MMI Key Staff

Deborah Painte (Arikara).  is the project director for MMI. Ms. Painte is the former Director of the Sacred Child Project, a graduated (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health system of care (SOC) site.  Deborah has nine years of direct experience developing tribal SOC communities in partnership with the tribes of North Dakota, developing "Wraparound in Indian Country" in partnership with the NATI, SOC financing, and general SOC development. Previously she served as the Executive Director of the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission under two gubernatorial administrations and has extensive experience in policy development, intergovernmental relations, capacity building, state legislative affairs and community/program development.

Joe Walker (Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma) is the evaluator for the Medicine Moon Initiative. Mr. Walker was a Research Associate ORC Macro where he provided technical assistance and training around issues related to implementation of a complex, multi-site evaluation. Mr. Walker prepared literature reviews, site visits, in-depth interviews, focus groups, survey design and administration, data analysis, and report writing for both technical and non-technical audiences. He was also the Development Specialist and Evaluator for the Sacred Child Project described above. Joe has a Masters in Management from the University of Mary and has extensive experience in code development, computer management information systems, and child protection investigation.