Fellows Spotlight
Misty Klann
(Mesa, 2013)
Principal Owner
Bluecorn Consulting, LLC
Misty Klann is a citizen of the Diné (Navajo) Nation who grew up near the Four Corners area in northeastern Arizona, in the town of Rock Point. Now, she and her partner, Derek, live in east Mesa with their two children.
After more than 20 years of serving at various levels in the public sector, Klann recently founded her own firm, Bluecorn Consulting, LLC, with a vision to empower Tribal Nations by strengthening their long-term transportation planning efforts through data-informed decision-making. By enhancing the foundational transportation data that supports their plans, Klann believes that tribes can more effectively exercise their sovereignty and ensure they have an impactful voice at local, regional, state, and national policy tables.
Klann’s academic training is in information management and technology, but she has spent her professional life in transportation planning. She believes transportation planning has a direct impact on how tribes deliver essential programs, what federal and state funding they access, and ultimately, the capacity and flexibility of their self-determination and governance.
“It’s actually a perfect fit. Planning is, at its core, all about collecting and analyzing data to make smart, informed decisions for the near- and long-term future,” she says.
Misty’s mother, a single parent, raised six children while rebuilding her life, finding her voice, and growing her career. Misty’s held a long-term vision that, through hard work, provided Misty and her siblings with a solid foundation. Because of that, Klann feels she now can plan and pivot more freely, a foundation she wants to help Tribal Nations strengthen.
“Out of sheer necessity and survival, she often had to jump into challenges with both feet and trust that things would work out. There was simply no room or luxury for extensive, formal planning,” Klann said.
Her mother’s experiences empowered Klann to take on big challenges, knowing that her commitment to hard work and keeping her eyes on the larger vision will allow her to explore, challenge norms, achieve her goals, and enjoy the flavors of life.
Klann considers the Flinn-Brown Network a foundational source of support and expertise.
“I genuinely think of the Fellows as a supportive family of like-minded, passionate people advocating, analyzing, and finding solutions for the betterment of Arizona’s communities,” she says.
Professionally, she believes she always has a trusted resource —a group of individuals with incredible experience and credentials whom she can call on for reliable guidance or deep institutional knowledge. Additionally, she finds that participating in the Network’s ongoing learning opportunities, like the CivEx webinars, is invaluable for staying up to date with current state policy issues and direction. Klann find this essential to her work with Tribal Nations.
She believes the primary opportunity for strengthening civic health in Arizona lies in re-prioritizing human connection over political polarization. “Fundamentally, we share one earth and are stewards of our collective future. We need to actively reconnect, re-energize our shared vision for the state, and strengthen our core sense of community,” she says. “By refocusing on our shared fate, we can accomplish great things together.”
Book Recommendation
I recommend Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
The author is a Potawatomi scientist who beautifully invites readers to walk in two worlds, Indigenous wisdom and Western science, and find value in both. She then challenges us to use that knowledge to live now while taking care of the future. As a logical and structured thinker with a background in data, technology, biology, chemistry, and medicine, I find this book highly relatable. It helps me remember not to take myself too seriously and to laugh at myself, while also feeling empowered to protect my heritage in a predominantly Western society. This in turn shapes my leadership, my motherhood, and my vision for the future. I think anyone picking this up would appreciate that science, so often seen as black and white, is actually not so. The inherent intelligence of nature and the perspectives presented, if we stop long enough to enjoy, are pure enjoyment and hold many life lessons and, thus, freedom.
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