Burns recognized for community impact

Tribal member Aubony Burns was recently announced as an awardee for the Adeline Garcia Community Service Awards.

This is an annual fundraiser hosted by Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB) to honor leaders whose service has had a significant impact on urban Native well-being in the Seattle area. This event is also a time when the community comes together to invest in Native health. All proceeds from the event will support expansion projects that will help SIHB bring culturally attuned healthcare to Indigenous people throughout the region.

Aubony is a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney at the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) and an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She is a trial attorney currently assigned to the Most Dangerous Offender Project (MDOP), a specialized homicide unit. Aubony began her career at the KCPAO in 2013 after a career in law enforcement in New Mexico. She has prosecuted a wide variety of crimes, including murders, rapes, child abuse and assaults. She has spent her career advocating for victims of violence with a focus on gender-based violence.

Aubony has provided trainings, CLEs, and educational presentations to law enforcement, law schools, attorneys, judges, and community members in Washington, New Mexico, and Oregon. She is the current legislatively appointed representative from the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys on the Washington State Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Task Force (MMIWP).

Aubony is dedicated to helping forge strong relationships between government agencies, service and resource providers, and community members to enhance the safety and visibility of Native women and children.