Staff Members
Tally Colombe, a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, has a total of 14 years of teaching at the Lower Brule and Crow Creek elementary schools. Tally is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the office and managing the programs. Tally sat on the Hunkpati Investments Board of Directors as a board member for three years and is very familiar with the organization and the programs. She graduated from Chamberlain High School in Chamberlain, South Dakota, and attended college at University of Montana and completed her Elementary Education degree at Sinte Gleska in Rosebud, South Dakota. Tally and her husband Eric have eight children and live in Fort Thompson on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation.
Email: tally.colombe@hunkpati.org
Elaine Kennedy uses her business experience to support Crow Creek entrepreneurs in starting or expanding local businesses by assisting them in creating business plans and connecting to vital resources. Prior to joining the Hunkpati staff, she had established and operated a geotechnical engineering company in Chamberlain, South Dakota.
Elaine attended South Dakota State University at Brookings where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science in 2001. She continued courses at Capital University through Northern State University and completed her Associates Degree in Business in 2003. She then went on to complete her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration through Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2004. Elaine has also been certified as an Economic Development Finance Professional by the National Development Council. Certification is a designation given to individuals who successfully complete an intensive economic development finance training series with courses that provide individuals working in the field of economic development with training in credit analysis, real estate financing , loan packaging, deal structuring and negotiating, and the creation and implementation of development programs.
Elaine, a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, grew up in the Crow Creek Community within the boundaries of the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation. Growing up on one of the nation’s most impoverished reservations, Elaine has seen first-hand the need for local businesses and jobs and is happy to be part of the positive change that Hunkpati Investments is creating.
Email: elaine.kennedy@hunkpati.org
As the IDA Outreach Assistant, Durine Chase, actively recruits participants for Hunkpati’s Individual Development Account (IDA) program. She promotes values (such as saving and wise resource management) that support homeownership to tribal and community members through education and individualized assistance. Durine graduated from South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in May 2010.
Durine is a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe resides in the Big Bend District. She has been blessed with two sons and a daughter, and is a proud grandmother of four grandchildren.
Email: durine.chase@hunkpati.org
Board of Directors
Wes Parsons is Crow Creek Sioux Tribal member and a dedicated rancher from the Big Bend area of the Crow Creek Reservation. Wes also serves as a member of the Big Bend Community Board and the South Dakota Farm Service Agency Board.
Anthony Barker is a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe.
John Beheler is a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and is the Executive Director of Dakota Indian Foundation in Chamberlain, South Dakota.
Martha Coleman is a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and retired from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.