Eileen is a Grantmaking Director focusing on Native American communities across all programs. She provides strategic and day-to-day leadership for our grant programs and is active in community conversations to understand how we can spread great ideas and have the most impact possible. Eileen also leads the Foundation’s Native Nation Building and Government Redesign initiative, which focuses on supporting Native self-determination and helping governments solve problems by better understanding and designing for the people they serve. Eileen joined the Foundation in 2016 and currently co-leads our Equity Committee.
Eileen is a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe with 20 years’ experience in tribal government, tribal colleges, and native non-profits. Bringing her lived experience of rural and native communities into philanthropy fuels her commitment to the work of the Foundation. She is a Bush Fellow, Rebuilder and Leadership South Dakota Alum and currently serves as Vice President of the Minneapolis American Indian Center.
A creative seamstress, writer and host of her own cooking show, Eileen makes her primary home on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Minnesota.