THE Academy NEW

Trainer Bios:

 

Cielo I. Gibson, Academy Co-Facilitator and Project Coach

Ms. Gibson is a private consultant with extensive experience in group facilitation, training, and comprehensive planning. 

She has been a consultant to and an employee of numerous HUD and BIA supported organizations including more than 15 years as an IHA/TDHE executive director.  Her work as a TDHE director prior to and during implementation of NAHASDA uniquely qualifies her as an Indian housing expert. During the last 10 years she has consulted with tribes to design housing programs and fund Indian housing projects with the IHBG. Previously she was a HUD community and housing development planner and a planning and economic development director in a Tribal environment. She has conducted evaluations and directed the development and implementation of policies and procedures for housing entities and tribal councils. Additionally, she has designed numerous courses and training materials, including PATHWAYS HOME, for workshops, national conferences and classes. Ms. Gibson holds a bachelor’s degree in arts from Manhattanville College and has undertaken graduate studies at the University of Miami; and at University of West Florida.

 

 

Bill Nibbelink, Academy Project Coach
Bill Nibbelink is the sole owner of Bill Nibbelink & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in the area of Indian housing management. Nibbelink has been actively involved in Indian Housing Management since 1980. He served as the Executive Director of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Housing Authority in Flandreau, SD for 15 years and currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Commissioner. Before becoming involved with Indian Housing, Nibbelink worked as a Service Representative for Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota. He provides on-site technical assistance and training for tribes and tribal housing authorities throughout the country regarding the implementation of the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA) and the Uniform Administrative Guidance (2 CFR 200). He develops training courses and is a trainer for several firms and organizations related to Indian housing. Working with tribal housing authority staff and their respecive governing bodies in the development of policies and procedures in compliance with NAHASDA is another one of Nibbelink’s specialties.  

 

 

Eileen Piekarz, Academy Co-Facilitator and Project Coach

Ms. Piekarz has more than 20 years of experience providing technical assistance and training to affordable housing developers, which resulted in completion of more than 1,700 units of affordable housing. Prior to joining RCAC, she was the development consultant with Affordable Housing Resource Council in Reno, Nevada for seven years. She is proficient with a variety of state, federal and private financing sources, and structuring complex financial packages. A skilled trainer, Ms. Piekarz conducts workshops on topics including affordable housing development, project financing and the HOME program. Recent work includes training at the Nevada Tribal Housing Training Institute sponsored by USDA Rural Development Nevada office and providing HUD ONAP-funded technical assistance to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Ms. Piekarz is a HUD Certified HOME Specialist – Regulations. She holds a bachelor’s of science degree from University of Nevada Reno.

 

Erika Holzhauer, Academy Co-Facilitator and Project Coach

Ms. Holzhauer has more than 10 years of experience in the affordable housing industry, its financing and interpretation of housing regulations.  Ms. Holzhauer joined RCAC in 2012. As a rural development specialist II – housing. Ms. Holzhauer works with communities and agencies to plan, finance, construct, manage, and operate affordable housing in rural communities. She provides bilingual technical assistance and training expertise in capacity building, access to resources, advocacy, economic development and community leadership. Ms. Holzhauer is experienced in nonprofit management, asset management, organizational development, land development and construction management. She provides technical assistance and compliance reviews in the western Pacific and has assisted in the construction of over 100 homes in the Marshall Islands and 11 homes in Guam.  In addition, she facilitates the Tribal Housing Excellence Academy (THE Academy), working with tribal organizations in the Western US to increase the quality, quantity and types of housing on tribal lands.

 

Carmen Gonzalez, Environmental Rural Development Specialist, RCAC

Carmen Gonzales is a water specialist and permaculture designer living in Las Vegas, NV. Carmen has been working in the environmental field for two decades and has been dedicated to watershed protection and education. She joined RCAC last year to work as a technical assistance provider for water-related projects. Her work has focused on helping tribes protect water, land, and the people through balancing good science, traditional ecological knowledge, personal healing, and cultural evolution. As a water quality scientist, she has been working to shift the community consciousness about the critical importance of watershed protection during these critical times. As a Permaculture Designer, she focuses on raising awareness about the power of working in collaboration with the cycles of nature, rather than against them. She is driven by the vision of supporting the word of revitalizing Native communities through building relationships that nourish the land, water, and life.

 

Savanna Bales, Manager Grants & Contracts, RCAC

Savanna Bales has been with RCAC for almost 12 years, all of which in the Grants and Contracts unit where she is currently Manager. She has also worked in childcare, staff development and office coordination. She lives with her honey, their fifth grader and two small dogs in the town of Pittsburg, California; she is descended primarily from Irish, English and Danish immigrants. She has a degree in literature from UC Santa Cruz but spends her days deeply involved in Excel and databases.

 

Heather Cannon, Environmental Rural Development Specialist,

Heather Cannon, from Kodiak, Alaska, is a Rural Development Specialist with Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) in Spokane, Washington.  Ms. Cannon works in Alaska, Washington, California and Idaho providing water and wastewater technical assistance to small rural communities.  Ms. Cannon has a BA in Urban and Regional Planning from Eastern Washington University and has worked in planning, public works, and public administration for over 20 years.  She has conducted numerous trainings and workshops on topics including water system planning, source water protection, asset management, emergency response planning and financial capacity building for utilities. Ms. Cannon has presented at IACC, AWWA and WOW conferences and has facilitated public hearings and board training sessions for local governments.

 

Teresa Bardwell, Housing Counseling Program Manager, RCAC

Ms. Bardwell provides training and technical assistance, and program oversight and compliance for HUD counseling programs as a HUD Intermediary.  As Program Manager for the housing counseling team, she manages and provides technical assistance and oversight for 18 HUD housing counseling agencies and is a HUD training partner for housing counseling courses nationwide. She is very active in advocacy and serves on the Advisory Board for National Housing Resource Center (NHRC), which provides advocacy for housing counseling.

She provides strategic planning and capacity building assistance to Indian Housing Authorities, Tribally Designated Housing Entities, self-help housing agencies, and community housing development organizations. She assisted several tribes in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Wyoming with leadership training, strategic planning, board training for the tribal housing agency, and provided technical assistance for development projects. 

 

Brian Mann, Training & Technical Assistance Program Coordinator, NAIHC

Brian Mann is the Training & Technical Assistance Program Coordinator for the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) in Washington, DC. Mr. Mann was born and raised on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Central Wyoming and is an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe in Fort Washakie, Wyoming. He is the former Deputy Executive Director of the Eastern Shoshone Housing Authority (ESHA) and has nearly ten years’ experience working within the tribal housing industry.  At NAIHC, Brian is responsible for the coordination of the Leadership Institute and its affiliated online training program, eLearning. He also assists in the development of trainings and technical assistance assigned to NAIHC from its various federal and private partners. In addition to the coordination of training events, Mr. Mann also provides training in the areas of NAHASDA, Housing Services and Procurement practices. 

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Credit Hours