Emily Ellison is the Executive Director of Battered Family Services in Gallup, with a finance degree, U.S. Peace Corps service in China, and a long record of civic engagement, running for Navajo Nation President. Her interview with Cal Nez was wide-ranging and analytical — the gridlock, the history of the chairmanship, transparency, veterans, and health care. Below are the main topics from the interview — the key question Cal asked on each, short summaries of Ellison's answers in our own words, and follow-ups a voter might still want answered.
Watch or read the full interview, and see the scorecard, on Emily Ellison’s profile. This page is a nonpartisan summary; the Diné Civic Center does not endorse any candidate.
Ellison is the Executive Director of Battered Family Services in Gallup, with a finance degree, Peace Corps service in China, and a history of civic engagement (she ran for Council in 2014). Her platform has seven parts — including the justice system, business development, land reform (which she now calls “land design”), and building infrastructure toward “public value” — refined over multiple runs into what she calls a manifesto.
Ellison's distinctive answer is mediation, not just communication — fill the Supreme Court vacancies with highly ethical, nonpartisan justices, rebuild trust in the judiciary, and have it issue neutral, logical opinions that reconcile disagreements and give the branches direction to follow.
Ellison argues the single-leader chairmanship is a Bilagáana system imposed in 1921, not traditional Navajo governance — which was led by clan and band chiefs and never excluded women. The patriarchy that sidelined women (visible at Fort Sumner) came with that imposed model, so a woman serving as president is consistent with traditional Navajo leadership.
A core plank is Sunshine Laws — making every flow of Navajo money public record (stipends, reimbursements, grants, salaries, bonuses, board members, minutes, annual financials). She'd appoint experts and professionals to boards through a formal, qualifications-based process rather than campaign supporters, and tighten oversight of enterprises that currently report little.
Ellison wants a federal VA office located on the Navajo Nation so veterans can access benefits without traveling to Phoenix or Albuquerque, and says the Navajo Veterans Administration has drifted into a political role rather than a standards-based division. She'd bring clarity to the Veterans Trust Fund — resolving whether it funds reimbursements or homes — set a consolidated veteran standard, and make it easier for all veterans, including young and female veterans, to access their money.
Ellison calls health care a treaty right but works within a capitalist system — helping citizens access affordable insurance with the tribe covering the bulk, while promoting healthy lifestyles once basic needs like a home and a job are met. She supports the 638 self-determination model and wants to extend it beyond large health systems to entrepreneurs — for example, a 638 nonprofit to clear drought fuel and dead trees — pushing back on the BIA for more leverage.
Topics a voter in this district might still want to hear about:
Not a judgment of this candidate — just what a specific, substantive answer includes, so you can weigh any candidate’s response: