Sarah EchoHawk, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, has been working on behalf of Indigenous people for over 20 years. She has led AISES, an organization dedicated to Advancing Indigenous People in STEM, since 2013, and currently serves as its President. Prior to joining AISES, Ms. EchoHawk was the Executive Vice President at First Nations Development Institute, a national nonprofit organization with a focus on economic development for Indigenous peoples and their communities. She also served as the interim CEO for the organization’s subsidiary, First Nations Oweesta Corporation, a community development financial institution (CDFI), during its management transition in 2010.

Before joining First Nations Development Institute, Ms. EchoHawk spent several years working for the American Indian College Fund, an organization focused on raising support for tribal colleges and universities. During her tenure there, she served in a variety of areas including operations, program management, communications, foundation relations, and individual giving. Ms. EchoHawk was an adjunct professor of Native American Studies at Metro State University of Denver for nine years where in addition to teaching introductory Native American studies courses, she also taught Native American Politics and co-taught Native Americans and Law with her father, John Echohawk, who co-founded the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) in 1970.

Ms. EchoHawk currently serves on several boards and committees including the American Indian Policy Institute, Last Mile Education Fund, National Girls Collaborative, Native Ways Federation, Digital Promise, PFLAG, and serves as PI/Co-PI on multiple National Science Foundation (NSF) grant-supported projects. She contributed as one of the writers to “Indigenous Voices,” a series of articles authored by Native organizations and leaders who are fighting for decolonization—and striving for environmental, economic, and social justice. The articles were originally published between 2019 and 2021 in Nonprofit Quarterly through a joint effort with First Nations Development Institute. The series is slated for publication as a book in 2023 by Island Press titled, Invisible No More: Voice for Native America.

Previously, she was a member of the ad hoc committee at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) for a project addressing the underrepresentation of women of color in tech and was contributing author to the publication, Transforming Trajectories for Women of Color in Tech (2022). Ms. EchoHawk served as an Ambassador for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Minorities in Energy Initiative during the Obama administration. She is the former vice chairperson for Native Americans in Philanthropy, and former chairperson for Red Feather Development Group.

Ms. EchoHawk has a Master of Nonprofit Management (MNM) degree from Regis University and an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Native American Studies from the Metro State University of Denver. She attended law school at the University of Colorado and completed additional graduate-level coursework in applied communications at the University of Denver.

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