Board of Directors

Dawn Hill Adams, Ph.D. (Choctaw) is Tapestry’s founder and Co-President of the Board of Directors,  and is full-time staff. Trained as a scientist, she founded Tapestry in 1998 after working more than a decade ias a biology professor. You can read more about Dawn in her staff bio here.

Jo Belasco, Esq. is Tapestry’s  Board Co-President and one of our two primary staff members. She was one of Tapestry’s founding staff members and helped Dawn design our Ways of Knowing Circle in 1999. You can read more about Jo at her staff bio here.

Additional Board Members and Officers

Harrison John Adams (Choctaw) is the Secretary of Tapestry’s Board. Harrison studied and practiced Seon/Chan (Zen) Buddhism in South Korea, and majored in Asian Religions for his undergraduate degree under Michael Saso in Macau. His original scholarship in Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism uses classical texts and contemporary studies to relate the different ways of knowing in these traditions to one another and to Indigenous Asian cultures, as well as to different ways of knowing in Indigenous traditions worldwide. His most recent publication is Zailun Gushen Wenduan 再论谷神文段 , Volume 16 of the Academic Journal of Laozi.

Vicki Wagner Solomon (she/her) is Vice President of the Board and has served as Board Treasurer. She lives in Huichin in Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone territory. Her relationship with her local Indigenous people includes giving Shuumi, and participating in Native-led political actions and cultural events. Vicki was the first female Director of the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California, and past President of the Society of Women Engineers Golden Gate Section. Currently, she’s a Grandmother and Song Leader as well as a valued member of the many communities enriched by her presence.

Shawn Wilson, Ph.D. (Opaskwayak Cree) is from northern Manitoba, Canada and currently lives in Kelowna, British Columbia. He is Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia. Previously he was on the faculty of Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian People, Southern Cross University. Through working with Indigenous people internationally, Shawn has applied Indigenist philosophy within the contexts of Indigenous education, health and counsellor education. His 2008 book, Research is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods is often praised for bridging understanding between western academia and traditional Indigenous knowledges. He is co-editor of Research and Reconciliation: Unsettling ways of knowing through Indigenous relationships, which came out in 2019.

Jessica Venable, Ph.D. (Pamunkey and Mattaponi descent) is from Virginia and resides in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Jess has more than 20 years of experience in sponsored research and research development for education reform, especially in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs that serve high populations of underrepresented ethnic minorities. She is a Partner in the government affairs firm Thorn Run Partners and was previously Executive Director, Research Universities and Institutions Practice, McAllister & Quinn. Prior to that, she was Coordinator for Research Development Services at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she built the Office of Research Development.

You can learn about some of Tapestry’s previous Board Members here.