Read about the project team:
Sybil Kawano
Project Director
M.A. in Museum Studies
Sybil Kawano originally came to Heart Mountain in June 2022 for a one-year service position through the Americorps VISTA program. In June 2023, she joined our full-time staff as Education Manager. Over the past year, Sybil has helped us advance several initiatives including our Children’s Day Festival, state-wide school field trips, and virtual museum tours. As Education Manager, she is developing new educational materials and taking the lead on our national and regional teacher workshops (including the NEH Educator Workshops pictured here). This fall she presented at the annual conferences of the Mountain-Plains Museum Association and the Montana Federation of Public Employees. Sybil holds an MA in Museum Studies from the State University of New York in Oneanta and a BA in Public History from Athens State University.
Aura Sunada Newlin
HMWF Executive Director
M.A. in Medical Anthropology, Ph.D. in Anthropology of Law
Ms. Newlin took the helm of Heart Mountain in May of 2022. Prior to that, she was an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming. A fourth-generation Wyomingite and fourth-generation Japanese American, her heritage involves intertwined stories of imprisonment at Heart Mountain, Tule Lake, and Manzanar; racially-segregated military service; and hardships suffered by Wyoming railroaders who were fired because of their Japanese ancestry. She actively educates about the contemporary relevance of Japanese American incarceration, and has delivered presentations to legal and lay audiences around the country.
Michael McDaniel
HMWF Membership & Development Manager
M.A. in Political Science
Michael (Mickey) McDaniel joined Heart Mountain’s team in August 2023 as Membership & Development Manager. Prior to this role, he worked with our staff to get Heart Mountain content into Wyoming schools via the University of Wyoming’s Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program. In addition to managing our databases and assisting with grant tracking, Mickey helped us develop new member-focused initiatives like our Family Research program and Nikkei Mapping project. Originally from Casper, Wyoming, Mickey earned his MA in Political Science from the University of Wyoming and is currently working on his EdD. His master’s thesis examined state justifications for paternalistic policy, and his doctoral dissertation focuses on administrative responses to hate speech in higher education. Mickey’s combination of technical skills, people skills, and out-of-the-box thinking make him a natural fit for this role at Heart Mountain.
Logan Christie
HMWF Director of Operations
Logan Christie joined the Heart Mountain team in February 2023 as Director of Operations, and he has already established himself as a key member of our leadership team as we manage increasingly complex projects through the Interpretive Center, the Mineta-Simpson Institute, and the wider historic site. Logan is a third-generation Wyomingite, life-long Cody boy, and University of Wyoming graduate with connections all across the state and a stint of work in New York City. For the past 13 years he has worked in the juvenile justice arena, serving most recently as the Youth Services Coordinator for Park County. He comes to us with a background in criminal justice administration and IT. Logan chairs the Wyoming State Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice, which advises the state on a variety of topics including alternatives to incarceration for youth. Fun facts about Logan: he is the son of award-winning landscape artist Reid Christie, he has an encyclopedic memory for sports (all types) and music (all genres), and he has a 9 handicap on the golf course.
Johnny Tim Yellowtail
HMWF Historic Site Caretaker
Johnny Tim joined the Heart Mountain team in January 2022. He is a member of the Apsáalooke nation, commonly known as the Crow nation. Johnny Tim is a Men’s Traditional Dancing Champion who has represented Apsáalooke traditions in Spain, Canada, and at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He is also trained in archaeological monitoring and twice helped repair the roof tarp on the Heart Mountain root cellar when full restoration was delayed during the pandemic. In his role as Historic Site Caretaker, Johnny Tim is tending to the physical, historical, and spiritual dimensions of this land that is sacred to Japanese Americans and Indigenous peoples alike. He is also serving as tribal liaison as the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation seeks to deepen our connections with the Indigenous peoples that have called this place home.
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation educator workshop has been made possible in part by a major grant from the Walk Family Foundation.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Walk Family Foundation.