Contact us at: whispernthunder1@gmail.comMEET OUR WIND SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNERS
~ Mellody Gotwalt, WNT Board Member
Whisper n Thunder is proud to support the
following 2026 scholarship winners. We are
very excited about their achievements,
determination and future goal. Below is a
short summary to give you a chance to know
these fine young tribal scholars.
Brook Nanazbah Nez: A junior majoring in Nursing at Carthage College, Kenosha, WI. Her future plans are to return to the Navajo Nation to work for a clinic or Indian Health Services. After gaining a few years of experience, she plans becoming a Nurse Practitioner and again return to Indian Country to serve the community and help fill the void of much needed healthcare providers. She has spent the past three summers working for Wings of America as a facilitator traveling to remote locations on the Navajo Reservation leading running and fitness camps, teaching the youth about fitness, nutrition and how our Navajo cultural beliefs tie into running. She has also gone on home visits delivering medications to elders, vaccinated community youth, delivered life saving medications, practiced wound care on an elder, delivered food supplies and communicated with patients in the Navajo language which provides therapeutic communication especially to tribal elders while also providing comfort during their time of vulnerability.
Shandi Allison: A graduate student majoring in Sport Journalism at Arizona State University. Her long-term goal is to become a nationally recognized sports broadcaster while also reporting on Indigenous issues such as Tribal sovereignty, land and water rights, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). She has served as a reporter for the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI). covering more than 500 basketball games involving over 2,000 Indigenous athletes from Tribal communities across North America. She took the intense effort to pronounce each team's Tribal affiliation, including in their Native languages.
Daniella James: A graduate student majoring in Business Administration at University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire. Her long-term goal is to build experience as program director at a nonprofit, establishing a space on her historical tribal land which will host culinary education, seed exchanges, gardening internships, San Carlos Apache Tribal language and career days for Native youth. For four years, she has served as a radio intern at Tohono O'odham Community College, producing tribal and national shows on Native American ancestral food knowledge and Native food businesses. She was recognized by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Magazine for her knowledge of Native foods and community efforts.