Member Education Sessions: Protecting All Native Knowledge Journeys

Tracy L. Canard Goodluck is a proud member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and is also Mvskoke Creek. She comes to CNAY with an extraordinary record of leadership in Indian Country, and a strong vision for expansive and impactful contributions to Native Youth.

Most recently, Tracy was a Presidential appointee and served as the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior (DOI). Before that, she helped lead the Tribal Affairs policy portfolio at the Biden White House Domestic Policy Council. She had other important positions relating to Native American issues at the White House and DOI starting in 2014, where she began her federal service as a Presidential Management Fellow. Tracy also co-founded the Native American Community Academy, where she supported Native youth identity through language and culture, holistic wellness and leadership opportunities, and was Director of Organizational Advancement and Youth Initiatives at Americans for Indian Opportunity, each in her hometown of Albuquerque. She has also been a classroom teacher on the Navajo, Hopi and Tulalip reservations.  

Tracy has a JD and a Certificate in Indian Law from the University of New Mexico, two master’s degrees in education and graduated from Dartmouth College in Sociology with an emphasis in Native American Studies. A longtime collaborator and friend of CNAY, Tracy first became acquainted with the program in 2015 during its collaborative work on Generation Indigenous (Gen-I), headed by the Obama Administration. Since then, she has worked with CNAY youth on the White House Tribal Youth Gatherings, and as host of Champions for Change and Remembering Our Sisters cohorts at DOI.

An enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Julie Garreau (Lakota name Wičhaȟpi Epatȟaŋ Wiŋ / Touches the Stars Woman) is chief executive officer of the nonprofit Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Since 1988, she has overseen CRYP’s evolution from a small youth center to a 5-acre campus that includes youth and teen centers, arts and culture institute, art park, garden, and social enterprises; she also recently oversaw the addition of a CRYP employee housing development in Eagle Butte and a nearly 40-acre property adjacent to sacred Bear Butte that will be used for cultural programming.

In addition to completing several high-profile fellowships over the years, Julie has been recognized with such prestigious awards as the Bush Prize for Innovation, Spirit of Dakota Award, Presidential Points of Light Award, Tim Wapato Public Advocate of the Year Award, and Americans for the Arts’ Selena Roberts Ottum Award for Arts Leadership.

Dr. Shelly C. Lowe is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Ganado, Arizona. She is President of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, NM. Her career in higher education has included administrative roles as Executive Director of the Harvard University Native American Program, Assistant Dean in the Yale College Dean's Office, and Director of the Native American Cultural Center at Yale University. Prior to these positions, she spent six years as the Graduate Education Program Facilitator for the American Indian Studies Programs at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Lowe has served in a variety of leadership roles nationally, most recently as Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities under the Biden-Harris Administration. Prior to serving as Chair, she served six years as a member of the National Council on the Humanities, an appointment she received from President Obama. Other roles include serving as a member of the University of Arizona Alumni Association Governing Board and as a member of the Challenge Leadership Group for the MIT Solve Indigenous Communities Fellowship. She has also served on
 the board of the National Indian Education Association and as a Board of Trustee for the National Museum of the American Indian. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, a Master of Arts in American Indian Studies, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Education
 Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Arizona.

Doris Tinsley (Shinnecock) is the creator of Native Americans in Higher Education and Mentorship (NAHEM) and Operations Director at ChangeMakers Hawaiʻi, where she leads Indigenous-centered education and workforce initiatives across Turtle Island and the Pacific. Her work focuses on building pathways for Native students and communities through mentorship, culturally grounded curriculum design, and equitable philanthropic partnerships.


A graduate of Virginia Tech and current Master of Tribal Administration and Governance candidate at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Doris is deeply committed to protecting traditional knowledge and advancing Indigenous-led models of education and leadership.

Savannah Baber is from the Chickahominy Indian Tribe and the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. She grew up in Raleigh, NC, but her family frequently traveled up and down I-95 to stay connected to their tribal communities in Charles City, Virginia and Robeson County, North Carolina. 

Savannah earned her B.A. in English and Politics at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, and she remains a proud Demon Deacon even though she is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Go Deacs, always/Go Heels, sometimes! 

Savannah previously worked at Wake Forest as the Assistant Director for the university's Intercultural Center, and she loved producing co-curricular programming for students. Most recently, Savannah was the Virginia Indian Program Coordinator at Virginia Humanities; in that role, she enjoyed partnering with the tribal nations across the state to promote, preserve, and produce indigenous knowledge. 

Outside of work, Savannah enjoys traveling, going to brunch with friends, and watching bad (but really good) reality TV. She resides in Winston-Salem, NC and insists that it's the most underrated city in the state.

Shandiin was born and raised on Diné Bikeyah, filtering through many different towns on the Navajo Nation during her childhood. She currently lives on traditional Ohlone and Esselen lands, now recognized as the Monterey Bay in California.

Her community has guided her professional work, where she has focused on supporting Indigenous-led nonprofits in communication and development roles, working with grassroots organizations like Yee Há’olníi Dóo or larger legacy organizations like the Association on American Indian Affairs.

With a deep appreciation for traveling and learning from new perspectives, she is grateful to have spent three years studying in France for her Bachelor of Arts in journalism and global communications. She continues to freelance as a journalist with work published through Navajo Times, Peacock Plume, and Changing Womxn Collective.