Juanita PlentyHoles is former Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council Vice President, and current Tiwahe Director. She will serve as the GROWING UTE Living Languages Program Director. Juanita PlentyHoles is the Tiwahe Director for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe overseeing a holistic system of care that braids grant programs and tribal programs together for coordinated service delivery. Juanita PlentyHoles served as an elected official to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s Council from 2011 to 2018 in various capacities including Treasurer and Vice Chair. Juanita holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration from Ft. Lewis College. She also has an Accounting Certificate. As Tiwahe Director, Juanita was the executive co-producer of four award winning intergenerational documentaries written, directed, performed and produced by UMUT youth and elders. Between 2007 and 2011 Juanita worked in Grants and Contracts in progressively responsible positions advancing from Contract Specialist to Acting Director to Director. In these positions she provided oversight of $40M in grants and contracts annually including external/internal reporting working primarily with funding agencies and program directors. She prepared financial reports, reviewed and submitted requests for advances, reimbursements, and proposals to tribal council, as well as reviewed purchase requisitions, travel requests, and correspondence for document transmittals.

Colleen Cuthair-Root is currently working as PEAK Project Coordinator (Pisichu Enrichment Academy for Knowledge) for the Tiwahe Program for Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. She is a Ute Mountain Tribal member and resides on the Ute Tribe reservation. Colleen studied Business Administration at Central New Mexico in Albuquerque NM. She served as an elected official to the Ute Mountain Ute Council as Treasurer and Vice Chair in 2016-2019. Currently she Assists and Coordinates with delivery of the PEAK project as well as continued connection to the families to assure that they are understanding and supporting their youth so that the youth will have successful educational outcome. Colleen works with our youth so that they may also have a good understanding of the PEAK project and their own personal educational outcomes. Maintain students’ logs and other documentation. She works with families and youth to keep them informed and gather feedback. She assumes additional responsibilities to contribute to the team effort.

Colleen’s hobbies are cooking native foods and beading, Ute cultural craft and sewing. In her early years she enjoyed horseback riding on the Ute and enjoyed hiking every chance she got. She also enjoys participating in Ute Mountain Tradition and Cultural ceremonies and finds them very nourishing for the soul.

Colleen currently serves on the Elder Committee. As a younger Elder, she feels she has a lot to learn and the ability to pass on the wisdom and knowledge to those who will listen.

Antoinette Tapoof-Porambo is a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. She is the granddaughter of the late Chief Jack House of the Ute Mountain Tribe, and niece to the late Ernest House Sr. Mrs Porambo attended and received her Business Administration and Executive Assistant certificates from San Juan Basin Vocational Technical School. While attending San Juan Basin, she became a proud recipient of a BHP Billiton scholarship. She is the Community Resource Specialist for the Ute Mountain Tribe. Mrs Porambo has great passion for her community and the people she serves. Upon entering the work force, she started with the tribal administration as the Executive Tribal Secretary, where she attended tribal council meetings with the Tribal Council, maintained daily operations of the Tribal Administration Office. She has had the experience of a variety of different opportunities within the tribe, one being working in the Grant Office which has given her experience and insight of Grant operations. Mrs Porambo has served in numerous public service areas such as President of the Parent Policy Committee for the Ute Mountain Head Start and Daycare, under the direction of Larry Tsosie. She has also served as Chairwoman for the Tribal Election Board for several years, served on the Drug Free Coalition Committee, and Crisis Intervention Team. She became a member of the National Alliance on Mental Health sponsored by NAMI Colorado.