Erin is the Chief of Staff for the National Center. She started working with NCAIED back in May of 2017 as the Administrative Assistant and has leveled up throughout the years due to her exceptional work ethic. Prior to the National Center, Erin worked with Native American youth in many different capacities, mostly after school programs and summer programs for 10 years.

Erin was born and raised in Washington State and is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes. She moved to Arizona 10 years ago for the sunny weather and is currently finishing up her Bachelor’s Degree in Public Policy at Grand Canyon University. Additionally, in July of 2020 she completed the Event Design Collective program to become a Certified Event Designer to help support our annual Reservation Economic Summit (RES).

Emerald Skye Byrd is the National Center’s Business Development Director (Tribal Partnerships). She is a member of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, Nokko Clan. She holds a Master’s in Advertising from Savannah College of Art & Design (Atlanta, GA), supported by a Bachelor’s in Digital Media, and an Associate’s in AVATAR from Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA). During her time at LSU, she served as the Native American Student Organization’s Vice President from 2010-2012 and as President from 2012-2014. She has been and remains active in her tribe’s educational and cultural activism since age 16, often representing the Coushatta Nation in national events.

Creative solutions are her specialty. At age 19, while working with the Coushatta Tribe, she designed and produced her first mobile app, a dictionary of the Koasati language still in use today.

Byrd’s career in Marketing encompasses a broad background of its many facets, extensive experience in language and cultural activism, database management and research, branding, social media management, digital creative and production, with strong focus on public relations. She has collaborated with numerous corporations in Atlanta, Georgia while pursuing her Master’s degree. She has been employed at Coushatta Casino Resort for 5 years, and with her tribe for 9 years prior and is now a part of the National Center’s team.

Charmayne Charley is the Administrative Specialist for The National Center of American Indian Enterprise Development. She is an experienced administrative assistant with 15 years of working alongside leadership teams by providing them with consistent clerical support. Having held positions in the HR, medical, and business fields, Charmayne is able to adapt her skills to meet the needs to various clients.

Charmayne has a background in working with the health services division at a federally funded nonprofit health center that services the urban Phoenix Native American population and others. Additionally, she has worked within the Environmental, Health, and Safety departments of a global organization with a focus on supporting occupational health clinics. She brings a positive, cooperative attitude, and enjoys working on a team to provide support where necessary.

Charmayne is enrolled with the Dine (Navajo) Nation and is originally from the Four Corners region and grew up in Dennehotso, Arizona on the Diné (Navajo) Nation. Charmayne is inspired daily by her sisters and their children. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with them to watch movies, hike, or sew/craft.

Carla Ghafari is the Multimedia Assistant at The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED). She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications: Multimedia Journalism from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CPP), and an Associate Degree in Fine Arts from Victor Valley College.

Picking up photography at a young age, Carla has expanded her knowledge and experience in the field of digital media and productions. She participated in her high school film festival, landing her first-place awards for two of her short films. During her time at CPP, Carla was a journalist for the school newspaper. She also joined an on-campus club with the title of Multimedia Coordinator, where she applied her passion for social media marketing and graphic design. Since then, she has built her involvement on both a self-taught basis and through professional work experience. 

Carla works within the communications department to help represent NCAIED in the best way possible and continue to grow the organization. She assists in a variety of projects and assignments including social media, marketing, production, content creation and much more. 

Tricia Grossman is the National Center’s Senior Staff Accountant. Her accounting journey began in community college when she first took accounting as an elective and realized she loved the field. She then went on to obtain her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk Jayhawk!). Having worked in the medical finance/accounting industry for most of her career she shifted to a smaller private accounting firm when she moved to AZ in 2007. There she worked with a variety of clients in several industries (construction, real estate, and a few physician clients). Prior to joining the National Center, her most recent foray was in the public accounting sector for a very large nationwide corporation.

Tricia recently completed the required coursework to obtain her project management professional certification (PMP) and is currently studying for the PMP licensing exam as well as continuing her accounting education.

In her free time Tricia enjoys being active and outside in nature, walking her 2 dogs, paddleboarding, hiking, trail running and competing in ultramarathon races! She is involved in the triathlete/running community in AZ, volunteering at many of the local races to support other athletes as well as being a brand ambassador for Ragnar Relays. Her passion in life is to continue to encourage and empower people to succeed both personally and professionally using athletics as the avenue to help people realize they really can achieve anything given the opportunity and commitment. Her favorite part of working with NCAIED is they have the same goal in providing these empowerment opportunities to Native communities local and nationwide!

>>Request As a Speaker<<

Chris James is the President and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, the largest business development and technical assistance training organization in the country for  American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses. A former Associate Administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Treasury official, Mr. James has doubled the National Center’s revenue during his tenure, expanding procurement and training programs throughout the country while boosting attendance to the annual Reservation Economic Summit by nearly 30% in the last five years.

Mr. James manages a team of nearly 30 staff and contractors based in seven offices across the country, all focused on enhancing the resilience of small and medium enterprises, promoting holistic community planning, and supporting tribal governments and small business owners in developing a strategic approach to economic development.

