OUR TEAM
Dr. Michelle Johnson-Jennings
Principal Investigator
Dr. Johnson-Jennings, a Choctaw tribal member and clinical health psychologist from Southeastern Oklahoma, is a Full Professor at the University of Washington in the Schools of Social Work and Public Health. She currently serves as the co-executive Director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI), as well as the founding director of IWRI’s Indigenous Environmental Health and Land-based Healing Division.
Dr. Johnson-Jennings’ expertise lies in working with Indigenous communities and decolonizing healing while reviewing narratives of trauma through land-based healing. She has partnered with many international and national Indigenous nations, organizations and communities to prevent substance abuse, food addiction and obesity.
Felipe Contreras
Program Manager
Felipe Contreras is an award-winning filmmaker, program manager, multimedia producer, and strategist from Los Angeles with Indigenous descent from El Salvador and Puerto Rico. He has over seven years of experience advancing cultural storytelling and environmental justice.
Felipe specializes in narrative-driven impact campaigns, creative production, and cross-sector partnerships, with a track record of elevating Indigenous and underrepresented voices through multimedia. His leadership spans projects such as the Indigenous Imaginarium, Seedcast podcast, and Chahta Chatter Storylab, blending film, podcasting, and field-based storytelling with social welfare, public health, and policy goals.
Truman Pipestem
Health Interventionist
Truman Pipestem is Eastern Band Cherokee, Osage and Otoe-Missouria. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities from Yale University. During his college years, Truman was Co-President of the Native and Indigenous Students Association at Yale (NISAY) and a performer with Lux Improvitas, an improv comedy troupe. His senior thesis explores how the transcription of Cherokee wonder stories transformed the Cherokee storytelling tradition.
Truman is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended Booker T. Washington High School. He enjoys spending his free time playing strategy games, riding his bike and attending local community events.
Tia "Tee" Benally
Research Coordinator
Tia “Tee” Benally (she/her) is Diné (Navajo) and White Mountain Apache, originally from New Mexico. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Washington’s Community-Oriented Public Health Practice Program and currently serves as a Research Coordinator at the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute. Tee is committed to building more culturally-centered programs and research reflective of Native communities’ values and lived experiences to ensure healthier futures and wellness.
Thea Benally
Project Coordinator
Thea Benally is a second-year master’s student working toward her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Washington. She is Diné (Navajo) and White Mountain Apache, originally from New Mexico, and currently serves as a Project Coordinator at the Indigenous Wellness Resource Institute. In her free time, Thea enjoys outdoor activities like hiking, camping and relaxing by a warm campfire.
Sarah Chatter
Practicum Graduate Student
Sarah Chatter (she/her) is Navajo of the Towering House clan, born for the Many Goats clan. Her maternal grandfather is Start of the Red Streak people clan and her paternal grandfather is Salt clan. Sarah is originally from Arizona on the Navajo Reservation, near Bodaway Gap, AZ.
Sarah graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2023, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Public Health with minors in Applied Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Health Studies. Sarah completed a 2-year fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Healthy Tribes program and the Division for Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. She is now in the first year of her graduate program at the University of Washington, pursuing a Master of Public Health in the Community Oriented Public Health Practice program.
Outside of work and school, Sarah enjoys spending time back home on the reservation, spending time with her animals, reading, hiking, running, and playing basketball.