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2009. In this capacity, she coordinates the efforts of 72 employees
to work with others to ensure use of resources and 40 + programs
are serving rural South Dakota residents. Ms. Meeks has over 20
years experience working to promote economic and community
development. She was previously the President/CEO of First Nations
Oweesta Corporation and the founding Executive Director
of Lakota Funds, the first certified Native community development
financial institution on a reservation. Through her leadership, communities
and rural residents will have the opportunity to develop
and grow while also improving their quality of life.
She has served on several boards, including the Lakota Funds,
Corporation for Enterprise Development, Council on Foundations,
and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Partnership for Housing. She was also an
International Advisory Council member of Native Nations Institute
and on the Board of Governors for the Honoring Nations program
of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development.
Ms. Meeks was the first Native American to serve on the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights where she completed a six-year term.
Ms. Meeks currently sits on the board of the Northwest Area Foundation.
She and her husband, Jim, make their home on their ranch
near Kyle, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Lakota Mowrer
Lakota Mowrer is the Assistant Director at Four Bands. In this role,
Lakota supports the leadership of Four Bands’ Executive Director,
establishes new and fosters existing partnerships, and leads and
manages efforts to reach organizational goals. Lakota is an enrolled
member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. She graduated from the
University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology.
Upon graduation, she joined Teach for America and taught
on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation at Todd County High School.
Lakota obtained her Masters in Social Work Degree from Washington
University in St. Louis with the Kathryn M. Buder Center for
American Indian Studies. Lakota individualized her course of study
to concentrate in economic security and social development through
the life course of American Indians. In addition to her educational
experience, Lakota has completed a summer fellowship with National
Congress of American Indians. She has served on the Native
American Alumni Board of Directors at the University of Notre
Dame. Lakota initiated program evaluations at the Consortium for
Graduate Study in Management and Washington Internships for Native
Students to develop program components for American Indian
participants.
Doug O’Brien
Doug O’Brien J.D., LL.M., was appointed Deputy Under Secretary
for USDA Rural Development on August 1, 2011. Prior to his appointment,
O’Brien served as a Senior Advisor to Secretary Tom
Vilsack and Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan.
Before joining the United States Department of Agriculture,
O’Brien served as the Assistant Director at the Ohio Department of
Agriculture. In this capacity, he assisted the Director in administering
the day-to-day operations of that department in such areas as
plant industries, animal health, and its laboratories. In addition, he
was responsible for developing the department’s biofuels, bioproducts
and renewable energy policy efforts. O’Brien has also served as
Senior Advisor to Iowa Governor Chet Culver, Interim Co-Director
for the National Agricultural Law Center in Fayetteville, Ark., and
Senior Staff Attorney at the Drake Agricultural Law Center in Des
Moines, Iowa.
He is former counsel for the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee,
where he worked on the 2002 Farm Bill, livestock marketing, concentration,
agricultural credit, and cooperative issues. He also served
as Legislative Assistant for Representative Leonard Boswell, focusing
primarily on Rep. Boswell’s work on the House Agriculture Committee,
and as a Clerk for Justice Jerry Larson of the Iowa Supreme
Court. O’Brien graduated from Loras College and earned a Juris
Doctorate with honors from the University of Iowa. In addition, he
holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Law from the University of
Arkansas.
Jacqueline Pata
Jacqueline Pata is the Executive Director of National Congress for
American Indians (NCAI). She is a member of the Raven/Sockeye
Clan of the Tlingit Tribe (pronounced – Kling-get) and a member
of the Central Council of the Tlingit-Haida Indian tribes of Alaska.
Mrs. Pata was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Native American
Programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) during the Clinton Administration.
Mrs. Pata serves on a variety of national executive boards, including
the Executive Board for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
and the Executive Board for the George Gustave Heye Center of
the National Museum of the American Indian. She is also a board
member of Sealaska Corporation, an Alaska Native regional corporation.
In her commitment to American Indian youth development,
Pata sits on the Native American Advisory Council for the Boys and
Girls Clubs of America.
Prior to joining NCAI in June 2001, Pata served as Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Native American Programs of the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development. The Office of Native American
Programs (ONAP) administers programs throughout the United
States, which provide affordable housing for Native Americans.
Previously, Pata served as the Executive Director of the Tlingit-Haida
Regional Housing Authority headquartered in Juneau, Alaska and
she is a former Vice-Chair of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation.
She served as Chairperson of the National American Indian
Housing Council and was appointed to the National Commission on
American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Housing. She
also has served on the National Community Development Financial
Institution Fund Advisory Board, an advisory board to the U.S.
Department of the Treasury.
Doug Patton
Doug Patton currently serves as the Business Success Coach/Youth
Involvement Specialist at Lakota Funds. In this capacity, he works
with clients and teaches financial literacy, business, and homebuyer
education classes. He is certified in Core Four, Building Native Communities,
Indianprenuership, and Pathways Home curricula. Doug was
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