One of the people who makes the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’ GTB newsletter publication possible every month, Emerald Torrez, has been serving in the role of multi-media specialist for the past five years.
Graphic design and communication are just some of Torrez’ passions, and herself and fellow communications coordinator/ editor, Victoria Alfonseca, work together to bring up-to-date news and information to tribal members and the surrounding communities every day. It’s a job Torrez thoroughly enjoys that allows her not only to utilize her skill set, but also keeps her connected with community members on a daily basis.
“I feel like with such a small community, it’s really nice to be so tight knit because in a lot of other places, there’s no way you could go to your neighbor and be like ‘hey, can I actually borrow a cup of sugar?’ But out here, you could do that to almost anyone and they’d probably give you a cup of sugar and then some,” Torrez said. “With this job, I have become so involved. I’m at all the events taking photos and I’m at meetings recording them. I’m making flyers at the office, I’m sending out postcards, and doing all the things that a multimedia specialist does… And just being able to kind of communicate what we do here and why it's important.”
