WHO WE ARE
At The Raven Collective, we believe health is not just the absence of disease but a state of sovereignty. Every person, family, and community has the fundamental human right to health and wellness. We aim to understand more about current systems, obstacles, resiliencies, people, and stories to help build healthy futures. We are committed to respecting indigenous values, sovereignty, and the self-determination of people and Tribal Nations.
The Raven Collective takes an indigenous and systems-based approach to our work in healthcare. We recognize the complexity of healthcare problems and work collaboratively to address them with a holistic, culturally relevant, and relational framework. With every relationship we develop and every project we take on, our collective supports a collaborative approach to consulting to help unwind the complexity of health and wellness systems.
Our approach
The Raven Collective is dedicated to promoting the health, well-being, and self-determination of Indigenous communities and is working to address the unequal access to health for Native people.
Our work is towards a future of Indigenous health equity, building relationships of respect, and uplifting culture to undo systemic, institutional, and individual racism.
The Raven Collective upholds the values of RESPECT, RELATIONSHIPS, RECIPROCITY, INTEGRITY, RESPONSIBILITY, and INTERCONNECTEDNESS.
Collective leaderShip
JESSICA LESTON: OWNER / PARTNER
Jessica has worked on a broad range of public health-related activities, where she has strived to create collaborative learning environments that bridge public health, policy, and clinical gaps to improve health and wellness in Indian Country. She has cultivated and maintained trusting relationships with Tribes, States, National Organizations, and Federal partners to ensure collaborative work to improve health and wellness for Indigenous people. Jessica has been part of amazing teams that have developed initiatives for various innovative health programs such as WERNATIVE, Indian Country ECHO, Paths (Re)Membered, and Native Health Resources.
Jessica believes strongly in learning from traditional indigenous ways of knowing to help guide, direct, and strengthen our public health systems. Her mother’s side of her family are settlers to Turtle Island, originally from Germany, Sweden, and Ireland. Her Father’s side of the family is originally from Austria, Finland, and Tsimshian from British Columbia/Southeast Alaska. She grew up in Chicago but spent many summers in Southeast Alaska with her Grandmother’s family – climbing Deer Mountain, picking huckleberries around Ward Lake and watching the salmon make their way to the Ketchikan Creek Falls. In her life and work, she honors the Alutiiq cultural value, “we are responsible for each other and ourselves.”
“We are reSPONSIBle for each other and ourselves.”
Alutiiq Cultural Value