Blue Stone Strategy Partners

Taryn Reynolds and Elena Chavez land in Honolulu Monday. Find them at booth #50 at NNAHRA's 30th Annual Conference, September 28–30.

Two sessions next week:

Monday, September 28 | 1:15–2:15 PM | Nautilus Suite
Where Sovereignty Meets the Workplace
Taryn joins Dr. Crystal Miller, CEO of Sovereignty First Native Consulting Firm, on the Next Level Leadership track. Sovereignty isn't only a legal principle. HR leaders live it in everyday workplace decisions. This session ties law and policy to those decisions and gives practical guidance for people practices that are compliant, culturally aligned, and human. It's for HR directors, leaders, and employees in Tribal governments and gaming enterprises.

Tuesday, September 29 | 1:15–2:15 PM | Hibiscus Suite
More Than a Stipend: Tribal Council Roles, Responsibilities, and the HR Perspective
Leadership can change without costing you institutional knowledge, workforce stability, or employee trust. Taryn and Elena walk through how HR keeps that continuity through elections and administration changes while respecting each new leader's authority. A restructuring case study covers policy design, decision checkpoints, onboarding new elected leaders, and getting HR in the room before decisions reach employees. It's for Tribal elected leaders, HR leaders, administrators, and department heads.

The rest of the time, they're at the booth. Booth conversations get interrupted, so they're holding 30-minute slots for the issues that need real time:

- An investigation, discipline case, or termination you want to handle defensibly before it becomes a Council matter
- A pay structure you can defend to Council and to staff (Elena's specialty)
- Personnel policies that hold up under Tribal law and that managers will actually use
- Where HR sits in the organization and what it should own
- Keeping the workforce steady through an election or administration change

Between them, Taryn and Elena bring 41 years of Tribal HR experience. Both hold Tribal Human Resources Professional certification.

Conference slots are filling. If the week in Honolulu is too packed, they have openings October 5–9, once everyone is home.

Book 30 minutes: https://hubs.li/Q04y6NHZ0

Blue Stone Strategy Partners is at NAFOA Fall today and tomorrow at Pueblo of Pojoaque.

Melanie Benjamin, our Tribal Advisor and VP of Government Relations and Engagement, is on site at Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder through September 22. Melanie served four terms as Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, so the budget conversations happening this week are ones she has led from the Council side.

It is a hard year to run a Tribal finance office. The FY27 request would cut BIA by more than a third. SLFRF has to be spent by December 31. The general welfare rule takes effect January 1. Two billion in Tribal energy funding is gone.

None of that is a reason to wait. If any of this is on your desk, find Melanie and talk it through:

→ Budgeting around a $744M BIA cut and the next shutdown
→ The two Treasury rules: general welfare documentation and direct-pay energy credits for Tribal entities
→ Closing out SLFRF and the new Uniform Guidance thresholds
→ Revenue that does not ride on one sector
→ Enterprise governance and the SBA 8(a) audit

Not at NAFOA? Schedule time with our team after the conference: https://hubs.li/Q04xYpY80

Taryn Reynolds and Elena Chavez are headed to NNAHRA's 30th Annual Conference, September 28–30 in Honolulu. Two sessions, one booth, and open time for whatever your HR department is carrying this year.

Monday, 1:15 PM, Nautilus Suite: Where Sovereignty Meets the Workplace. Taryn joins Dr. Crystal Miller of Sovereignty First Native Consulting Firm to connect Tribal law and policy with the daily decisions HR leaders make. Sovereignty is not only a legal principle. It shows up in how you hire, discipline, pay, and lead.

Tuesday, 1:15 PM, Hibiscus Suite: More Than a Stipend. Taryn and Elena walk through how HR keeps institutional knowledge, workforce stability, and employee trust intact through elections and administration changes, with a restructuring case study.

The rest of the time, look for the Blue Stone booth in the exhibit hall. Bring the grievance that has reached Council, the pay scale that stopped matching the market, or the policy manual nobody has opened since the last administration. Between them, Taryn and Elena have spent their careers on exactly those.

Book 30 minutes: https://hubs.li/Q04xMYvm0

Tribal governments and Tribal enterprises are hiring across Healthcare, skilled trades, education, and administration. How can Tribal Colleges and Universities prepare local talent to fill those positions?

Join Blue Stone Strategy Partners on Wednesday, October 14, at 9:00 AM PST for Designing Tribal Apprenticeships to Meet Demand for Local Talent.

Led by Alexandria M. Wright, PhD, this one-hour webinar will explore how TCUs can use labor market data, existing academic programs, pre-apprenticeship pathways, and industry-recognized certifications to build programs around jobs that exist in their regions.

Register for the webinar now: https://hubs.li/Q04xMZ8K0

Please join us in welcoming Taryn Reynolds as Blue Stone Strategy Partners’ Vice President of Human Resources.

Taryn is an Osage Tribal member and an accomplished HR leader who has dedicated her career to helping Tribal governments, gaming enterprises, and Native organizations build strong teams, effective systems, and workplace cultures grounded in their values.

She holds the Tribal Human Resources Professional II certification and was recognized as a 2025 NCAIED Native American 40 Under 40 honoree. Her approach centers on trust, accountability, and ensuring that leadership, systems, and culture work together to support employees and the broader mission of Tribal organizations.

