The Team
Council Members - a group of community members that guide the actions of Northern Michigan E3 using a process of conscious.
Alma (Rosie) Vasquez
She/ Her
Coming Soon
Chris Stone
He/ Him
Coming Soon
Courtney Wiggins
They/Them
Coming Soon
E Wolff
They/Them
An antiracist white radicalized, queer, nonbinary person of the Ashkenazi Jewish diaspora living with chronic illness on Anishinaabe land and water known to settler colonial people as Traverse City, MI. E is a politicized somatic trauma healing practitioner trained through Somatic Experiencing International.
They are also an Ancestral Healing Practitioner trained in the Ancestral Medicine model of lineage repair work. In addition to working with clients 1:1, E also facilitates group praxis and education at the intersections of somatic, ancestral, and cultural healing in service to collective liberation.
Holly T. Bird
She/Her
A long history of environmental and Indigenous activism. In college she canvassed for PIRGIM, focusing on water contamination. While attending law school Holly created the Illinois Native American Bar Association and is credited for removing the “Redskins” mascot from a local school system. She is a published author of articles involving Native American law that are quoted regularly by the US Office of Civil Rights.
In 2008, Ms. Bird was appointed as an Assoc./Acting Chief Judge for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, where she served until 2011. In 2010, she was appointed to the Supreme Court for the NHBPI Tribe and continues in that capacity today. In 2013, Ms. Bird was awarded American Arbitration Association’s 2013 Higginbotham Fellowship and became the first Native American arbitrator in the US.
Ms. Bird served as Ground Coordinator and Co-Executive Director for the Water Protectors Legal Collective, the leading legal service at the NoDAPL camp/protest in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Currently, Ms. Bird serves as Co-Executive Director for Title Track, a Michigan nonprofit dedicated to clean water, racial equity, and youth empowerment. Ms. Bird also maintains a private law practice in Traverse City.
Marshall Collins
He/Him
The Regional School Health Coordinator and Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging Coordinator for Northwest Education Services. Marshall received a degree in teaching from Concordia College(University) Ann Arbor and went on to teach at Northport Public School. During his ten years at Northport Public School he taught K-12 Physical Education, Health, Social Studies, and coached sports.
Mr. Collins has served as Northport Varsity Soccer Coach and Athletic Director. In 2010 Marshall accepted the Regional School Health Coordinator position at Northwest Education Services which includes program oversight of NorthEd’s SNAP ED Program, LifeSPAN, Farm-to-School and DEIB support. His work also involves supporting the Grand Traverse Area in continual efforts in the realms of Social Justice.
Tyasha Harrison
She/Her
A wife and mother of four. Her background is in education for the Performing Arts but has always had the desire and love to advocate for the voiceless and the disenfranchised. She is the the current Co Chair for the Diversity, equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee..She hopes and aims to be a leader for her family and the community at large. She has to her turned her anger into action.
Rev. Wendy
She/Her
Coming Soon
Supports
Staff
Brett W. Sinclair
Council Coordinator | He/Him
"Identity is the intersection of how individuals identify and how they are identified by others. It is the story of who we are and the better these stories can be told directly reflects how smooth connections between different individuals or groups can be.
An Interculturalist, Marketer, and Project Manager who just wants to help people not face barriers as they seek to affirm their own passions. He does this through his Marketing Agency, Raven & Lotus, by using a storytelling approach that puts core values first when telling narratives to customers and communities while putting the focus on the needs of that audience.
As a neuro-diverse, indigenous, black, and white individual Sinclair has seen how systems affect people's ability to fully participate in society. Challenges of inclusion are a key factor in the health of a community and individuals and he seeks to use his background in Project Management and Teaching to foster everyone's ability to be human with other humans. Serving Northern Michigan E3 as Council Coordinator has been a gift opportunity to further this work ""Up North"". One day he hopes own a teashop and brewery in a lighthouse with a bookstore to be a centre for these ideas."
