 2021 | Phoenix, Arizona
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AISES Announces the 2021 Professional of the Year Awards
All of the professional winners will be celebrated at 2021 AISES National Conference in Phoenix, Arizona on September 23-25.
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is pleased to announce the recipients of the Professional Awards for 2021. These honors are part of the AISES Professional Awards program, which celebrates the contributions of Indigenous innovators and professionals in six award categories - Executive Excellence, Technical Excellence, Most Promising Engineer or Scientist, Blazing Flame, Indigenous Excellence, and the Professional of the Year.
The award recipients are Tobin Beal, Aaron Yazzie, Dr. Josiah Hester, Leona Anderson, Deborah Tewa and Dr. Crystal Tulley-Cordova.
‘We are excited to announce the 2021 Professional of the Year award winners and their achievements in each of their respective fields of STEM,” says Sarah EchoHawk, AISES CEO. “They represent the strength and pride of Indigenous STEM talent. They are working to help their own people while paving roads for others. Join us in congratulating them on their successes, and wait for more important things from them as they take a remarkable place in STEM and Indigenous history.”
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Meet the 2021 Award Winners!
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Professional of the Year
Dr. Crystal Tulley-Cordova
Navajo
Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources
Dr. Crystal Tulley-Cordova grew up on the Navajo Nation; the vast area providing her the opportunity to be an explorer and scientist. Her interest in science and long standing support of AISES began in the fourth
grade with a water filtration science project. Currently, a Principal Hydrologist with the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources, she leads multiple critical water initiatives. She has a Bachelor of Science in Earth and Planetary Sciences, Master of Water Resources degree from the University of New Mexico and an interdisciplinary graduate certificate in sustainability and a Ph.D. in Geology from University of Utah. She has led water research projects on water access, desalinization, and drought collaborating with the multiple partners on and off the Navajo Nation. She previously worked at prestigious research labs across the United States including Los Alamos National Lab, Lawerence Livermore and others. Crystal mentors Native American students from elementary school to graduate students. During the COVID -19 pandemic, Dr. Tulley-Cordova provided technical and outreach expertise to a multiagency team installing 59 transitional water point locations reducing travel time to access safe water on the Navajo Nation. She is an inspiration to Native students everywhere to pursue their dreams while maintaining their Native identities. Her mission: assist communities to use their Indigenous knowledge to build sustainable water projects, provide safe water access, and protect and manage water resources across the Navajo Nation. "I desire to work tirelessly to ensure my children, my children’s children, and generations after have water."
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Executive Excellence Award
Tobin Beal
Choctaw Nation
General Motors
Tobin Beal is an accomplished IT professional with over 25 years of experience in the industry and a citizen of the Choctaw Nation. Currently Tobin holds the role of IT Director supporting the General Motors Digital EV Commerce organization. Most recently Tobin served as the CIO for GMI and China. Tobin has a strong pedigree in sales and marketing IT and has held previous roles at HP, Microsoft, Dell, ACS.
Tobin has a Masters of Science in Technology Transfer and Commercialization from the University of Texas at Austin. His undergraduate work was in communications and pre-law. Tobin is a runner, sailor, diver, writer, and lifelong student with a great passion for mentoring youth in the native community. Tobin is married to Tara and has a son (Jayden, 16) and a daughter (Piper, 12). As a family they have had the opportunity to live in the US, Europe, Singapore, and China.
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Most Promising Engineer or Scientist Award
Dr. Josiah Hester
Native Hawaiian - Kanaka maoli
Northwestern University
Computer science expert and Native Hawaiian, Dr. Josiah Hester, is a pioneer in mobile and pervasive computing. His work on energy efficient and battery-less devices has won wide acclaim within his field, and attracted press coverage from the Wall Street Journal, BBC, CNET, Gizmodo, Mashable, Seeker, Voice of America, and many others. Since 2014 his work has become foundational reading in the subject of intermittent computing. Deeply integrated into his research has been Dr. Hester’s tireless advocacy and work in his Native Hawaiian (Kanaka maoli) communities, as well as with the Indigenous Ojibwe tribes of his adopted home in the Great Lakes region, near Chicago, Illinois. Today, Hester partners with tribal governments, foundations and schools in Hawaii and in the Great Lakes region to produce technology and devices 1. to monitor, evaluate, and sustain the environment in the face of climate change, 2. to measure health data, and to work to eliminate health disparities within Native and Indigenous communities, and 3. to train Indigenous students in programming skills, effectively broadening the channel of Indigenous voices and perspectives in computer science.
