Founder

Born and raised on the Navajo Nation, Jaclyn Roessel is proud of who she is and where she comes from.  As a self-professed lovetarian, Roessel believes in the power of love and ability we all have to make positive change in our society by understanding we are responsible to each other through K’é.

An alumnus from Arizona State University, Roessel was the inaugural recipient of the Arizona Humanities Rising Star Award in 2013, which is given to young professionals whose work elevates the importance of humanities in the community. She’s been named one of Phoenix 100 Creatives You Should Know. Over the past decade as a museum professional at the Heard Museum, Roessel confirmed her belief in the power of utilizing cultural learning as a tool to engage and build stronger Native communities. As the president of Grownup Navajo, she is building a company dedicated to sharing how Native American teachings and values are tools to help build greater cultural competency in museums, organizations and our communities. Roessel is a 2017-2018 National Art Strategies Creative Community Fellows and a current participant of the Native Entrepreneurs-In-Residence program. Through all her work, Roessel aims to expand her work to further inspire Native people to use their traditional knowledge as a catalyst to create change in our communities today.

Roessel is fervently committed to her community and learning. As the owner of the greeting card company Naaltsoos Project which blends her love of paper and letter-writing with her commitment to language and cultural preservation. She co-founded the blog presence 4.0 as well as the multi-media project schmooze: lady connected, each project centers on controlling the narratives we posses as American Indian people and women.  The thesis of all her work centers on helping re-define who American Indian people in modern times. 

She is Táchii’nii (Red Running into the Water People). Born for the Kii yaa’ aanii (Towering House People). Her maternal grandfather is of the Tódikozhí (Salt Water clan) and her paternal grandfather is of the Monteath Clan from Scotland. A proud mother, wife, auntie, sister, daughter and granddaughter, Roessel’s life is a journey in the practice of speaking sacredness fluently.