Vision for Next-Level Sovereignty

I’m a Cherokee, a Mother, a CPA, and a CFO. The Creator uniquely endowed me with gifts that allow me to see the big picture, to intuitively understand best paths forward and to use these skills for the benefit of tribes. I honorably served my own tribe as Treasurer for 8 years with a solid track record. 

I volunteer my expertise and time on important boards and advisory committees that advance efforts in Indian Country.  You will find me speaking regularly at conferences about the work I’m doing – creating evolved best practices, advocating for true tribal sovereignty, and blazing trails in thought leadership. 

Here are some of the things I accomplished with my tribe:

Financial Results

• Doubled the budget from $600M in 2011 to $1.2 Billion in 2019, enabling our economic impact to also double from $1.1B to $2.2B in the same time frame
• Administered $2.3 billion of federal funds with 8 years of clean external, single and agency audits
• Saved $40 million by implementing changes to employee benefits through exercise of tribal sovereignty
• Negotiated an uncollateralized $170 million loan to build a 469,000 sq. ft. Joint Venture healthcare facility and led efforts to cash flow purchase of equipment, as part of an overall $400 million healthcare expansion

Victory Behind the Scenes 

• Established centralized Grant Services Department enabling the Nation to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding and expand services to the people
• Authored two major legislative acts, the first modernized our treasury capacity and the second created the Cherokee Nation Sovereign Wealth Fund 
• Implemented Sarbanes-Oxley financial controls voluntarily, appropriate for a $1.2B organization
• Developed contingency plans to enable the Nation to withstand government shutdowns with no effects to jobs or services
• Negotiated agreements preserving tribal sovereignty, including electronic health records, treasury, investment advisory, line of credit, and software agreements
• Enabled funding and project managed cross-functional teams of HR, program staff, IT and others for numerous general welfare programs, physician/provider salary increases, capital projects, cybersecurity, environmental issues, maternity leave and the “We Care About Our Girls, Period!” project providing environmentally friendly products for young girls in health centers

Priceless Bridges to Success

• Fostered strong relationships with legislators, banks, corporate and nonprofit partners, federal and state elected/appointed officials, and Tribal Leaders
• Represented Cherokee Nation in government-to-government consultations 
• Performed Government Relations duties, regularly meeting with members of House, Senate and federal agencies, and   produced meaningful data reports on outcomes of federally funded programs which positively affected appropriations
• Work in enhancing disclosure and transparency resulted in annually receiving three “Excellence in Financial Reporting” awards from the Government Finance Officers Association

When you work with Native Advisory, you'll get the benefits of my expertise - and if you choose, the ability to work with other tribal experts that also share our values.