Joan Timeche

Joan Timeche is the Executive Director of the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy (NNI) at The University of Arizona. For the eight years prior to joining the NNI staff in January 2001, Timeche served as Program Director of Northern Arizona University's Center for American Indian Economic Development (CAIED) where she provided business and economic development services and education to tribes located in Arizona. She was a founding member of the Arizona American Indian Tourism Association (AAITA) where she currently serves as board member, the Arizona Native American Economic Coalition where she also served as Executive Director and the American Indian/Alaska Native Tourism Association where she served as its first president. She currently serves as board member on the Economic Development Authority of the Tohono O'odham Nation, the Hopi Tribe Economic Development Corporation (currently Board Chair), and the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. Ms. Timeche authored Doing Business on Arizona Indian Lands; founded the Native American Youth Entrepreneur Camp to introduce entrepreneurship to Native youth, which received the RES 2006 Native American Youth Entrepreneurship of the Year Award; directs NNI's Native American Youth Governance Camp; and is a regular speaker at both regional and national conferences on topics related to Indian economic development and tourism. A citizen of the Hopi Tribe from the village of Old Oraibi, she received a B.S. in social work and an M.B.A. from Northern Arizona University.