Board of Directors
Jennifer ”Jamie” Folsom, M.S. – President
Jennifer “Jamie” Folsom, M.S., is an educator and researcher who has devoted her professional life to cross-cultural education, public health, and journalism, particularly working with individuals and organizations in Indigenous communities. She is on faculty at Colorado State University, Department of Journalism & Media Communication, where she teaches international mass communication, strategic communication, and science & environmental communication. Folsom is on faculty for the CSU Native Education Forum for incoming Indigenous freshmen and rising seniors and teaches introductory Indigenous studies through the Department of Ethnic Studies. She is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and a member of the Native American Journalists Association, Society of Professional Journalists, the Indigenous Inquiries Circle, CSU Center for Science Communication, and CSU Native American Advisory Council.
Folsom comes to the IMFA board of directors with a deep commitment to ethical journalism that strengthens tribal communities and sovereignty.
Ruth Buffalo – Vice President
Ruth Buffalo is a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. She is originally from Mandaree. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Si Tanka University and two master’s degrees from the University of Mary: one in management, another in business administration, and a master of public health from North Dakota State University. Fargo Native American Commission (2017) and is currently on the Board of the National Native Boarding School Healing Coalition. She was recognized by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development as a leader, “40 under 40” in 2017. Ruth has served in various capacities focused on building healthy and safe communities. She was elected into the North Dakota House of Representatives in 2018 and proudly serves the people of District 27 in south Fargo. Ruth is the first Native American Democratic woman elected to the North Dakota Legislature.
Tim Harjo – Treasurer
Tim Harjo has a distinguished career in public service work. Before coming to KNMQ/KYNM Television, Tim served at Central New Mexico Community College as the Director of the Small Business Development Center where he worked with small businesses throughout central New Mexico.
Prior to working at CNM, Tim served as the Chairman of Prairie Band LLC, a tribally-owned economic development company of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. Tim also taught for several years as an Adjunct Professor in the Marketing Department of the College of Business and Economics, California State University, Northridge.
Tim has served on various government and non-profit boards, commissions, and working groups dealing with American Indian and Alaska Native economic development, education, and healthcare issues. One of which is the National Race and Ethnicity Advisory Committee for the US Census Bureau, Department of Commerce from 2012 to 2016. He earned a B.S. degree in Management from Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, a Juris Doctorate from Arizona State University, a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge.
Paula Peters
Paula Peters is a politically, socially and culturally active citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. For more than a decade she worked as a journalist for the Cape Cod Times and is now co-owner of SmokeSygnals, a Native owned and operated creative production agency. As an independent scholar and writer of Native, and particularly Wampanoag history, she produced the traveling exhibit “Our”Story: 400 Years of Wampanoag History and The Wampum Belt Project documenting the art and tradition of wampum in the contemporary Wampanoag community. Paula is the executive producer of the 2016 documentary film Mashpee Nine and author of the companion book, a story of law enforcement abuse of power and cultural justice in the Wampanoag community in 1976. Paula lives with her husband and children in Mashpee, Massachusetts.
Montoya Whiteman – Managing Director of Editorial and Special Projects
Growing up in a family of leaders, teachers, and artists, Montoya was taught to use her voice to help others. Working at AISES – the American Indian
Science and Engineering Society – is one way for her to bring awareness to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) as life changing
opportunities for Indigenous people and their communities. She has learned that that when we stand together, advocating for one another, incredible things can happen.
When Montoya joined AISES in 2017, she was the Director of Communications and is currently the Managing Director of Editorial and Special Projects. Montoya leads multifaceted marketing operations for broad impact in STEM education and workforce development that aligns with the AISES mission and its goals.
One of the greatest rewards for Montoya is working with a dynamic creative team to produce the Winds of Change magazine – an acclaimed print and digital magazine with awards from National Native Media. Winds of Change is an impeccable publication for AISES members and is a channel for partners and organizations to engage with Indigenous STEM talent.
Montoya enjoys working with organizations to push them to excel in their work. Her perspective has earned her opportunities to work with the Denver Art Museum as a member of the Indigenous Community Advisory Council and the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance as a board member.
A proud graduate of Regis University, Montoya received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.
Montoya is an award-winning photojournalist. Her stories and images have appeared in print and video materials by local and national nonprofits, museums, television, and print and online media. This includes Winds of Change magazine, DiversityComm, Keep It Colorado, Friends of the Front Range, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Tribune, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear – Executive Director
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear now serves as the director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck and the Fort Berthold Reservation. The IMFA publishes news online at Buffalosfire.com The project assists the public in making informed news choices within a free and responsible press. Prior to founding the IMFA, Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press.
She has won journalism awards from military, mainstream, university, and Native press organizations. Some of those awards include: a Silver Telly Award for video; Paul Savanuck Military Print Journalist of the Year; Society of Professional Journalists Pacific Northwest for education reporting; the Thomas C. Sorensen Award for Distinguished Nebraska Journalism; Columbia University’s “Let’s Do It Better” for a portfolio of work and column writing; and the Native American Journalists Association for column writing.
Jodi holds the distinction of receiving both Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships from Harvard and Stanford universities, respectively.
She also was named a 2020 Knight Science Journalism fellow at MIT. She also received a Bush Fellowship in 2021 in recognition of her leadership and for her vision and commitment to helping independent media better serve Indigenous communities.
Jodi’s writing is featured in, “The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity,” published by Columbia University Press. In 2023, Jodi was selected to serve as a national board member of the Society of Professional Journalists, an organization that represents about 6,000 journalists. She is also an SPJ Foundation board member and now serves as chairperson of SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee. Prior to returning home to North Dakota, Jodi reported on Native issues for Lee Enterprises for more than a decade. Her last reporting post was with the Missoulian in Missoula, Mont.