CRYP Staff
Julie Garreau
Executive Director
Julie Garreau is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and is the executive director of the Cheyenne River Youth Project. Julie has been CRYP’s director since the organization’s 1988 inception, volunteering in the position for 12 years. She began working for the organization full-time in 2000. She has seen the project through its exhilarating development from a tiny, one-room youth center in a former Main Street bar to a comprehensive youth and family services organization that includes the Billy Mills Youth Center — “The Main —for children ages 4-12 and the Ċokata Wiċoni Teen Center, which serves youth ages 13-18. Julie is a dedicated youth advocate, and she hopes that CRYP will become a model for other communities to follow as they develop effective, sustainable youth programming.
A graduate of South Dakota’s Huron University, Julie was the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s education services specialist for 15 years, and during that time she served for five years on the CRST Police Commission – three of those years as chairperson. She also has served as a field coordinator for Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, a national not-for-profit organization that is an important CRYP partner.
In her nearly two decades with CRYP, Julie has received the South Dakota Volunteer of the Year Award (1992); the Presidential Points of Light Award (1992), presented by President George H.W. Bush; the North American Indian Women's Association Fellowship “Among All Peoples” Award (1999); and the Garden Supply Company’s First Place “Garden Crusader” Award (2005). In 2002, the South Dakota Coalition for Children named CRYP a “Champion for Children,” and Julie was named to an honor roll that recognized its 16 members’ outstanding dedication to South Dakota's children. Her name also appears on the Honor Wall at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.
Heather Steinberger
Public Relations Manager
Heather Steinberger is the public relations manager for the Cheyenne River Youth Project. Heather writes press releases and produces the organization’s e-newsletter; handles media relations; contributes to the Web site and Facebook group/cause pages; and assists with fundraising, outreach and other development activities. She volunteered at the Main in the summer and fall of 2006 and became a staff member in 2007. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism, Heather has more than 15 years’ experience in communications. She is a former associate editor for two national magazines, and she worked as a public-relations specialist for two nationally recognized advertising agencies. She has also served as the public affairs manager for a Wisconsin-based not-for-profit art center and currently volunteers on the marketing committees for her local maritime museum and humane society. Heather operates her own full-time freelance writing business, which she founded in 2004, and her articles regularly appear in a variety of regional and national publications. Heather makes frequent trips to Eagle Butte from her home in Door County, Wisconsin.
Laure Lachaud
Youth Programs Assistant
Laure Lachaud, youth programs assistant, is CRYP’s newest staff member. She joined the youth project as a long-term volunteer in January 2010 and accepted the open full-time position in March. As youth programs assistant, Laure will work with Julie and Wiyaka on youth program development and implementation at CRYP’s Cokata Wiconi Teen Center and The Main Youth Center. She also will be involved in youth and community outreach, local fundraising and managing both grants and organizational partnerships. Laure was born in Paris and raised in Chappaqua, New York. She is a student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she is working toward a Bachelor’s degree in international relations. She hopes to one day work with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), so she is thrilled to have this opportunity to gain experience with a grassroots non-for-profit organization.
Benjamin Cranham
Special Projects Manager
Ben Cranham is the special projects manager for the Cheyenne River Youth Project. Ben has taken responsibility for coordinating the annual Christmas Toy Drive and various other projects. He returns to South Dakota whenever he is able. Ben first came to CRYP as a long-term volunteer in September 2007, During his six-month stay, he curated the Cokata Wiconi History Wall, a project based in CRYP’s teen center that he continues to develop. A keen runner, Ben completed the 2008 Edinburgh Marathon as a special fundraiser for the youth project. Ben lives and works in London, England, where he is the sales director for Tangible Benefit Ltd.
Alexandra Meador
Special Projects Manager
Currently working as a CRYP special projects manager from her home in Virginia, Alexandra Meador was formerly the organization’s youth programs director. Her full-time tenure began in June 2007 and concluded in March 2010, when she made the decision to pursue her dream of attending law school. Alex graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in creative writing and a Spanish minor. She graduated at the top of her class, earning the highest GPA in the College of Arts and Letters. During her years at JMU, Alex worked as an editorial assistant with the Journal of Mine Action, served as a student assistant in the university editor office and published an article about CRYP in Madison Magazine. (Visit www.jmu.edu/madisononline/madison/wm_library/W06_P32-P49.pdf.) Alex worked as a full-time Main volunteer in 2006, and she returned in December 2006 to volunteer for the annual CRYP Christmas Toy Drive. Her other past experience working with youth includes a stint as a camp counselor at Victory YMCA in Yorktown.
Tamara LaPLante
Office Manager
Tamara LaPlante is the office manager for the Cheyenne River Youth Project®. She joined the organization in 2008, bringing with her 12 years of experience in logistics/procurement, inventory control, cost savings, production planning, office management and team leadership. Tamara is responsible for CRYP’s on-site bookkeeping, she provides key administrative support to the executive director, and she maintains the office filing system as well as the office and program inventory. She also manages all member and donor databases, participant and family memberships, mailings, CRYP scrapbooks and photographs, statistical information and pay requests and deposits.
Although Tamara originally hails from Virginia, she has lived and worked on the Cheyenne River reservation since 2004. She has worked as a production control specialist/buyer for Hill Phoenix, as a senior buyer/planner for BP Solar and as a contract buyer for CDI-Honeywell, all in Virginia. She was a sample management specialist for NWT in Utah, and most recently, she worked as a bookkeeper for Farmer’s Union Oil Company in Dupree, a reservation community.
Wiyaka Chasing Hawk
Wellness Coordinator
Wiyaka Chasing Hawk joined CRYP in 2008 as the youth project’s wellness intern. Less than a year later, he became a full-time staff member. As wellness coordinator, Wiyaka develops programming, special events and community outreach activities that promote health and wellness among Cheyenne River’s youth. He also assists the executive director and youth programs department with wellness-related initiatives such as the Winyan Toka Win garden, Internet cafe and nutrition program; supervises the gymnasium, weight room and other public exercise spaces; develops and conducts wellness-related fundraisers; and provides valuable support for long-term and community volunteers.
A member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who was raised near Red Scaffold on the reservation’s west side, Wiyaka is dedicated to helping his community. He has worked with Future Generations Inc., the Boys and Girls Club at Red Scaffold and the Yankton Sioux Tribe’s Cunku Teca Treatment Center; he also has served as a wildland firefighter for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Since he joined CRYP in 2008, he has initiated a variety of wellness programs and activities for children of all ages — a volleyball camp, a fitness competition, basketball tournaments, basketball skills challenges, a road race, a hand drum contest and much more. In 2009, he took over the popular Midnight Basketball program and started its sister program, Junior Midnight Basketball.
