Advisory Government/Membership Services

Jon B. James

Chief Information Officer
Cherokee Nation

Jon has worked in the IT department for most of his 25+ years with the Cherokee Nation. Jon served the last seven years as the CIO of Information Technology and as the Executive Director prior to that. His strengths include: IT security, networking, routing, Microsoft domain architecture, data infrastructure, and engineering, Cisco VoIP as well as database programming in various languages and applications.

Jon has a Computer Science Degree from Northeastern State University located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Having served in the United States Air Force, he got his first exposure to mainframe computers in 1984 and has been working with computers and computer systems ever since. He is Vice President of the Oklahoma Native American Technology Council, a member of InfraGard, MS-ISAC, Tulsa CIO Forum, and various other organizations.

The Cherokee Nation headquarters is located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The Tribal Jurisdictional area of the Cherokee Nation covers over 7,000 square miles and a total of 14 counties in northeast Oklahoma. The wide area network strategically covers this area with support from over 65 staff in the Information Technology team. These staff members support over 3700 employees with all of their data and telecommunications needs.

Sarah R. Adler

Business Solutions Supervisor
Forest County Potawatomi Community

I was born and raised in Crandon, WI, surrounded by family, sports and racing! Graduated from college in 2002 and moved to Chicago for one year before returning home. This is where I started working for a technology company and assigned my first document management project with Forest County Potawatomi. This started out as overseeing the project, became certified in the product and continued the implementation of the solution set. This transitioned into the application support role and gained knowledge and experience in processes and workflow within the government. From there I earned my way into the Business Solutions Supervisor and oversee the business process analysts, the service desk team and the new media services department.

Upon returning back home, I also met my husband, Nate, of 12 years and we have 3 children ages 22, 10 and 9. Our kids keep our lives very busy with school, basketball, wrestling, baseball, and softball. In our spare time, we enjoy the outdoors as much as we can with camping, fishing, waterskiing, downhill skiing, hunting and riding dirt bikes!

Christopher Abel

Director of IT
Citizen Potawatomi Nation

Christopher Abel serves as the IT Director for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation where he has worked for over thirteen years. His passion for family and history drove him to seek out a position at the tribe where he is also a tribal member in the IT department for CPN in 2005. Starting as a network technician, Christopher has diligently worked his way up to recently be named Director.

Christopher has a passion for network and server engineering and has demonstrated such over his thirteen years at CPN. Christopher took the opportunity to move into management at the earliest chance he could and served as the manager for help desk services, server administration services, and network engineering. In 2016, Christopher was named Assistant Director of IT and continued his goals to be named Director in 2018.

Christopher has a passion for learning and continuing education as well as a passion for fixing things. He graduated from St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee, OK in December of 2017 and plans to continue his education with working towards a Bachelor’s degree in Business or Management in the upcoming years.

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Christopher Orozco

Director of Team Member Relations
Win-River Resort & Casino

Christopher is the Director of Team Member Relations at Win-River Resort & Casino. He believes the fundamental purpose of HR is to improve the quality of life of every single person within an organization, both inside and outside the workplace. He’s passionate about purposeful leadership; listening to the needs of others, setting out to intentionally do good for others, and seeing the potential in someone to empower them to add something meaningful to our world. You can read more about Christopher’s thoughts on life and leadership by following along with him on Twitter.

CDR Brian Johnston, DPh., MHA

U.S. Public Health Service, Director of Ancillary Services
Chickasaw Nation Department of Health

I am a commissioned officer of the United States Public Health Service, my clinical training is in pharmacy and I have spent the past twenty years working in tribal health systems in Oklahoma. I have interest in the areas of clinical informatics, health leadership and public health. I am a proud citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and very much enjoy helping others.

Jimmy Williams

CIO/Executive Officer IT
Choctaw Nation

Jimmy Williams is the Executive Officer of IT for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He has over twenty years’ experience as a technology professional in various industries. Jimmy leads integrated IT functions supporting commerce/gaming, tribal government and health services. Jimmy holds a BS degree in CIS from SOSU and an MS degree in Management from ERAU. He is an Army veteran and a member of the Choctaw Nation.

Michael Serio

Director of IT
Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

Michael Serio has been working for the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians for 6 years. He specializes in networking, but takes special pride in a talent he likes to call the Swiss Army Knife of IT; doing everything from help desk requests to project management for large tribal wide technology initiatives.

