FORMER BOARD MEMBER
Janeen Comenote lives in Seattle, Washington. She is Hesquiaht and Kwakiutl First Nation from her mother’s side and Oglala Lakota and enrolled Quinault from her father’s side. She has spent the last 14 years advocating for American Indians/Alaska Natives who live off reservations and endeavoring to provide a voice to this often “silent majority” in Indian Country.
In 2003, through her work with urban Indian families, she saw the need for urban Indian centers to find ways to collaborate to improve services to Native American children and families nationwide, prompting her to initiate the creation of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition (NUIFC). The NUIFC is a growing national coalition representing 27 urban Indian centers in 20 cities, several Native American organizations and more than 1 million Native Americans living away from their traditional land base and provides advocacy, research and a vehicle for urban Indian centers to collaborate on critical issues.