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  Native Broadcast Summit

Agenda

May 2-4, 2023 • Hyatt Regency, Phoenix, AZ 

Tuesday, May 2

Welcome Reception - Sundance Room

6:00 - 8:00 p.m.     Registration Opens

   Introduction of Board of Directors

       Clarice Chiago-Jones, NPM Board Secretary                

   Welcome Remarks

       Barbara Poley, NPM Board Vice-Chair

   Anna Marie Chavez

       Arizona Community Foundation President and CEO

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Wednesday, May 3

7:00 - 8:00 a.m.      Registration - Ellis Room 

7:30 - 8:30 a.m.      Prayer | Peter Tuluk, KCUK Station Manager 

                                 Breakfast (provided)

8:30 - 9:00 a.m.       Opening Address

Loris Taylor, NPM President/CEO

9:00 - 9:30 a.m.      Keynote Address

Denise Bambi Kraus, Chief, Office of Native Affairs and Policy, Federal Communications Commission (Invited)

9:30 - 10:45 a.m.    IPAWS/EAS Panel

Panelists: Harland Cleveland, Emergency Management Director, Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management; Antwane Johnson, Division Director/Program Manager of FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Program Office; Stacey Decker and Beth Walsh, Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB); and Melissa Begay, Operations Director, Native Public Media.

10:45 -11:00 a.m.   Beverage Break (Provided)

11:00 -12:15 p.m.    We'll Get Back to the Music after this Message

    about the Fires and Floods in the Area

Presenter: Brian Brashier, Chickasaw Nation Department of Broadcast Productions for KCNP; and Danae Wilson, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

11:00 -12:15 p.m.   Addressing Climate Change | Koahnic Broadcast                                   Corporation

Panelists: Antonia Gonzales, Anchor and Producer of syndicated radio program National Native News; Emily Schwing, Reporter for KUAC in Fairbanks, Alaska; Jaclyn Sallee, Koahnic Broadcast Corporation and KNBA's President and CEO; and Alexis Sallee, Host and Producer of INDIGEFI.

12:15 - 1:45 p.m.     Regional Meeting/Lunch (provided)

2:00 - 3:15 p.m.      Planting the Seeds Collaboration and Meaningful

    Ways to Partner & Share Content

Panelists: Dave Rosenthal, Managing Editor (Denver) of the Mountain West News Bureau, and Amy Linn, New Mexico Searchlight.

2:00 - 3:15 p.m.       Story-led Models for Collaboration

Presenter: Colleen Thurston, Documentary Storyteller, Producer, and Project Coordinator for Native Lens, Crystal Ashike, Native Lens.

3:15 - 3:30 p.m.       Break

3:30 - 4:45 p.m.      Video Killed the Radio Star. JK-

    They're Good Friends!

Presenters: Darren Brown, Senior Content Producer for Cheyenne and Arapaho Television; and Frank Blanquet, Producer/Director of First Nations Experience (FNX).

3:30 - 4:45 p.m.      The Warrior Radio Show

                                       Presenter: John BraveBull, KLND Station Manager

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Wednesday Evening - Cultural Night

5:30 - 6:00 p.m.      Arrival - Ellis Room

6:00 - 6:30 p.m.      Welcome Remarks | Gerad Godfrey, Board Treasurer

6:30 - 7:00 p.m.      Dinner (provided)

7:00 - 8:30 p.m.      Talent Show & Entertainment | DJ Sixkiller

8:30 - 9:00 p.m.      Closing Announcements

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Thursday, May 4

8:00 - 9:00 a.m.       Breakfast (provided) - Ellis Room

9:00 - 9:15 a.m.       Welcome Remarks | Gabriel Otero, Station Advisory                                            Committee Chair, KPYT

9:15 - 9:45 a.m.       Keynote Speaker

LA Williams, Radio Program Manager at Diné College's KXWR. 

9:45 -10:00 a.m.      Break

10:00 - 11:30 a.m.   Community Service Grant (CSG) Clinic

Presenters: Jacquie Gales-Webb, Andrew Charnik, Ken Goulet, Imad Khalid, Sharon Simmons and Forrest Lillibridge, Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and Kyler Edsitty, Program Specialist, Native Public Media.

10:00 - 11:30 a.m.   Everything You Always Wanted to Know About

   the FCC

Brad Deutsch, Foster Garvey Law Firm 

11:30 - 12:30 a.m.   Closing & Prayer

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Keynote Speaker

Denise Bambi Kraus is the FCC Chief for the Office of Native Affairs and Policy under the Biden Administration. The Office of Native Affairs and Policy assists the Commission in developing policies and programs to address communications services on Tribal lands nationwide. ONAP also plans and leads the Commission’s outreach to Tribal governments and organizations to increase their awareness and participation in Commission initiatives and proceedings. Kraus oversees the work of the Native Nations Communications Task Force.

Keynote Speaker

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LA Williams was recently inducted into the Media Category of the 2023 North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame.

LA Williams is a longtime Diné broadcaster, sports announcer, commentator, and public speaker from the Navajo Nation. She has worked as a sports radio broadcaster for nearly 30 years, bringing sports events to the Navajo people through the radio airwaves.

She started her broadcasting career while attending Fort Lewis College in the early '90s before becoming the sports voice of the Navajo Nation as the sports director at KTNN. While at KTNN, she attended many sporting events, commenting and announcing in the Navajo language. During the 1993-1994 NBA season, she signed a contract with the Phoenix Suns and worked closely with Al McCoy. She broadcasted the Phoenix Suns game play-by-play entirely in Navajo. Williams also regularly broadcasts in Navajo at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and has broadcasted several NFL games in Diné. She was dubbed the "The Voice of Navajo Sports" with KTNN.

During the 2021-2022 NBA season, Williams returned to Phoenix and provided play-by-play during the NBA Playoffs. Williams is now the program manager at Dine College's KXWR station. She trains Navajo students to become the next generation of Navajo radio broadcasters in hopes of continuing the Dine language.

Cultural Night Presents
DJ Sixkiller

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DJ Sixkiller, aka Mike Sixkiller, has been DJ’ing professionally for 20+ years. What started as a hobby in high school, using an old Radio Shack mixer and two home-stereo speakers, has grown into a full-scale professional production that has taken Sixkiller to all corners of the Southwest.

From DJ’ing high school dances and family parties to some of the biggest events in the 4-corners area, including the annual Gathering of Nations afterparty, Twin Arrows Casino’s New Year’s Eve Celebration, Northern Arizona University, and Phoenix Suns events, and so much more, DJ Sixkiller has been rockin’ crowds for decades!


With a true versatile style, DJ Sixkiller can rock a 70’s and 80’s party one-night, college nightclub the next, and a casino or wedding the next. DJ Sixkiller has DJ’d on the radio, live on Pay Per View, and had the honor of rocking legendary venues such as Celebrity Theater, the Orpheum Theater, NAU Skydome, and the Arizona Cardinals lawn to name a few. With DJ skills matched only by his bubbly personality and off-the-wall emcee style, DJ Sixkiller is sure to rock any crowd. 

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