Nicole (CoCo) Toves Villaluz is a Community Development Manager for ClearWay Minnesota. She is an enrolled Hidatsa from the Three Affiliated Tribes, but also has heritage from the Assiniboine Tribe and Chamorro people. She has over 15 years of experience in all phases of community development, capacity and mobilizing.
CoCo is one of the founding members of the Native American Tobacco Coalition of Montana (NATCOM). She has partnered with many diverse organizations such as Tobacco Policy Sharing Knowledge in Native Societies (TPSKINS); Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; American Cancer Society; and Many Voices, One Message. CoCo has presented at regional, statewide, national and international conferences on sacred use of tobacco through the teachings she learned from her elders. She presented at the Global Youth Advocacy Training in Washington D.C. in 2006.
Some of her proudest accomplishments include passing the Fort Peck No Smoking Resolution for her Tribe, being selected to present at the Auahi Kore (Smoke Free) Conference in Aotearoa (New Zealand), and passing the Ohinni Candi Wakandapi/Chani Wakan K/Nusa Commercial Tobacco Free Ordinance for the Fort Peck Tribes. CoCo incorporates different art forms like hip-hop, dance, poetry and more into the prevention activities to address commercial tobacco control.
CoCo has received an honorable mention from the American Legacy Foundation and is a Prevention Champion from the Indian Health Services for the work she has done. Her overall goal is to promote indigenous cultural wellness of our communities for our generations to come.