Tribal Council member June Sell-Sherer has served more than 8 years on the Grand Ronde Tribal Council. June was raised in Grand Ronde, Oregon until her family relocated after termination. They left Grand Ronde after her dad was injured and could no longer work as a choke setter; his hope was to find training for a new vocation. Eventually the family returned to Grand Ronde where they lived during the school year so that their children could have a consistent education and be with friends and family. Each summer June, her parents and siblings worked throughout the Willamette Valley picking summer crops, but at the beginning of the year they would return back to Grand Ronde for their children’s education.

As a teen, June’s family moved to Turner and June graduated from Cascade High School in Turner, Oregon.   She then joined the Army and reported for basic training.  After basic and specialized training, June applied for and received an overseas assignment where she was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany.  She worked in the Personnel Division for the 513^th Military Intelligence Group at Camp King near Oberursel, Germany.  In February 1969, June was nominated for and honored as WAC of the month for USAREUR (US Army Europe).  After serving three years, June was honorably discharged from the Army.

Following marriage and the birth of her two children, Naomi and Nick, June worked at the Hanford Project for 18 years. First working in security and then later moving to the hot zones as a reactor fuels technician. During her time at Hanford, June also completed her Associates in Science degree at Columbia Basin College.

The pull of home grew stronger and in 1995 June returned to Grand Ronde and began working in the Marketing Department at Spirit Mountain Casino. She ran for and was then elected to Tribal Council in 1999 serving for six years.  June’s mother passed away in April, 2005 and that campaign year she was torn between grief over her mother’s passing and running for Tribal Council.  When she decided to run for council in 2007, she was again elected to council.

June and her husband Mike are proud parents of their children and beam over their three grand children.

“What I would do different?”  Upon reflection, “is come home earlier”.

Kate Brown was born in Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain, on June 21, 1960. After spending most of her childhood in Minnesota, Brown earned a B.A. degree in Environmental Conservation with a Certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She earned her law degree and Certificate in Environmental Law from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

Brown has taught at Portland State University and practiced family and juvenile law. She was appointed to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1991. In 1996, after winning election to two more House terms, she won election to the Oregon Senate. Two years later, she was elected Senate Democratic Leader and in 2004, she became the first woman to serve as Oregon’s Senate Majority Leader. As of January of 2009, she is Oregon’s Secretary of State, one of the State’s three constitutional officers.

In her legislative career, Brown led successful efforts to make Oregon’s state government open and accessible by taking legislative committee meetings to communities around the state. She also ensured funding for a comprehensive review of Oregon’s ethics laws, spearheaded legislation creating a searchable online database of campaign contributions and expenditures, and reformed Oregon’s initiative process to reduce fraud and protect the citizen’s right to petition their government.

Kate was one of the three original community members on the Spirit Mountain Community Fund board of trustees. She has served consistently since the Fund began in 1997, despite her stellar political career. Kate’s passion for people and solving community issues is evident in her commitment to the Fund’s work.

Secretary Brown lives in Portland with her husband Dan. In their spare time they enjoy horse riding, yoga and hiking and skiing our State’s beautiful mountains.