Pamela Jumper-Thurman facts for kids

Pamela Jumper-Thurman (born Pamela Sue Jumper; September 1, 1947) is an American academic, epidemiologist, researcher, evaluator, and grantsmanship consultant. She is best known for her role in the development of the Community Readiness Model and as co-editor of the legacy book Cherokee National Treasures: In Their Own Words. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a jeweler.

Jumper-Thurman is the President and co-owner of Council Oak Training and Evaluations, Inc., with Barbara Plested.

Career

Jumper-Thurman began her academic career working as a research associate at the Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research at Colorado State University (CSU) and moved to the position of senior research scientist. She later worked as senior research scientist in the CSU's ethnic studies department. There she also served as the project. director of the National Center for Community and Organizational Readiness.

She has worked on cultural issues utilizing participatory community research. She is one of the primary developers of the Community Readiness Model, which assists communities in creating positive community change around a specific issue by facilitating their progression through a series of nine stages of readiness. The model has been used extensively in Native American communities for a variety of social challenges. It has also been used by many other races. The World Health Organization has also adapted the model to fund five countries to address the issue of child maltreatment. The model has been used extensively throughout the world.

Jumper-Thurman assisted the First Nations people throughout Canada to utilize the Community Readiness Model in various projects and worked with First Lady Laura Bush and First Lady of Ohio, Hope Taft, as a trainer on Community Readiness for the Helping America's Youth campaign and the Building Bridges campaign, respectively.

She has served as a member of the national Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) Advisory Council and Rosalynn Carter's Caregiving Panels and has served as Principal Investigator/Co-Principal Investigator for 18 federally funded grants and evaluated more than 100 federally funded projects throughout the United States.