The Navajo Division for Children and Family Services (NDCFS) is looking to the future in exploring the possibilities and opportunities of the Arizona State University’s Decision Theater.
The Decision Theater uses data analytics and integrated models to understand and explore options visually to help leaders, policymakers, researchers and others make informed, data-driven decisions on complex issues.
NDCFS Executive Director Thomas Cody made a site visit to the Decision Theater at ASU’s campus on April 3, 2026, in preparation for a meeting on “Navajo Nation Decision-Making Center – A Vision,” with ASU and Navajo Nation leaders in Tse Bonito, N.M., on April 10, 2026.
NDCFS and Navajo Nation staff with ASU staff at onsite visit.
ASU team members brought a seven-screen Decision Theater to the Navajo Division of Transportation to give the Navajo Nation a first-hand experience in its capabilities.
Cody expressed that he is interested in using the Decision Theater to help make informed decisions and that the Division’s public data could be used to begin a pilot project with proper agreements in place.
“The data can change how we do business on Navajo, how we make decisions,” he said. The data can help to determine priorities and funding, he added.
Thomas Cody speaking at the Decision Theater site visit on April 10, 2026.
One of the visions for the Decision Theater is that it can assist in the work of the Diné Action Plan (DAP) to defeat the four modern-day monsters of suicide, violence, substance abuse, and missing and murdered Diné relatives. Sonlatsa Jim, NDCFS Deputy Director, explained the DAP during the onsite visit. One major element of the DAP is that it has a data workgroup, led by the Navajo Epidemiology Center, which gathers data related to the four modern-day monsters.
Other presentations were on the Navajo Data Management and Sovereignty Assessment and a demonstration of the Decision Theater at work by Chelsea Dickson, associate director at ASU Decision Theater.
Diné Action Plan members at the onsite visit.
Sonlatsa Jim, NDCFS Deputy Director and DAP co-chair, presenting at the onsite visit.
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