The Diné Action Plan (DAP) Advisory Group selected Sonlatsa Jim as the new chairperson during its quarterly meeting on June 18, 2026.
Jim, who is the Deputy Director of the Navajo Division for Children and Family Services (NDCFS), served as the DAP co-chair since December 2023 before being selected as the chair.
“I thank the DAP Advisory Group for their confidence in me, and I look forward to advancing our mission and vision. My leadership style is based on my knowledge and skills as a manager and community advocate, which includes my roles as a Navajo woman and mother,” Jim said.
The now vacant co-chair position will be filled at the next DAP Advisory Group meeting, which is scheduled for September 18, 2026.
The Advisory Group, which is composed of 19 representatives from the Navajo Nation government pursuant to Resolution CS-51-21, is designed to ensure strong participation and strategic leadership from key Navajo Nation public safety agencies and partners to address the four nayéé’ or modern-day monsters of suicide, violence, substance abuse, and missing and murdered Diné relatives.
As part of the DAP strategy, task forces for each of the nayéé’ have been created. During the quarterly meetings, the task force leaders report on their work. Some highlights from this quarter include:
- Anthony Begay, program manager for Navajo Treatment Center for Children and Their Families and the Suicide Prevention Task Force leader, reported that the task force created an online survey and is receiving training on how to collect data from the Navajo Epidemiology Center.
- Vera John of Navajo Division of Behavioral and Mental Health Services (DBMHS) leads the Substance Abuse Task Force. She briefed the group on DBMHS services and partnerships that have resulted in talking circles, educational and interactive presentations to senior citizens, and community outreach and messaging.
- Tatyana Billy of the Office of the Speaker reported that the Missing and Murdered Diné Relatives Task Force is planning to add more family members of missing and/or murdered victims and a representative from the Navajo Division of Behavioral and Mental Health Services to its task force.
- Jim said that the Violence Prevention Task Force is transitioning after change in leadership but expects meetings to begin again after discussion with Division of Public Safety.
NDCFS Executive Director Thomas Cody thanked the DAP team members for their continued effort. He emphasized that the DAP is to help the Navajo people, particularly the youth. “How do we help the youth who are dealing with these nayéé’? A lot of them just need reassurance that there is hope. There’s things we can help them with; there’s things we can do,” he said.
The DAP group met in Bluff, Utah, which was the first time the quarterly meeting has been held in the state, signifying the importance of being inclusive of the Navajo people.
The DAP was approved in 2021 and calls for a review every five years using the Diné planning model of Nitsáhákees (thinking), Nahat’áa (planning), Iiná (life), and Siihasin (reflection and/or evaluation). The Advisory Group and Task Forces are preparing a five-year report on the implementation of the DAP to be submitted to Navajo Nation leadership later this year.
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