Fostering strong relationships with supplier diversity offices at Fortune 500 companies such as Lockheed Martin, Nike, Google, Square Inc; Northup Grumman, Alaska Airlines, Microsoft and IBM, the National Center has grown the number of businesses it supports from 200 per year, to more than 1,000.

Mr. James also leads the National Center’s advocacy work, coordinating with allies and tribal governments to hold local, state, and federal government officials accountable and constructively promoting policy changes that support access to capital and resources for small business incubation and growth. Under his leadership, the National Center has launched a Native Edge Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), and the National Center now boasts over $4 billion in procurement it has helped National Center clients secure.

From 2011 – 2016, Mr. James was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Associate Administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), where he led the Office of Field Operations, and the Office of Native American Affairs, and where he established the SBA’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Managing a workforce of over 800 people with an annual operating budget of more than $200 million, Mr. James oversaw programs and services that affected all 50 states and every U.S. territory, and served as a liaison to domestic and international corporate partners and stakeholders. Mr. James was also the officer on record for Tribal Consultation.

Among his accomplishments at SBA was the creation of Startup in a Day, which worked with cities and Native American communities to create streamlined platforms to allow entrepreneurs to apply for all relevant business permits in an expedited manner. Mr. James was also the agency lead on the SupplierPay program, which worked with nearly 50 Fortune 500 companies to speed up payments to suppliers.

Prior to SBA, Mr. James was an Associate Program Manager at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 2009-2011, serving as a liaison between the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, Native American tribal governments, and other federal government agencies. During his tenure at Treasury, he approved over $120 million dollars in funding to deserving applicants, and helped grow the number of certified Native CDFIs by 30%.

Lauryn Ross is the National Center’s Junior Staff Accountant. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a minor in art from Carroll University. Prior to the National Center, Lauryn was given the opportunity to work with the Cross Cultural Experience Program in Thailand. During her time there she was able to gain experience working with other cultures and even learned how to speak Thai. Lauryn is excited to be a part of the team and is eager to apply her knowledge and skills to the finance team.

During Lauryn’s free time she enjoys spending time with animals and quality time with her family. Her favorite hobbies include, painting and collecting puzzles.

Jessamyn Tracy is the Project Director of the Native Edge Institute. A dynamic program manager, skilled trainer, expert analyst, and dedicated educator, Ms. Tracy has more than 20 years’ experience working with federal, state, and local agencies providing technical assistance, training, and consulting services. She has worked with nonprofits of all sizes serving national, local, and regional areas, helping them to build capacity and better fulfill their missions. Prior to the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, Ms. Tracy worked for the Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center, Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, the National Center for Victims of Crime, and Alfred University.

Ms. Tracy has provided technical assistance and helped tribal communities build their response to violent crimes, particularly gendered violence. As a public speaker, she has provided keynotes, webinars, blended learning, and in-person training and assistance to over 4,000 professionals in the United States and its territories. Ms. Tracy has taught courses in research, social sciences, data analysis, and criminology at Florida State University, Florida A&M University, Alfred University, and Shenandoah University. She holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder, an MS in Criminology and Criminal Justice from The Florida State University, and the Public Leadership Credential from the Harvard Kennedy School. Originally from Alaska, Ms. Tracy has resided in the national capital region for over a decade.

With over 25 years of experience in the hospitality and real estate development industries, Rich has established a successful track record of managing a variety of financial and administrative functions while partnering with the Executive team in the planning and execution of strategic objectives. As Chief Financial Officer, Rich has built efficient and effective teams within the Accounting/Finance arena, in addition to Sales, Information Technology, Human Resources and Purchasing functions.

Rich served as Chief Financial Officer of the Phoenician Resort (Scottsdale, AZ), shortly after its opening, and was a member of the executive team that took this 650-room luxury property to a 5-Diamond, 5-Star status, the only one to be recognized as such in the Southwest U.S. After a 9-year tenure with the Phoenician, he was recruited by Desert Mountain Properties (Scottsdale, AZ), a premier 2,400 member, private master-planned community encompassing 8,600 acres and boasting 6-Jack Nicklaus designed Signature golf courses. He served as Co-President and Chief Financial Officer over the course of 12 successful and demanding years.

Rich continued in the role of Chief Financial Officer with Pacific Links International, a start-up golf owner/management and golf member subscription company founded in Beijing, China. During his 6-year tenure, he built and staffed the infrastructure for two regional offices located in Oahu, HI and Las Vegas, NV, servicing approximately 675 employees. Rich was engaged as a transaction specialist in his final three years with Pacific Links, assisting the President and ownership with the divesture of 12 golf courses located in the U.S. Recently, Rich completed a 2-year stint as General Manager with The Springs, a 817-private residential and golf community located in Rancho Mirage, CA.

Rich is a graduate of the University of Denver, and is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of Arizona. Rich currently resides in Chandler, AZ, with his wife and 2 sons, and enjoys scuba diving, photography, and travel.