Our Story

Vickie is a founding partner with Seven Sisters Community Development Group, LLC, a national community development consulting firm, the Principal of Kitseallyboy Consulting, LLC, and founder of Real Native Roots: Untold Stories Podcast.

Vickie specializes in culturally relevant approaches to organizational development. She has over 27 years of expertise in strategic planning, board development, leadership training, team building, asset building, and executive coaching to Native and rural communities. She is recognized nationally as a skilled facilitator, trainer, and speaker. Vickie is a certified coach, trainer, and facilitator for Emergent Learning, Leadership that Works, Complexity Inside and Out, Institute of Cultural Affairs’ ToP Strategic Planning and Workshop Methods, True Colors, OMT Facilitator, Nonprofit Management, and the Grove Team Performance Model.

For over five years, Vickie has been a dedicated Capacity Coach in the LeaderPower Collaborative. Working with various foundations, she partners with grantees focused on environmental issues, gender + reproduction equity, Indigenous communities, and services focused on housing, community, and economic development. In her role as a Capacity Coach, she provides unwavering support to leaders, helping them embrace their strengths and align their visions.

Vickie holds a Master’s in Social Work with a concentration in Community Planning and Administration from New Mexico Highlands University and a Bachelor’s in Social Work from Arizona State University. As an enrolled member of the Navajo tribe, and with her clans being Black Streak of the Forest, Vickie brings a unique perspective to her work.

Vickie is a podcaster, rock collector, novice photographer, and music fanatic, always experimenting in the kitchen and often on a motorcycle for the next adventure.

Barbara has more than 30 years of experience working for city and tribal government, nonprofit agencies, universities and private enterprise. Mainly, Barbara’s passion and work has been helping individuals with asset building and capacity building strategies. She enjoys working with communities near and far on community development endeavors.

Barbara has worked in the trenches and can relate to the multidimensional demands that organizations face. She enjoys working with communities to explore ways to create strategic direction and sustainable approaches.

Barbara holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Hawaii and a Bachelor of Science in Business: Managerial Leadership from Northwest Christian College in collaboration with the University of Oregon. Barbara holds numerous certifications and program awards throughout her Career.

Barbara and her spouse own and manage a fruit orchard, a flower farm and they have two dogs and one cat. She is the Chairperson for a local community foundation board that holds over $85 million in assets and is actively involved in a $40million endowment campaign. Barbara is the Chairperson for the foundation’s Grant Review Committee and plays an active role in giving back to her community.

Barbara is a self-taught florist, photographer, dabbles in art, and enjoys walks with her dogs. She enjoys staying rooted at home and stretching herself to learn about new business ideas or investment opportunities.

Leslie has 30 years of experience in community economic development. She has worked as the director of a small nonprofit housing development organization, a trainer, a technical assistance provider, a grant writer, and a reviewer on a federal grant review panel. Leslie began working in community development as a law student, assisting nonprofit organizations in Detroit focusing on affordable housing, income-generating strategies, and neighborhood revitalization. She then worked on the U.S./Mexico border for five years with Proyecto Azteca, a self-help housing program focused on improving living conditions in colonias along the border. Leslie then worked with the U.S. Department of HUD to take the self-help housing model to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where she assisted the Oglala Sioux Tribe Partnership for Housing in developing their new self-help initiative.

For the past 25 years, Leslie has focused much of her work on asset building in Native communities, concentrating on Native homeownership, CDFI development and the creation and implementation of Individual Development Account (IDA) programs. She has also worked as a coach for Youthbuild programs around the country, assisting programs in New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Kentucky, and North Dakota. Over the past ten years, she has worked to support Native homeownership coalitions in South Dakota, Montana, and Wisconsin.

Leslie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from Dartmouth College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School. She is fluent in Spanish and Hebrew and has conversational knowledge of French and Arabic.

Noorie Brantmeier, MSW, Ph.D, specializes in culturally-matched, holistic, community development approaches. For over 20 years, she has supported organizational capacity building in Native organizations through teambuilding, training, collaborating to implement community-led research and evaluation efforts and strategic planning. Formerly, she was a tenured associate professor, researcher, and Graduate Program Director at James Madison University, where she taught courses in Research Methodology, Diversity and Ethics, Native American Studies, Visual Literacy, and Program Development. As a trainer and facilitator, she has worked with curriculum development and training initiatives funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund, NeighborWorks® America, and the National American Indian Housing Council.

For the last seven years, Noorie has focused on strengthening Tribal public health department capacity. She plans and co-develops internal organization assessments and tribe-wide assessments, including Tribal Community Health Assessments (TCHA) and Tribal Community Health Improvement Plans (TCHIP). She coordinates Indigenous, community-led research and evaluation efforts, helps navigate Tribal Research Review Board processes, currently supports Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) document submission, and conducts staff training. Noorie also works closely with tribal public health departments to develop culturally grounded public health messages to enhance community health and wellness.

Noorie received her Ph.D in Education and Human Resource Studies with a specialization in Research Methodology from Colorado State University. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied as a Buder Scholar in American Indian Studies and currently holds affiliate faculty status. Noorie resides in Harrisonburg, VA, with her husband and three boys. She is a descendant of the Arapaho and Saponi tribes. She serves on the Four Bands Community Fund Board of Directors on the Cheyenne River Reservation, SD.

Noorie is a self-proclaimed global nomad with a suitcase that is always half packed and a passport that is always ready. When she’s not traveling, she dabbles in graphic design, photography, and earring making. She’s also a soccer/golf Mom and a voracious reader.