Back row from left: Chickasaw Foundation Trustees Robyn Elliott, Jerry Jones, Jay Keel, Matt Chesnut, John Fryrear, Wayne Scribner, Jalinda Kelley Front Row from left: Leta Burwell, Holly Johnson, Debra Gee, Jenny Trett
Ms. Jalinda Kelley serves as the chairperson for the Chickasaw Foundation Board of Trustees. As the cabinet secretary for the Chickasaw Nation Department of Interior Services, Ms. Kelley oversees many internal operations for the tribe including human resources, benefits, compensation, the legal division, self-governance, Lighthorse police, emergency management and training and career development.
Ms. Kelley received a bachelor’s degree from East Central University and is certified as a professional of human resources. She is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management, Leadership Oklahoma Class XXIX and Simmons Bank’s Ada Community Board.
Ms. Jenny Trett serves as the vice chairman for the Chickasaw Foundation. Ms. Trett is the executive officer of internal audit for the Chickasaw Nation. She was appointed to the position in December 2017, and oversees internal audit activities for Chickasaw Nation departments, programs and business activities. She began her career with the Chickasaw Nation in 1997 as a tribal accountant. In 2000, Ms. Trett accepted the position as director, health system finance, and after serving five years in that role, she moved into the position of administrator for the division of treasury. Since 2012, she has served in executive officer positions for the division of organizational planning and support and the division of tribal health. Prior to her employment with the Chickasaw Nation, Ms. Trett was employed by Samson Resources Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Ms. Trett graduated from East Central University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in accounting. In 2009, she completed an MBA from Oklahoma State University. She is a certified public accountant with memberships in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants and Institute of Internal Auditors. Ms. Trett is a member of Leadership Oklahoma Class XXII, Leadership Murray County, and has served on the Chickasaw Nation Boys and Girls Club executive board. Currently, she is a member of the Sulphur Public Schools Board of Education and Mercy Health Oklahoma Communities and the chairperson for the People’s Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees.
Mr. Jay Keel serves as secretary for the Chickasaw Foundation. He was appointed as director of youth services in 1993, administrator of the youth and family services division in 1995, and has served as cabinet secretary of the department of family services since 2013. This department operates family therapy and enrichment programs that contribute to the overall well-being of Chickasaw families. Mr. Keel is an ordained Baptist minister, received a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from East Central University and attended graduate school at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a member of the board of governors for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and also serves on the boards of the Chickasaw Nation Head Start, Ada Area Chamber of Commerce and serves as the Oklahoma City area representative for the National Tribal Advisory Committee on Behavioral Health.
Mr. Keel has also served on various boards and committees for the State of Oklahoma including Governor Stitt’s subcommittee on human services policies, Children of Incarcerated Parents Task Force and the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. For more than 30 years, he has been committed to ministry through multiple organizations including World Vision, Global Outreach and the Southeast Oklahoma Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Through the local church, he has developed a lifelong passion for leadership.
Mr. Jerry D. Jones serves as treasurer for the Chickasaw Foundation. He began working for the Chickasaw Nation in January 1996, as an internal auditor. In March 1996, he became the finance director for headquarters. In August 1998, he was asked to create a new internal audit department and became the director of quality performance. In September 2014, he was promoted to senior advisor and executive officer of audit and financial reporting.
Prior to working for the tribe, Mr. Jones worked for Horne & Company, P.C., an Ada, Oklahoma accounting firm, as an auditor. He specialized in auditing colleges, nonprofits and tribal governments, including the Chickasaw Nation, for seven years. He received his Bachelor of Science in accounting from East Central University in December 1988. He is a certified public accountant.
Ms. Robyn Elliott serves as the Immediate Past Chair for the Chickasaw Foundation. Ms. Elliott is the cabinet secretary of the Chickasaw Nation Department of Communications and Community Development. She and her team work to promote cultural pride among Chickasaw citizens by sharing timely and important information using outlets such as print and digital media and film.
Ms. Elliott received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from East Central University in 2002 and an MBA from Oklahoma State University in 2016. She is involved in several organizations as well as serving as a board member of Creative Oklahoma, Ada Jobs Foundation and the American Heart Association.
