UPDATE ON UDALL FOUNDATION ALUMS

Udall Foundation alumni span the country and are making positive impacts on the world. We are very proud of our alums and are excited to share some of their success stories below.

• Diana Webster was a 2007 Native American Congressional Intern in the legal department at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. After her Udall internship, she began her legal career at a civil litigation law firm as an associate attorney. She then worked at the Tribal Law and Policy Institute where she helped design and deliver education, research, training, and technical assistance programs that promote the improvement of justice in Indian Country and the health, well-being and culture of Native peoples (www.tlpi.org) for tribes throughout the United States. Recently, Webster accepted a position at the UCLA American Indian Studies Center (www.aisc.ucla.edu) as a Senior Research Analyst. Her duties at the Center also include community outreach, fundraising, and grant writing. She credits the Udall Program with providing her with a solid network of support, saying "My experience as a Udall Intern continues to open up new and exciting career opportunities for me where I can use my training and skills to help Native people." In 2010, Webster was also appointed to the Los Angeles County Bar Association Diversity in the Profession Committee where she works to facilitate full and equal participation in the legal profession by members of the community who historically have been underrepresented, such as Native Americans. Webster is an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe of Northern Minnesota. She grew up in Minnesota and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. She received her B.A. from Webster University in business management and a J.D. from Southwestern School of Law.
  
  
• Mellor Willie was a 1997 Udall Foundation Scholar and 1998 Native American Congressional Intern in the office of Congressman Jim Kolbe of Arizona. Willie is now the Executive Director of the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC). He directs the non-profit organization's operations and programming, and he publicly promotes and advances the American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian housing policy agenda in Washington, D.C., and abroad. He says that the most rewarding part of the job is "being an advocate and voice for Native people on advancing housing opportunities in their community." Willie is a member of the Navajo Nation, born and raised in Window Rock, Arizona. He was born into the Yei Dine' Tachii'nii clan and born for the Tsenahabilnii clan. He received his bachelor's degree in political science from Southern Utah University. In May 2009, he became the first American Indian to graduate from George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management.
  
  
• Two alumni of the Udall Foundation's Native American Congressional Internship Program were recognized by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development at its 36th Annual Indian Progress in Business Awards Event on Thursday, September 8. The Native American 40 Under 40 recognizes young Indians who have "demonstrated leadership, initiative and dedication to achieve impressive and significant contributions in their businesses, communities and to Indian country." The alumni honorees are:
  
  Traci L. McClellan-Sorell (Cherokee Nation)
  President, McClellan-Sorell Consulting, Inc.
  Rio Rancho, New Mexico
  1996 Native American Congressional Intern
  
  Bryan Newland (Bay Mills Tribe of Chippewa Indians)
  Counselor to the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs
  Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of Interior
  Springfield, Virginia
  2002 Native American Congressional Intern.

Congratulations to Traci and Bryan!