Lonna Stevens

Lonna Stevens (enrolled Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and Tlingit) serves as a Tribal Victim Resource Specialist. Lonna has served as a training and technical assistance provider to the almost 60 National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Microgrant grantees since 2021. Lonna also served on the National Institute of Justice and TLPI tribal researcher team to develop tribal capacity for sovereign Indigenous research and evaluation.  She was integral in developing the OVW Strengthening Tribal Response to End Violence Against Women, which provides training and technical assistance to tribes who were not receiving OVW funding (non-grantees).  Prior to TLPI, Lonna was providing TTA to Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) grantees with National Criminal Justice Training Center at Fox Valley Technical College.  Her experience also includes roles as the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Tribal Liaison, working closely with tribal law enforcement in developing a tribal taskforce on sex trafficking, conducted statewide listening sessions for the Office on Violence Against Women.  Additionally, Lonna served as the Adverse Childhood Experiences coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Health.  Lonna has excelled in working with both state and tribal coalitions- Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, and served as Director for the national Sheila Wellstone Institute.  Lonna brings over twenty-five years experience in tribal, state and federal policy creation and lobbying to end violence against Native women and children, building diverse coalitions of community and government leaders, and direct service with survivors.