Tleena Ives is an adaptive leader, athlete, educator, and author rooted in Port Gamble S’Klallam tribal values. She carries the ancestral name HaʔhaʔMu.
As a goal-oriented S’Klallam woman, she is a two-time Ironman triathlete, Boston Marathon finisher, mother, daughter, and sister living on the Port Madison Indian Reservation in Washington.
Tleena has served in many leadership positions in both state and tribal governments working in early childhood, child welfare, education, and curriculum development. Currently, she serves as the Tribal Relations Director for the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. She also currently teaches an adjunct course at Western Washington University on Tribal Sovereignty.
Her children’s book t̕aʔt̕ə́wəsnaʔ (2014) was developed through a series of conversations with mothers in her community about the wishes and dreams for S’Klallam children and it is written in the Coastal Salish language.
Tleena has a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University and a bachelor’s degree in Indigenous Education from Evergreen State University. At present, Tleena is also working on her EdD in Educational Leadership at the University of Washington.