The Monterey Institute’s Center for Conflict Studies (CCS) is excited to announce that Dianne Barker Harrold will be the keynote speaker for November’s conference on Understanding Justice in Conflicts. Harrold has practiced law for 26 years, mostly in Indian Country in Oklahoma. She served as tribal judge for thirteen Indian tribes in Oklahoma and as the first female Native American District Attorney in the state of Oklahoma, among numerous other positions. She is currently the attorney for the Tribal Council of the Cherokee Nation and the Resource Delivery Coordinator for Unified Solutions Tribal Community Development Group, Inc., in Tempe, Arizona.

Harrold is one of the founders of Oklahoma’s Help-In-Crisis domestic violence shelter, which for 33 years has served victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Her tireless advocacy for battered women and victims of crime has earned her a number of prestigious awards and titles. She is currently the Native American/Victim Representative for the State Victims of Crime Assistance (VOCA) Board for Oklahoma.

An enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Harrold is also an independent consultant and frequently speaks around the country, training tribal prosecutors and law enforcement, victims’ advocates, child welfare workers, and service providers in the areas of child abuse, victim advocacy, domestic violence, sexual assault, and other related topics. In April of this year, United States Attorney General Eric Holder presented Harrold with the 2013 National Crime Victim Service Award for her long-term work with crime victims.

CCS looks forward to welcoming Harrold at the conference and learning from her incredible body of work, and extends a warm invitation to all eMIISsaries to join.