JULY 15, 2005
Smoke Signals 3
Grand Ronde Tribe Selects New Community Fund Director
DIRECTOR continued
from front page
managed a federal grant that pro
vided prevention and intervention
assistance to 14 school districts in
Marion and Polk counties.
Backed by $9 million from the
Departments of Education, Health
and Human Services and Justice,
Safe SchoolsHealthy Students
provided mental health assess
ments for nearly 900 students,
said Hansen.
"The striking thing about that
number," she said, "is that over 700
were supplementing a suicide risk
assessment."
The program also provided an
anti-bullying curriculum and as
sisted schools in developing anti
bullying policies and procedures
"so the behavior doesn't escalate,"
she said.
As part of the grant, Hansen
distributed $600,000 to non-profits
that would help the program
reach its goals, an ideal prepara
tion for heading up the Tribal
program that distributes some $4-
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Closing In On $30 Million In Giving Since 1 997, the Tribe through the Spirit
Mountain Community Fund has contributed nearly $1.2 million to the Portland Art
Museum, and serves as a major sponsor of the People of the River exhibit, pre
sented earlier this year and shown above.
plus million a year to non-profits
and other community groups in
the neighboring areas.
In fact, the Spirit Mountain Com
munity Fund has given away
nearly $30 million (six percent of
the casino's profits) since the casino
opened in 1995, and to many of the
same organizations that Hansen
has worked with in the Salem-
Keizer school district.
Five years as an accountant. Five
years helping small businesses grow
and develop. And five years helping
the Spirit Mountain Development
Corporation manage Tribal funds
also paved Hansen's way to the Com
munity Fund. For much of that time,
she also has been a part-time broker
with John L. Scott Realty of Salem.
Hansen is a single mom, and is
raising her 16-year-old daughter,
Tribal member Kayla Leno. Kayla
will be a junior at North Salem
High in the fall.
Having just bought a new house
in Salem, Hansen said that, by ne
cessity, she also is becoming a
remodeler.
"For the Community Fund, I want
to continue doing the good things
that the Tribe and Board have been
doing," she said. I want to continue
looking at new philanthropy op
tions to meet critical needs. And I
want to continue building the rela
tionship between the council, the
Board and staff."
"I think her experience was a big
item," said Cliff Adams, General
Manager for the Tribe and part of
the selection committee that chose
Hansen for the job. "I think it was
her skills and experience."
Hansen believes that Tribal pro
grams ought to be uniformly bet
ter than local, state or federal
programs.
"For a blond-haired, blue-eyed
Indian, I'm pretty Indian," she said.
Tribal Royalty Takes "Blue Ribbon" At West Valley 4th Of July Parade
Top Honors The Grand Ronde entry in the Willamina Old Fashioned Fourth of July
Parade (below) carried Tribal royalty, including Senior Queen Kayla Kneeland, Junior Queen
Leah Brisbois, princesses Brook Stewart, Kallie Provost and Nakoosa Moreland and Little
Miss Grand Ronde Melissa Biery in the pickup shown above. Three trucks carried the
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Royalty and together, they took the parade's Blue
Ribbon. A second vehicle, also a pickup, carried princesses Promise Rimer and Maria
Ramirez. The third vehicle, a van, carried Princess Mary Lopez on the top. Tribal Elders
Donna Casey and Margaret Provost and Royalty Board members coordinated the Tribal
entries. Many from the West Valley Cruisers car club, (above) who were holding their annual
car show at the Willamina High School, drove in the parade afterwards.
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