This is the second of a five-part series. Part one is here.
Lina Martin
Lina Martin is an AUNTIE (Advocate for Uplifting Native Traditions and Indigenous Engagement) at the Native American Center for Health Professions at the University of Wisconsin, where she’s worked for 10 years. She is also Native American Outreach Liaison for the UW–Madison Precollege Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE) Program. She has previously served as a student support facilitator at Madison College and tutor coordinator for the Madison Metropolitan School District. She graduated from the UW-Madison in 2005 with a degree in history, women’s studies and American Indian studies.
Daniel Wiggins, Jr.
Daniel Wiggins, Jr currently sits on the Bad River Tribal Council, along with being employed as the Mashkiiziibii (Bad River) Natural Resource Department’s Air Quality Technician (AQT) and executive director of the Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association (MTERA). He has worked for the Bad River Tribe for over 10 years as the AQT and has overseen the Tribe’s energy activities since 2017. In 2021 he also completed the task as Project Lead for the Ishkonige Nawadide Solar Microgrid Project, which installed over 500 kilowatts of solar and 1,000 kilowatt hours of batteries at three tribal facilities.
Gabriel Saiz
Gabriel Saiz is a sustainability program coordinator in the mayor’s office for the City of Madison, a role he took on in August 2023 after nearly two years as a volunteer program specialist at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. While a student at Stanford University, he co-chaired the Stanford American Indian Organization, worked with Students for the Liberation of All People, and was the co-president of the Students of Color Coalition. He earned a bachelor’s degree in earth systems in 2020 and a master’s in earth systems with a concentration in Indigenous community sustainability in 2021.
Cheryl Cloud
Cheryl Cloud is CEO of the Wisconsin Native Loan Fund, a role she was appointed to in January 2023. Prior to being appointed CEO, Ms. Cloud has been serving on the WINLF’s Board of Directors for over six years. She spent more than 15 years working for the federal government the Indian Housing and Tribal Transportation areas, most recently as Administrator Advisor for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Eastern Woodlands Office of Native American Programs. She has served as a Housing Director, Tribal Operations Manager, a Small Business Development and Technical Assistance Specialist and on her Tribal Business Development Corporation Board. She’s also an entrepreneur and has owned a construction company with her husband for nine years. She earned a bachelor of science degree in Business, Management and Leadership from Northland College and is an enrolled Bad River Tribal Member.
Mattea Twinn
Mattea Twinn is grants manager for the Ho-Chunk Nation, where she provides leadership on the implementation and management of grants focusing on the integration of Indigenous arts and sciences. She took on that role in 2024 after two years serving the Democratic Party of Wisconsin as Native American Coalitions Manager. She earned a bachelor of business administration degree from UW-Stevens Point.
Part 3 coming tomorrow!
