About First Peoples Fund
Founded in 1995, First Peoples Fund's mission is to honor and support the creative community-centered First Peoples artists; and nurture the collective spirit® that allows them to sustain their peoples.
Our vision is to communicate to the world the roots and philosophy of Indigenous artistic expression and its relationship to the collective spirit of First Peoples. We will strive to provide support and voice to the creative Indigenous artists who share their inspiration, wisdom, knowledge and gifts with their communities.
Lori Pourier
President
Her philanthropy work began at First Nations Development Institute based in Virginia where she served as the Associate Marketing Director. Following her tenure at First Nations, she operated her own marketing consultant business specializing in developing marketing strategies for nonprofit American Indian organizations, multicultural arts organizations and tribal communities. Ms. Pourier served on the Board of Directors of the Western States Arts Federation, the Honor the Earth Fund, the Chinook Fund and the National Indian Business Association. She currently serves on the board of directors for Grantmakers in the Arts and is the co-chair of the Indigenous Resource Network. She also is a board member of the Native Americans in Philanthropy and Red Cloud Indian School. In 1993, she participated in AIO's American Indian Ambassadors Leadership Program funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. She holds a Masters of Science from Southern New Hampshire University, Graduate School of Business. Nominated by the Ford Foundation, Ms. Pourier was selected for the Center for Social Innovation fellowship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a partnership between Stanford University and National Arts Strategies. The Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders-Arts (EPNL-Arts) honors fifty outstanding arts and culture leaders by selecting them to receive a CSI fellowship for the program.
Miranne Walker
Program Officer
Yanktonian Sioux descent
Miranne Walker has enjoyed a rewarding affiliation with First Peoples Fund (FPF) since January of 2004. She has extensive experience in financial and marketing fields. Her professional contributions, along with her rapid growth within the organization, have all been clearly vital to the overall continuity and consistency of FPF program efforts. She has steadily provided efforts that reflect measureable accomplishment in the effective achievement of mission and purpose particularly as it all relates to the greater field of non-profit management and administration.
As Program Officer at First Peoples Fund, Ms. Walker is responsible for all facets of grants management and administration to include the provision of technical assistance and support to various grantees. She is responsible for the coordination of associated program training and training curriculum which are key aspects in meeting programmatic goals. Ms. Walker participates in resource development, research of non-profit opportunities as well as program strategies, and the improvement of evaluation techniques. Ms. Walker continues to provide technology leadership which has been an invaluable resource for the organization. .
Miranne has family roots on the Crow Creek Indian reservation in South Dakota. Her goal is to provide eligible Native artists and community spirit treasurers the means to share and deepen the native art experience in sustainable profound ways and to frame success in a manner that reflects cultural expression at its best.
Logan Anderson
Program Manager
Logan Anderson joined First Peoples Fund in 2012 as the new Program Manager for Nonprofit Partnerships. She is an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma; however she is closely tied to her Mandan roots on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. She comes from First Nations Oweesta Corporation (Oweesta), and her experience in CDFIs stems from working for a grassroots, certified Native CDFI on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Dakota. At Oweesta, Logan provided many hours of technical assistance, coordination of consultants, and was a very effective Client Manager for many Native CDFIs. She is also an accomplished presenter and provided technical assistance in all aspects of market analysis research. Living most of her life in the California Bay Area, Logan moved to South Dakota in 2003 to be closer to family.
Sheila White Horse
Operations Manager
Sheila is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota). She joined the FPF staff inMay 2011. Prior to coming to FPF,Sheila was employed for five years with First Nations Oweesta Corporation, a Native Community Development Financial Institution located in Rapid City, SD. as its Office Manager and Administrative/Payroll Manager. Her office management skills bring valuable help to FPF and have been well honed, thanks to administrative positions over 11 years at Intertribal Bison Cooperative and Rapid City Indian Health Board.Sheila also served as Regional Program Director for 5 years with Childfund International, which allowed her to oversee local programming in South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Nebraska. She received a certificate in Business Administration and Office Management from Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institue.
Gabi Falder
Grants Administrator/Bookkeeper
Gabi's tenure with the Fund began in 2003 as the bookkeeper. After FPF spun off as a donor-advised fund at the Tides Foundation, Gabi was responsible for setting up FPF accounting systems. Today she serves as the Grants Administrator and Bookkeeper. Prior to joining the Fund she managed a nonprofit Animal Shelter for two years in Dalevile, Alabama where her responsibilities included staff management, accounting and all activities surrounding animal care and protection. She received her certification in accounting while in Germany. Prior to moving to the United States she served for nine years in the accounting department at the Klinikum in Ansbach, Germany. She is married and her husband serves in the United States Air Force, Ellsworth AFB.
Sherry Salway Black, (Oglala Lakota)
Chairperson
National Congress of American Indians
Johnson Scholarship Foundation
Trillium Asset Mgmt. Corp.
Hopi Education Endowment Fund
David Cournoyer, (Sicangu Lakota)
Secretary/Treasurer
Kalima Rose
Member
Policy Link
Lori Pourier, (Oglala/Mnicoujou Lakota)
Member
Native Americans in Philanthropy
Grantmakers in the Arts
Red Cloud Indian School
L. Kelley Lindquist
Member
Artspace Projects
Don Owen
Member
Owen Consulting Group/Owen Feathers
Ron Martinez Looking Elk (Isleta/Taos Pueblos)
Member
Americans for Indian Opportunity
Theresa Secord (Penobscot)
Member
Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance
Maria Lopez De Leon
Member
National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures
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In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, First Peoples Fund is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, religion, sex, and familial status.