Charles Scharnagle

CIO
The Mohegan Tribe

Charles Scharnagle is the CIO for the tribal government of the Mohegan Indians of Connecticut based in Uncasville, Ct., which serves the interests of tribal members throughout the U.S. Chuck has spent the past thirty years in the high-tech, manufacturing and government environments including the headquarters for Black & Decker, Fruit of the Loom, EMC, Pegasystems and International Power America. Chuck’s experience includes implementing disaster recovery systems, redesigning computer centers and managing international support organizations.

In Chuck’s current role, he helped to create the Judge Scoring System (patent pending) which is a new way for MMA and boxing officials to score fights. Chuck then led the team to create and patent an app which allows fight fans to score their favorite fighter.

Chuck currently serves as a member on several boards including TribalNet – the industry resource for technology professionals in the Native American industry, the MS-ISSAC – the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Centers and the CTC – the Connecticut Technology Council. Chuck holds a B.S. degree in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a Masters in Management from Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland.

Raul Mavis

IT Director
Pascua Yaqui Tribe

Raul has over thirty years technology and leadership experience in diverse industries, including U.S. Navy, global electronics distribution, manufacturing, retail, and most recently 16 years in local government technology leadership. He headed efforts in implementing diverse technologies supporting assorted disciplines within local government, such as public safety & emergency management, legal & judicial, public works & economic development, finance, and education.

As IT Director for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Raul leads a department of 25 supporting and providing technology services to over 1,000 government employees across multiple locations of the 23,000 tribal members. Technology services include helpdesk, project management, telecommunications, procurement, programming, and infrastructure/outside plant.

The Pascua Yaqui Tribe is progressive and forward looking: the first to develop a Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) compliant Enhanced Tribal Card, as well as implementation of a Personal Identity Verification-Interoperable (PIV-I) card, both in collaboration with DHS/FEMA.

Christopher Luter

CIO
Forest County Potawatomi Community

Christopher Luter, CIO, leads technology operations for the Government and Administration components of the Forest County Potawatomi Community. Christopher has a diverse back ground in both business and technology operations. His career leading technology operations has spanned numerous business verticals from government to construction and biotech to manufacturing. Christopher has lead teams which have received industry recognition for innovation, value creation through strategic application of technology and execution of leading edge thought of industry specific solutions.

Chris L. Baca

Director of IT
Santa Clara Development Corporation

Chris L. Baca has over 18 years of successful IT leadership experience. Chris gained this experience while managing IT operations for different agencies for the State of New Mexico. Baca is currently serving as the Director of Information Technology for the Santa Clara Development Corporation (SCDC). SCDC owns and operates the Santa Claran Resort, the Black Mesa Golf Club, the Puye Cliff Dwellings, the Santa Clara Travel Centers, and the Big Rock Bowling Center. Previously, as a member of the SCDC Board of Directors for 12 years, Baca was instrumental in the creation and upkeep of these businesses for the Pueblo. Baca currently is a member of the IPCC/IPMI Board of Directors, which is a five member board appointed by the 19 Pueblo Governors in the State of New Mexico. This board has oversight over the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque New Mexico and the recently developed Avanyu Plaza.

Chris has earned a BA degree from the University of New Mexico. Chris and his wife Janice have two children, Jenyce and Jareth who both attend college at Northern New Mexico College.

Linda M. Arredondo

Director of IT
Citizen Potawatomi Nation

Linda M. Arredondo serves as the Director of Information Technology for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Arredondo has more than 16 years of successful IT leadership in a variety of vertical industries, including government, finance and emergency management.

As the Director of Information Technology for Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Arredondo oversees the design and management of technology infrastructure for CPN’s executive, government and judicial branches. Additionally, she provides IT leadership for CPN’s enterprise, industrial and health care initiatives.

In 2017, Arredondo received a Bachelor of Science degree in business, summa cum laude, from St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

“My approach to education is rooted in the philosophy that lifelong learning is a valuable and meaningful endeavor,” Arredondo said. “As a female tribal member working in a STEM-oriented career, I hope that my continuous learning model sets a positive example for students across Indian Country.”

2020 TribalNet Advisory Boards

Christopher Abel

Jon B. James

Christopher Luter

Raul Mavis

Charles Scharnagle

Jimmy Williams

Our Info

Jon B. James

Sarah R. Adler

Christopher Abel

Christopher Orozco

CDR Brian Johnston, DPh., MHA

Jimmy Williams

Michael Serio

Charles Scharnagle

Raul Mavis

Christopher Luter

Chris L. Baca

Linda M. Arredondo