Mr. Matt Chesnut has served as a trustee for the Chickasaw Foundation since February 2016. He is a senior new business development and private investments manager for the Chickasaw Nation Department of Commerce. He began working for the department of commerce in 2014 where he has since served in the office of corporate development.
Mr. Chesnut received his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Arkansas in 2009 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2014, where he served as chief financial officer of the school’s student administration. In addition to serving on the board of trustees for the Chickasaw Foundation, he also serves on the board of directors for the Oklahoma Humane Society, SSM Health St. Anthony Foundation and Freedom School OKC. He and his wife Chesna reside in Oklahoma City with their four dogs, Shep, Birdie, Russell and Lily.
Mr. John Fryrear serves as a trustee for the Chickasaw Foundation. He has served on the board since 2007. Mr. Fryrear is the owner of full service broker-dealer, Investment Securities of Oklahoma, LLC. He has been in the investment banking/securities business for more than 30 years.
He is a board trustee and co-chairman of Vizavance (formerly known as Prevent Blindness of Oklahoma), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing children’s education through vision. He is also a member of the Native American Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Fryrear and his wife reside in Norman with their son, Gavin.
Ms. Leta Burwell serves as a trustee for the Chickasaw Foundation. She has worked for the Chickasaw Nation for 30 years, and serves as Under Secretary for the department of administration. She is a member of Abba’s House Worship Center and currently serves as the children’s church director.
Ms. Burwell has one daughter, Savannah, also employed with the Chickasaw Nation. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, shopping, reading and serving the church in various capacities. She is honored to serve on the board and to support the mission of the Chickasaw Foundation.
Ms. Debra Gee serves as a trustee for the Chickasaw Foundation. She also serves as general counsel and executive officer for the Chickasaw Nation Legal Division. Prior to employment with the Chickasaw Nation, Ms. Gee worked at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where she served as deputy director of the office of tribal justice and tribal legal counsel for the violence against women office, office of justice programs.
She is a graduate of Arizona State University College of Law and Smith College where she earned a juris doctorate and Bachelor of Arts, respectively. Ms. Gee maintains bar memberships in the tribal courts of the Chickasaw Nation, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Navajo Nation and the state of Oklahoma.
Ms. Holly Johnson serves as a trustee for the Chickasaw Foundation. In 2003, she was elected to the Chickasaw Nation Legislature. In 2010, she was named administrator of the division of planning and organizational development, and in 2012, she was appointed to the position of cabinet secretary of the department of treasury. She currently serves as associate secretary of treasury for the Chickasaw Nation.
Ms. Johnson received her bachelor's degree in accounting from Oklahoma State University. She is a certified public accountant, a member of the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants, a member of the board of directors at Citizens Bank, an independent director for the Federal Home Loan Bank-Topeka, a member of the Native American Finance Officers Association and an appointed ethics commissioner for the State of Oklahoma. She is a former member of the National IRS Advisory Committee of Tax Exempt and Governmental Entities representing Native American tribal governments and a past board member of the Ada City Schools Foundation.
Mr. Wayne Scribner serves as a trustee for the Chickasaw Foundation. Mr. Scribner has been employed by the Chickasaw Nation for more than 35 years, and serves as the cabinet secretary for the department of community services. The department consists of eight divisions; Chickasaw Employment Access, housing, aging, social services, youth services, education, construction and support services and project development and review. More than 100 programs and services offered by the Chickasaw Nation are administered through these divisions.
Mr. Scribner serves as executive director of the Chickasaw Housing Authority; a position he has maintained since 2004. Throughout his tenure, he has also had the privilege to serve as a board member for the Southern Plains Indian Housing Association, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act Formula Rulemaking Committee. He is a former board member for Region IV AMERIND Risk Management Corporation. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors for the Arkansas Riverbed Authority, and is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma Class XXXII.
Mr. Scribner is a traditional Chickasaw bow maker and passionate about keeping the Chickasaw culture alive. He devotes his time to teaching and mentoring the art of bow making so the tradition will not be lost. Through his mentorship, apprentices have learned the creative process from the harvesting of the wood to the completion of a bow. He has been instrumental in reviving the tradition of cornstalk shooting for the Chickasaw Nation. He is an active member of the Chickasaw Cornstalk Bow Shooters Society and travels across the state to compete in cornstalk tournaments.