• Haylee

    Intake/Support Staff

    My Doodem(Clan) is the Maang(Loon).  Leech Lake is my home. I am an enrolled member and have lived here my entire life. I truly believe my purpose in life is to help my community in any way I am capable. “Ganawenindiwag” – “They take care of each other” has very special meaning to me. A main goal on my personal journey is implementing Mino-Bimaadiziwin “the good life” into my everyday life as I find my way on the Red Road (spiritual journey). Currently, I am enrolled at Leech Lake Tribal College with intent to graduate with a Law Enforcement degree. A few hobbies I enjoy are self-sustaining farming and graphic design. In my free time I like to design clothing and put them on my online shop. As for farming, my family has always farmed our own food as much as we could growing up. So today, if possible, we like to do that together as a family. Miigwech! Mii’iw!

  • Jenna

    Community Justice Worker/Legal Advocate

    Jenna is a paralegal/Community Justice Worker with ALS. She joined ALS in the fall of 2022, first serving as the office administrator for the central office in Cass Lake. She is currently Co-Chair of ALS’S Housing Committee and is a board member for Leech Lakes Prescott LIC (Local Indian Council). Jenna is a descendant of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and a lifelong resident of the Leech Lake Reservation. Jenna graduated in 2009 and went on to earn her AA in Early Childhood Education with an emphasis in special needs education. She is currently attending online at Alaska Pacific University to earn her (CJW) Community Justice Certification. Jenna has three children, Mason, Tre and Piper. She is an avid animal lover and enjoys volunteering and helping those in need (including animals) in her community.

  • Catherine (Catie)

    Support Staff & IT Coordinator

    Catie is our Legal Secretary/ I.T. Coordinator. She comes with years of experience and interest in technology and is working on advancing her knowledge in that field.  Catie’s prior employment experience includes running her own classroom at Leech Lake Early Childhood where she earned her Child Development Associate(CDA).  She is currently working on enrolling in Red Lake Nation College for further academic studies. Catie loves her two adoring cats Nam-ie and Ha-ru, and in her free time she works on creating beadwork and plays various types of video games.

  • Joni

    Paralegal/Legal Advocate

    Joni is a long-time resident of Cass Lake. She brings many years of experience in customer service and administrative roles, and currently assists primarily elders within our service area. She is a 2013 graduate of Leech Lake Tribal College with her AA in Business Management as well as an AA in Liberal Education from 2017. She is an enrolled member of Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and a proud mother of 3 children: JessLyn, Mark & Kyson. Joni is also licensed to practice in Leech Lake Tribal Court as a lay advocate. Outside of work she pursues her private business endeavors and enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and creating regalia and beadwork for her children.

  • Rita

    Senior Paralegal/Legal Advocate

    Rita is a Certified Disability Representative. Rita graduated from Bryant & Stratton College with an Applied Science Degree in Paralegal Studies. To complete her degree requirements, she interned with ALS for over 400 hours and was later hired as a full time employee. Following her initial employment, she later moved to Duluth and worked for the Public Defender’s office and two private attorneys. Rita has since returned and provides services primarily for disabled and vulnerable individuals through their disability benefits approval process. Rita is excited to work more intensively with the SSI/RSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) program initiative to reach the homeless citizens in our area and working to obtain benefits for their financial security. Rita lives in the greater Bemidji area since 1989 and has four grown children, two boys and two girls, along with 7 grandchildren.

  • Scott

    Staff Attorney

    Joining ALS from the high desert surrounding Moab, Utah (a.k.a. “Abbey Country”), Scott has been a dedicated public-interest attorney for more than twenty years—protecting the environment and defending the rights of criminally-convicted, indigent clients through the appeal process. Most recently, he spent more than a decade with Appalachian Voices as an attorney, campaign coordinator and organizer working to phase out coal-fired power plants and permanently end mountaintop removal coal-mining in the Appalachian Mountains. Despite the dramatic climate change from the high desert of Utah, Scott is eager to use his skills and passion to defend the rights and sovereignty of the Ojibwe people and their Nation! In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, snowshoeing, stand-up comedy, jam bands, learning to play the congas (albeit ineptly) and contemplating the wonders of the universe.