is an Assistant Attorney General for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, a federally recognized Indian tribe located in Arizona. Virjinya earned both her J.D. and her M.A. in American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona, and she earned her B.A. in Political Science (specializing in International Relations) and East Asian Studies at the University of Iowa, with certificates in International Business and American Indian and Native Studies. She is admitted to practice in both the federal and state courts of Arizona, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Tohono O’odham Judicial Court, and the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Court. She is also an accredited Veteran Affairs attorney. Virjinya started her legal career as an associate at Vingelli & Errico, a small general practice firm in Tucson, Arizona; was a solo practitioner for a brief period of time; and served five years as an Assistant Attorney General for the Tohono O’odham Nation. Virjinya is a 2016 graduate of the State Bar of Arizona's Bar Leadership Institute; is the Immediate Past Chair of the Executive Council for the State Bar of Arizona’s Indian Law Section; serves as the appointed State Bar of Arizona’s representative on the Arizona State, Tribal & Federal Court Forum; and is a member of NABA-AZ, the Arizona Minority Bar Association, and the Tribal In-House Counsel Association. She is also active in the community and serves on TUSD’s Native American Education Advisory Committee, the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona’s Community Investment Team, the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona’s Governance Committee, and the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona’s Board of Directors. Virjinya's work for the Tribe is varied, but she primarily represents the Tribe’s Public Safety, Human Resources, Education, and Facilities Management Departments and programs. Virjinya is Cherokee/Seminole/Muscogee Creek, and is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. 10/18

Joe Sarcinella is a shareholder at Drummond Woodsum and the Co-Chair of the firm’s national Tribal Nations Service Group. He has served Indian Country as either an attorney, advocate or in nonprofit management for over two decades. Joe’s family is First Nations Lakota/Nakota from Canada, and his wife and children are citizens of the Navajo Nation. He is based out of the Flagstaff, AZ office.

Joe advises Tribal Nations, tribally owned entities, Native owned businesses, and entities looking to collaborate with Tribes. His practice includes providing business legal services, strategic counsel, and government affairs, specific to Indian Country in the areas of renewable energy, financial services, economic development, government affairs, Tribal Nation building, transportation/aviation, environmental/natural resources, cultural resources, sacred sites and places, government contracting, gaming, and tribal youth programming.

Joe’s legal career has taken him all over Indian Country. Prior to Drummond Woodsum, he served as General Counsel of a tribal holding company; the Chief Operations Officer and General Counsel of a Tribal trade association in Washington DC; was an appointee under the Obama administration, as the Senior Advisor & Liaison for Native American Affairs for the Office of the Secretary of Defense; a Subject Matter Expert to the National Congress of American Indians; a government and legislative affairs associate for the Navajo Nation Washington DC office; and as the staff attorney and clerk of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court.

Outside of work, Joe is an avid writer and published children’s book author. He has trained as a Strong Man, has run a 100-mile ultramarathon, is a retired competition powwow dancer, and played Division 1 college football on a full scholarship for Boise State University and Sacramento State University. Joe and his family split time between Flagstaff, The Navajo Nation, and Washington, DC.

Kimberly Varilek is an Eastern Shoshone tribal member who currently lives in Denver, Colorado and serves as the Tribal Affairs Branch Manager within the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 8 office. Prior to federal service, Kim served as Attorney General for the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, representing the Tribal Government in all facets of law, including jurisdictional and civil litigation, tribal law and policy development, transactional and administrative law issues, and tribal enterprise representation. After joining the EPA R8 Office of Regional Counsel in 2014, she's also served as the Senior Tribal policy advisor prior to her current position in Tribal Affairs. She advises regional leadership and staff in all facets of regional and national agency tribal policy, consultation, and capacity building for their work with 28 tribal nations and their environmental programs. Kim is a former Chair and Commissioner on the Denver American Indian Commission and currently serves as a Commissioner with the non-profit People of the Sacred Land's Truth, Reconciliation and Education Commission, evaluating previously overlooked truths on severed Tribal land rights in Colorado. She and her significant other, Jeremy, spend time with friends and family located throughout the West, in Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota and New Mexico.