By Corvo Rohwer, Puyallup Tribal News
While attending the Council for Tribal Employment Rights National Conference in Tulsa, Okla., Puyallup Tribe TERO Director Lisa Melendez was nominated for and received the 2026 TERO Director of the Year award.
Melendez has worked with the TERO Department since 2002, starting as a secretary and holding many other roles throughout the years in compliance, dispatch and the commission. After taking a few years off and subsequently returning to the department, she has served as the director of the department for seven years now.
Beyond her work with the Puyallup Tribe, Melendez is also a member of the Pacific Northwest Regional TERO Board, a branch of the Council for Tribal Employment. She said the nomination came from PNWR Vice Chair Teresa Ray-Butamay.
“She (Butamay) explained to me that she did it because she is aware of everything that’s going on here in Puyallup, with the changes to our ordinances, the massive change in staff that we had to overcome and the rebuilding of the program that we’ve had to do,” Melendez said. “Going in a different direction while still providing the services that we need to provide and overcoming all of those barriers — that is why she said she nominated me.”
The award came as a surprise to Melendez. She said she was overwhelmed with positive emotions after being asked to accept.
She said while she doesn’t do the work for the recognition, the experience of being honored by her peers nationwide was heartwarming.
“We do what we do in service of people, and to get recognition is very humbling,” Melendez said. “I continue to do this because of what we bring to the clients and our community. Everybody needs employment, everybody needs living wages.”
