Jill Jim belongs to the Diné (Navajo) American Indian Tribe, and she is of the Reed People Clan, and born of the Red-Running-Into-The-Water Clan. That is how she identifies herself as a Diné woman. She is originally from Paiute Mesa, which is in the vicinity of Navajo Mountain (Naatsis'aan), Utah. Her cultural values and traditions in the Navajo Way of Life were instilled in her while growing up in a community with less than 500 residents. She was inspired by the notion of running before a sunset is a traditional value in living well. She utilized this value to help others understand the western and traditional components to improving their well-being. With the support from family, she persisted in pursuing a career in the health field.

She received a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion and Community Health Education from Northern Arizona University in 2003. Recently, she completed a Master of Public Health and Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Utah. Her work experience reflects the cultural values of giving back to the community by working with the Navajo people for 3 years before graduate school. While in graduate school she also worked with the Urban Indian Health Programs to further her commitment in working with American Indian communities related to substance abuse prevention and health promotion.  

Jill is interested in the RWJF fellowship to enhance and apply program evaluation and various research methods – to ultimately improve the quality of life and well-being of diverse populations and communities at need.  Jill hopes to learn about program evaluation and the various applied evaluation research methods related to a broad range of human service programs.