Dean is Co-founder and General Partner with Relevance Ventures, the largest Native-led venture firm based in the USA. A serial tech entrepreneur, Dean serves on numerous corporate boards. He co-founded NACIA to address the gap in resources for Native entrepreneurs and connect founders to capital asset managers. Dean graduated Harvard Law School in 1995 and is an enrolled member of the Potowomak Indian Tribe of Virginia.

At the age of 20, Kelly, Mnicoujou Lakota, founded the world’s first and now longest-running Indigenous fashion magazine. Having grown up on the Cheyenne River Reservation, Kelly intimately understand the challenges rural Native founders face in building growth companies. In 2023 she launched Skoden Ventures to connect impact venture capital to Native entrepreneurs. She is a founding Board Member of NACIA.

Valerie, Cherokee, is Co-Founder and President of Known, a financial services platform led by Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian American leaders. She is the former CFO of East Bay Community Foundation, and previously founded the first Native American owned investment bank. She currently holds seven FINRA registrations. She regularly lectures at Stanford University on topics including venture capital and impact investing.

Dr. Hanson is Assistant Vice President for Research at the University of New Mexico where he leads research initiatives related to sustainable energy and water management and biotechnologies. Dr. Hanson founded a biotech company in 2018 and is Lead PI for an NSF Engine grant focused on Native communities and natural resource management, as well as advisor to a second NSF Engine grant focused on quantum computing.

Spencer is a Managing Director at Sozo Ventures where he leads investments for the firm, from seed to pre-IPO. Spencer has worked at Sandia National Labs with a Q-level security clearance. He received a Master’s in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and is a Class 28 Kauffman Fellow. Spencer is a leader with the Stanford Indigenous Alumni Association.

Dr. Loy is widely considered a leader in the creative industries, having built the world’s first startup accelerator for creative companies. The programs have accelerated 667 companies from 22 nations; these companies have now raised $315 million in venture financing, and created nearly 3,000 jobs. She holds an MBA and speaks Spanish fluently. Her PhD research focused on environmental entrepreneurs’ strategies to build and use communication networks.

Cory Littlepage, an enrolled member of Chickasaw Nation, founded Tribal Diagnostics in October 2015 and has grown the company to nearly 50 employees. As CEO, he leads growth and operations of the company. He has two decades of experience in the healthcare field, beginning his career at Pfizer. He has worked in private equity, performing merger integration work. Cory holds a Master’s degree in Finance from Southern Methodist University.

Dr. Francis pioneers the creation of unconventional doorways for Indigenous communities to pursue science and technology. He is founder and CEO of Native Realities, LLC, and Red Planet Books and Comics, the first Native comic book shop in the world. He received a doctorate degree in education from Texas State University in 2014; his studies focused on Indigenous education and evaluation systems.

Grace supports marketing and outreach. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in mass communications and journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU. Her work has been featured in Indian Country Today, AZ Luminaria, and the Navajo Times. Grace’s expertise in marketing, media and public relations, foster online community building among the NACIA network and partners.

A recent graduate of Denver University with a degree in Finance, Amber leads NACIA’s content and education programs, working with the Board of Directors to create resources for the online platform that meet the needs of a wide range of under-served entrepreneurs seeking to raise capital and scale their ventures.