Shawn Spruce (Laguna Pueblo), Host: Shawn is a natural conversationalist and story-teller. Before becoming the host of Native America Calling he was a frequent guest on the show, starting with his first appearance in 2011. Shawn’s professional background includes financial education and community development expertise, building successful consulting career as a nationally recognized financial capability specialist. In 2021 he won the FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s prestigious Ketchum Prize, for longstanding and dedicated commitment to the financial education needs of Native American and Alaska Native communities. His experience as a grassroots trainer and facilitator along with a broad knowledge of Indigenous people and issues prepared him with the research and communication skills required to host a live, daily Native focused talk show. Shawn’s hobbies include reading, eating good food and helping his daughter build Lego castles.
Andi Murphy (Diné), Senior Producer: Andi’s journalism career started in 2011 at the Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun-News where she was a features and food writer. She joined Native America Calling in 2014 as the associate producer and has been covering Indigenous issues and news since. In 2017, she started the award-winning Toasted Sister Podcast, one of the only shows about Indigenous food. Andi is a freelance multimedia food journalist contributing to publications like New Mexico Magazine, Eater, and the podcast Proof by America’s Test Kitchen. Andi is a National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s Native American 40 Under 40 award winner. In 2022, she started “The Menu,” a special, monthly Indigenous food show on Native America Calling.
Sol Traverso (Athabascan descent, Puerto Rican), Associate Producer: Sol started interning with Native America Calling in 2017 while he was studying Journalism and Communication at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2021, he was awarded a Local News Fund Fellowship with The Taos News, a weekly newspaper in Taos, New Mexico. There he reported on a variety of different topics from climate change to ranchers. After the fellowship ended, he excitedly took up an empty post at Native America Calling. Ultimately, he wants to continue telling wide-ranging stories and bring Native perspectives to the forefront.
Art Hughes, Executive Producer: Art is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years experience. He has devoted the largest portion of his career to public radio, reporting on city politics, urban affairs, immigrant and ethnic communities, education and social disparities. He also worked as a multimedia journalist for a Minneapolis-based online start-up, and as a web editor and social media strategist for a daily Minneapolis business newspaper. Since 2015 he has dedicated his energies toward the mission of Koahnic Broadcast Corporation to expand the understanding of Native issues from Native perspectives. He has been recognized with awards including an Edward R. Murrow Award, a Gerald Loeb Award (as part of a team of reporters) and the Minnesota SPJ Peter S. Popovich Award, among others.
