Leadership

Mr. Keefe (Nez Perce) is KAI’s chief executive officer and has more than 10 years of experience in strategic planning, operational improvement, project management, and business development. He has led numerous consulting engagements across areas such as public health, education, business and economic development in American Indian communities. Prior to joining KAI, Mr. Keefe advised executive leadership of private equity funds and large multinational companies. Mr. Keefe holds master’s degrees in economics from the University of San Francisco and in business administration and in international studies from The Wharton School & The Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Macridis serves as vice president for KAI’s research, evaluation, and planning service line. She is a social researcher with more than 15 years of experience and expertise in design, implementation, and evaluation of public health promotion research, programs and policies, using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies to understand complex social problems through a socio-ecological lens. She has served as a project manager for several KAI contracts, including managing KAI’s task order contracts with the Indian Health Service (IHS) to conduct a national evaluation of the IHS 4-in-1 program and to design and implement a national cross-site evaluation for the Community Opioid Intervention Pilot Projects (COIPP). She also oversees KAI’s Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP) contract to evaluate grantees for the Native Arts and Cultures program. She specializes in community and school health promotion programming and evaluation and brings experience across topics including population health and well-being, active living, and community-based participatory research.

Dr. Macridis is skilled in project management, with a track record of managing projects ranging in scale from local to national. She offers skills in knowledge translation and synthesizing evidence to share with a variety of audiences, with an exceptional ability to develop technical reports, peer-reviewed publications, oral presentations, fact sheets, and infographics. She has had several grant applications funded, on topics including increasing physical activity and active living, active modes of transportation, and Indigenous community mobilization training for diabetes prevention. She has held teaching assistantships at McGill University (where she taught about participatory research in health) and at Queen’s University (where she taught about basic human nutrition, program design and implementation, and the study of alcohol and drug problems). Dr. Macridis holds her doctorate of philosophy in health promotion from McGill University, as well as her masters of science in health promotion and her bachelor’s in health studies from Queen’s University.

Ms. Echo-Hawk (Pawnee Nation) has more than 35 years of senior-level experience in supporting all aspects of system and service transformation to improve services and operations for vulnerable youth and family populations. She serves as a subject matter expert (SME) for KAI’s training and technical assistance (TTA) and research and evaluation (R&E) Teams. She is a former tribal and mainstream behavioral health (BH) director with experience in the administration and development of licensed and accredited mental health and substance abuse treatment services and was responsible for overseeing child and family BH services in coordination with primary health care, child psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical staff, and paraprofessional supports.

Her national leadership experience includes the integration of evidence-based practices and practice-based evidence in cross-cultural organizations and communities. Her knowledge of complex trauma, cultural influences, assessment tools for trauma and suicide risk, and best practice treatment approaches are key to her national BH leadership. Ms. Echo-Hawk commands strong planning, facilitation, and technical assistance skills with an emphasis on cross-cultural competency and knowledge, social return on investment, and human asset building.

Ms. Echo-Hawk also serves as the tribal behavioral health SME with the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry; lead cultural competence SME for the Opioid Response Network (ORN), serving as the national co-chair of the ORN AI/AN Workgroup; and tribal behavioral health SME for the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Network and C4 Innovations. Ms. Echo-Hawk received her master of science degree in organizational behavior from the California School of Professional Psychology.

Dr. Janet Gordon has more than 35 years of experience with research and evaluation of programs across multiple disciplines and social sciences including education, health, workforce development and computer science. She uses a participatory approach and works closely with many diverse communities building capacity.

Janet directs the conceptualization, planning, implementation and sustainability of work at KAI that is related to national-, state- and local education agencies.

Janet earned her doctorate in education from Montana State University, her master’s degree in Environmental Science from Northern Arizona University, and her bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Arizona State University.

Isabelle A. Penass (Nez Perce Tribe, Nimiipuu) has cultivated expertise in the promotion of behavioral health and family and community wellness for underserved populations. She has more than 9 years of experience working in Indian Country and with other resilient communities to address prevention needs through strengths-based, solution-focused, and community-driven approaches. She has dedicated her career to the prevention of behavioral health issues through understanding the gaps in resources and the symptoms of unresolved trauma, including substance misuse, suicidal risks, lateral oppression, and family and school violence.

Isabelle incorporates evidence-, practice-, and culture-based interventions in her team's training and technical assistance work across the country and monitors data-driven progress toward achieving results. She works with her team to change lives and communities by honoring cultural resiliencies, creating a sense of belonging, and building key relationships.

Isabelle earned her master’s and bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, with a focus on clinical mental health.

Ms. Tetrick has more than 20 years of experience supporting health equity and maternal, child, and infant health and compliance in Indian Country. She specializes in healthcare organization and community strategic planning. 

Crystal provides Indian health subject matter expertise for materials and deliverables for many of KAI’s contracts, and she recently directed the healthcare operations of Urban Indian clinics and Parent and Child Health programs in Seattle and King County, Washington.

Crystal earned her master’s degree in public health and bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Washington.

Dr. Aislinn Rioux (Blackfeet) is a research and evaluation professional with expertise in applied statistics, evaluation, research, and teaching for diverse audiences. She has more than 13 years of experience working with indigenous communities through quantitative and qualitative methodologies, data analysis and interpretation, representative data visualizations, and evaluation.

Aislinn works with her team to approach research and evaluation in a wholistic manner to provide clients with usable information that is embedded in context and has real world application.

Aislinn earned her doctorate in educational leadership, her master’s degree in applied statistics, and her bachelor’s degree in criminology/forensic anthropology from the University of Montana.

Josephine Keefe, an enrolled member of the Nez Perce tribe, serves as KAI’s Vice President of Communications and has 10 years of experience in the creative field. She ensures that the best ideas are executed for all of KAI’s clients and their communications products by directing and overseeing the creative process and facilitating brainstorming sessions with her project managers, writers, graphic designers, and web developers. She is experienced in creating culturally competent, targeted communications products to support outreach to vulnerable populations, including minorities and at-risk youth, on public health topics. Ms. Keefe earned her master of fine arts degree at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Theater, Film and Television.