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Technical Excellence Award
Aaron Yazzie
Diné
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Aaron Yazzie, Diné, (he/him/his) is Ashįįhí (Salt Clan) and born for Todích'íi'nii (Bitter Water Clan). He is a Mechanical Engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California where he designs mechanical systems for NASA’s robotic space research missions. His most extensive contributions have been for missions to the planet Mars, which include roles on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover, the InSight Mars Lander, and most recently, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover which landed successfully on Mars in February of 2021. Yazzie was the lead engineer for the rover’s drill bit assemblies, which it will use to drill and acquire rock core samples from Mars to be returned to Earth and analyzed for signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. Yazzie was born in Tuba City, Arizona on the Navajo Nation, and was raised in Holbrook, Arizona (a border town to the Navajo Nation). He attended Stanford University, where he earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2008. Aaron is a Sequoyah Fellow and professional member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). He has adopted the AISES mission into his own life, to work to significantly increase the representation of Indigenous Peoples in the STEAM fields.
In 2016 Yazzie was honored by the Navajo Nation Council for “serving as an inspiration to Diné youth and citizens”, and in 2019 received the NASA JPL Bruce Murray Award “for outstanding and consistent dedication in promoting inclusion and excitement in science and education especially among Indigenous Communities.”
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Blazing Flame Award
Leona Anderson
Creek Nation
The Boeing Company
Leona Anderson is a Human Resources Generalist for Engineering Test & Technology, part of Boeing Defense & Space in Mesa, Arizona. She is a trusted business partner to senior leadership, developing workforce strategies that facilitate organization goals and objectives. Leona is the youngest of 10 children and the first in her family to earn an advanced degree. Her great grandparents are members of the Cherokee Nation Tribe in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and her father always made an annual pilgrimage to the Indian reservation in Bixby, Oklahoma. This part of her heritage and the culture of Native Americans held a special passion for her. It is this strong connection that has shaped her professional life and drives how she relates to the diverse group of employees and managers she serves as a Human Resources business partner. Leona serves as the Enterprise Focal for AISES where she coordinate all the activities for the AISES Leadership Summit and National Conference. She’s the Chair of the Continuous Improvement Committee of the Mesa site Diversity and Inclusion Council, where she uses her leadership skills to encourage empowerment and inclusion. She is also treasurer of the Boeing American Indian Society, and enterprise focal for The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). Leona’s professional achievements are matched by her commitment to encouraging Native American youth to pursue their educations and careers in STEM.
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Indigenous Excellence Award
Deborah Tewa
Hopi
Native Renewables Inc.
Deb Tewa is the Workforce and Education Manager for Native Renewables, where she provides technical training on photovoltaics (PV) in the form of theory and hands-on workshops to prepare participants for job opportunities in the solar industry. The goal is to encourage indigenous people to tap into their entrepreneurial spirit using solar applications that can be of benefit to themselves and their community. In addition, she conducts STEM activities for students in the 4th - 12th grade levels. Tewa has more than 35 years' experience in the electrical trade sector. She was previously employed with NativeSUN, a non-profit organization whose mission was to educate, install and finance PV systems in Northern Arizona. She was also employed with the Arizona Energy Office as a Tribal Energy Coordinator. Tewa was instrumental in setting up an extensive PV laboratory at Central Arizona College where she taught both beginning and advanced PV classes. She is President/Owner of Tewa Energy Services, LLC.
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About the AISES National Conference
The AISES National Conference has become the premier event for Indigenous STEM professionals and students, attracting over 2,000 members and attendees from the U.S. and Canada, and as far away as Alaska and Hawai'i. The annual AISES National Conference is a one-of-a-kind, three-day event focusing on educational, professional and workforce development! Attendees include Native high school and college students, educators, professionals, tribal nations and tribal enterprises, universities, corporations, and government agencies. The National Conference works towards achieving the AISES mission by providing students and professionals access to career pathways, professional and leadership development, research, and networking that also meaningfully incorporates Native culture into this signature event.
The 2021 AISES National Conference is an in-person event with pre-conference rates valid through September 3rd. Register now at http://conference.aises.org
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