Under Taryn’s leadership, Blue Stone will continue helping Tribes strengthen their HR functions through strategic planning, employee relations, compensation, policy development, and leadership guidance.

We are proud to have Taryn leading this important work and excited for what lies ahead.

Blue Stone Strategy Partners will be at NAFOA Fall, September 20–22 at Pueblo of Pojoaque.

This is a hard year to be a Tribal finance office. The FY27 budget request would cut BIA by more than a third. SLFRF has to be spent by December 31. The general welfare rule takes effect January 1. And $2 billion in Tribal energy funding is gone.

None of that is a reason to wait. The Nations that come out of this stronger will be the ones that use it to decide what they own, what they control, and what they no longer depend on.

Melanie Benjamin, our Tribal Advisor and Vice President of Government Relations and Engagement, is making the trip. If any of these are on your desk, find her:

• Budgeting around a $744M BIA cut and the next shutdown.
• The two Treasury rules, including elective pay for clean energy credits as a direct payment from Treasury.
• Closing the books on SLFRF and the new Uniform Guidance thresholds.
• Revenue that does not ride on one sector, and whether growth is reaching Tribal households.
• Enterprise governance, board and Council roles, and the SBA 8(a) audit.

Schedule time with Melanie before or after the conference: https://bit.ly/4gTmWia

Congratulations to our own Jake Robinson, now Chief Strategy Officer at Blue Stone Strategy Partners.

Jake has spent his career in service to Indian Country as an executive leader for Tribally owned entities, having most recently served as Vice President of Business and Economic Development for Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures and Chief Development Officer for Red Lake, Inc. Jake's experience across gaming and non-gaming portfolios informs his expertise in planning, development, and optimization of Tribal businesses and corporations.

As Chief Strategy Officer, Jake will help carry Blue Stone's mission of supporting sovereign Tribal Nations and continue to lead Blue Stone's Economic Development and Gaming Services divisions.

In Jake's words: "I'm honored to expand my role within the Blue Stone team. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to work across Indian Country and work with our Tribal partners across the nation and continue to be a resource for leaders as our Tribal economies continue to evolve and develop. Miigwech!"

If your Nation is weighing a new venture, an acquisition, or a plan to diversify its economy, Jake would like to hear from you.

[email protected]
(218) 368-2310

Congratulations to our own Eric Metcalf, now Vice President of Healthcare Services at Blue Stone Strategy Partners.

Eric has advised Tribal Councils and Health Boards through Blue Stone on 105(l) lease optimization, Contract Support Cost recovery, PRC modernization, and Medicare-Like Rate implementation. Before that, he spent 30 years inside Tribal health: running multi-site Tribal health systems in Oregon and California, overseeing capital facility development, and serving on the Tribal Council of the Coquille Indian Tribe.

At the national level, he spent 29 years as a delegate to the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (three as Vice Chair), served on the National Purchased/Referred Care Workgroup from 1998 to 2024, and sat on the National Facilities Appropriation Advisory Board from 2016 to 2024.

That record matters for the Nations we serve. Eric has sat on the Tribal side of the table, so the advice he gives comes from having made these decisions himself, not from studying them.

As Vice President, Eric will lead the growth of our Healthcare Services team and expand what we can offer Tribal Nations: funding strategy, governance alignment, facility planning, and the third-party revenue work that turns coverage into expanded care.

If your Nation is working through a healthcare funding, facility, or governance decision, Eric would like to hear from you.

Eric Metcalf
Vice President of Healthcare Services
[email protected]
(541) 808-7413

The federal fiscal year closes September 30, and the deadlines are stacking up. This month's 90-Day Funding Outlook is heavy with September closings across public safety, justice, behavioral health, and the environment, followed by a new wave of Tribal-specific opportunities opening in October and November.

A deadline is not a plan. The Nations that move quickly in September are the ones that decided what they were pursuing months ago.

Several of the largest opportunities in this edition close within weeks of each other, including the Department of Justice's Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (up to $5.6M, due October 15), the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (September 17), and a set of Office on Violence Against Women programs built specifically for Tribal governments.

Whether your Nation is strengthening public safety and victim services, expanding behavioral health, building broadband, or protecting land and water, aligning a project with an opportunity is easier when the priorities, governance, and budget are already in place.

This month's Outlook includes upcoming opportunities across community development and public safety, health, infrastructure, economic development, housing, education, and environmental programs, along with state-level opportunities and key deadlines over the next 90 days.

Sign up now: https://bit.ly/4gwKVUb

Blue Stone is at the 2026 National Tribal Health Conference in Chandler, Arizona.

If you are attending, join Karrie Joseph, Blue Stone Public Health Specialist, and Providence Ishimwe of the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona Tribal Epidemiology Center tomorrow for:

Keeping an Area-Wide STI Strategic Map Alive: Planning, Updating, and Using Data for Action

Thursday, August 20
8:30–9:15 AM MST
Deer/Scorpion

The workshop will focus on keeping Tribal public health plans active as data, community needs, and emerging trends change.

You can also visit the Blue Stone booth to meet our team and talk with Eric Metcalf, Healthcare Services Director, about enrollment, third-party revenue, and expanding care through stronger Tribal Healthcare systems.

Learn more about Turning Coverage into Expanded Care:
https://hubs.li/Q04t97mC0

Schedule time with the Blue Stone team:
https://hubs.li/Q04t9bt70