Tona TreeTop

Tona TreeTop is Hunkpapa Lakota and an enrolled citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe from Ft. Yates, North Dakota. She has been working with and advocating for American Indian youth and young adults with disabilities by providing Special Education advocacy services as a Student Support Specialist for the Gila River Indian Community-Tribal Education Department since 2018. Tona has a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. She is uniquely qualified for her current position because she has assisted and supported her youngest son Mateo TreeTop, as he transitioned through various systems of care for his disability of Traumatic Brain Injury. Mateo has now graduated from college, has two part-time jobs and currently serves as a Board Member of the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council. Tona is currently a Board Member for DRAZ and serves on the Planning and Assessment Committee and is the Chairperson of the Diversity Committee. She is also a member of the Arizona Association of People Supporting Employment and serves on the Education Committee. Tona also volunteers as a Parent Leader for Raising Special Kids. Tona has also previously served on two Special Education Advisory Panels, the first for the Idaho Department of Education when she lived there and the second for the Arizona Department of Education when she moved to Arizona.