(she, they) Deborah Ann Begay is Mexican Clan born for Towering House. Her maternal grandfather is Mountain Cove Clan and her paternal grandfather is Bitter Water Clan. She is the first Native American to be elected as a Maricopa County Justice of the Peace. She served as judge for the Moon Valley Justice Court from 2021 through 2024. She was recently elected Justice of the Peace for the Encanto Court. Her four-year term begins January 1, 2027. Deborah identifies as Two Spirit. She is a single parent of three amazing children. Her children only know her as Daddy. She travels around the country speaking on LGBTQ+ rights, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and was recently the keynote speaker for the LGBTQ Federal Task Force’s annual conference in Las Vegas. She was the co-editor of the Navajo Nation Peacemaking Manual and is a published author as well. Deborah comes from a long line of Indigenous warriors and, in their honor; she is a veteran of the United States Naval Reserves. She proudly served for twenty years. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Native American History from UC Berkeley and her Juris Doctorate from Sandra Day O'Connor School of Law, where she specialized in Federal Indian Law.