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Clinton Waara
Clinton is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe,
and received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from South
Dakota State University in 1993. Clint began his career with Sigma
Alpha Epsilon Fraternity as a National Education and Leadership
Consultant from 1993 to 1995. From 1995-1999 Clint was an account
analyst for Wells Fargo Financial Bank in Sioux Falls. In 1999
Clint taught at Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls where he instituted
the Academy of Finance model of instruction and coached
track. Clint joined the University of South Dakota (USD) School of
Business staff in 2001 where he ran the USD and Sitting Bull College
Entrepreneurship Partnership. In 2003, Mr. Waara became the
Community Development Officer and Assistant Vice President for
Wells Fargo Bank. Clint resides in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with
his wife, Billie Jo, and two children, Mya and Jett.
Kristi Wagner
Kristi Wagner is the Owner of the Rushmore Center for Civic
Leadership, LLC. Her consulting business provides communities,
corporations, businesses, organization and nonprofits assistance
in organizational and business development. Wagner provides
her clients community coaching and process designing; nonprofit
management and capital campaign fundraising; strategic planning; facilitation;
organization and workplace teambuilding; community and
healthcare needs assessment and planning; and leadership training
and educational workplace seminars. In the early 1990’s, Kristi was
instrumental in establishing the International Business Department
at Northern State University. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree
from the University of South Dakota in Business Management /
Marketing and Public Relations. Currently, she serves as a member
of the School of Business Advisory Board – Black Hills State University,
Board of Directors to the Northern Hills Junior Achievement
Board of Directors, University of South Dakota Chiesman
Endowment for Civic Education, University of South Dakota Farber
Center and the Black Hills Business Council.
David White Bull
As the Asset Development Manager at Lakota Funds, David White
Bull has been instrumental in keeping the delinquency under 1% and
continuing to lead the loan department in reaching their annual goals
that include assisting aspiring Oglala Lakota entrepreneurs with cash
flows, business plans, and loan applications. He also helps guide the
Individual Development Accounts (IDA) program where Lakota
Funds provides $2 for every $1 the qualified individual saves. Lastly,
David also actively helps Lakota artists work towards entrepreneurship
by assisting with marketing and promoting their work. David
graduated from Oglala Lakota College in 2008 where he received his
Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. David is also a certified Economic
Development Finance Professional and a certified Volunteer Income
Tax Assistance (VITA) preparer. He has a strong desire to teach and
is certified in Core Four Business Planning, Building Native Communities,
and Pathways Home curricula. Mr. White Bull is the Co-Chair for the
South Dakota Indian Business Alliance.
Tonia Young
Tonia Young, Business Success Coach at Lakota Funds, received
certification as an Economic Development Finance Professional
from the National Development Council in April of 2008. She has
also completed the following training and/or certification programs:
Rural Community Innovation Small Business Success Coaching
and Customer Service Training, First Nations Development
Institute Building Native Communities: Saving for the Future and
Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families, NeighborWorks
Institute’s Pathways to Homeownership, and Assets for
Independence University’s Money Smart and Training Techniques.
Ms. Young is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and
currently resides on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with her two
children. In the spring of 2010, she completed a minor in Accounting
from Oglala Lakota College and will be pursuing a major in Business
Administration with a specialization in Tribal Management.
Tracey Zephier
Tracey Zephier (Cheyenne River Sioux) joined Fredericks, Peebles, &
Morgan in 2008 and became partner in 2010. She practices in the areas
of Tribal/State relations; tribal legal and physical infrastructure;
and tribal financial and real estate transactions. Ms. Zephier has been
part of Indian law-related business and real estate transactions and
the South Dakota Equal Justice Commission, which was created by
the South Dakota Supreme Court to identify and devise remedies for
the disparate treatment of minorities in the South Dakota Unified
Judicial System.
Ms. Zephier has done extensive legal work for the Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe and other tribes in the Northern Plains region. She
served as the President and CEO of First Nations Oweesta Corporation
in Rapid City, South Dakota, developing community development
financial institutions (CDFIs), tribal enterprises, and tribal citizen
entrepreneurship systems in Native communities throughout the
United States. Ms. Zephier is the President of Wind Energy Tribes
United (WETU), an inter-tribal organization whose purpose is to
inform, advise, represent, and, advocate on behalf of its member
tribes on issues related to commercial wind production and transmission.
Tracey works closely with her own tribe on its commercial
wind energy development project, serving as the tribally-owned
energy corporation’s Vice President. She also has experience as an
auditor for the South Dakota Department of Labor and as a banker
for Norwest (now Wells Fargo). She received her Juris Doctorate
from Yale and also holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
and Accounting.
Tom Zohner
Tom Zohner is a retired Air Force Veteran who has spent the last
twelve years working with Job Corps. Tom started out as the welding
instructor at Box Elder Job Corps, and after six years there, moved
on to become a Job Corps Admissions Counselor for a private
contractor. Tom travels all over western South Dakota performing
outreach activities to inform people about the advantages of
Job Corps. Tom speaks at schools, Native American groups, church
groups, women’s organizations, civic organizations, groups large and
small, basically anyone who will listen, about the Job Corps program
and the importance of Career and Technical Education. In his spare
time Tom travels by motorcycle with his wife, Julie, to visit grandkids
and sample wines in Colorado.
18 2013 SOUTH DAKOTA INDIAN BUSINESS CONFERENCE