This is the third of a five-part series. Part One is here and Part Two is here.
Brad McClain is chief financial officer at UW Credit Union, the third-largest credit union in the state of Wisconsin with more than 300,000 members and $4.8 billion in assets. He has served in that role for more than 21 years. He was previously CFO at Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Potawatomi Business Development Corporation. He is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota. He earned a degree in accounting and business finance from the UW-Platteville in 1983.
Rob Pero is the founder, CEO, and creative director of media group Perodigm, where he produces and directs films, guides the building and execution of strategic marketing campaigns, and offers Indigenous-focused diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting for organizations nationwide. He is also founder of the Indigenous Business Group, a nonprofit supporting Indigenous-led businesses and economic development in Indian country. He is the founder of Canndigenous, the first independent Indigenous-owned hemp company in Wisconsin, and Ripley Green Apothecary, as well as the founder of a leading national cannabis advocacy organization, the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association. He is a member of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians. He was also varsity girls golf coach at Cambridge High School for 10 years. He graduated from Madison College in 2001 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Full Sail University in 2013.
Nicole Fish is business development and improvement manager at Menominee Tribal Enterprises, where she previously served as research and development director. She spent nearly 10 years at the College of the Menominee Nation, first as financial aid and later as dean of student services. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Silver Lake College and an MBA from Lakeland University.
Michelle Greendeer-Rave is an associate justice of the Ho-Chunk Nation Tribal Court. She began serving as tribal attorney after graduating from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1998. She is also a member of the Jackson County Board of Supervisors and the Western Technical College District Board of Trustees.
Guy Anahkwet Reiter is executive director of Menīkānaehkem Community Rebuilders, a grassroots community organization based on the Menominee Reservation in Northeast Wisconsin working to revitalize Menominee communities. Located on an 80- acre farm, the organization focuses on initiatives in food sovereignty, youth development, culture and language, energy sovereignty and environmental justice. He and other elders have hosted students from the Xicano Institute for Education and Self Determination summer program for overnight stays in the summer and taught about the land, healing medicines, and how to disconnect to reconnect to the land.
James Flores is tribal liaison for the Milwaukee Public Museum, where he participates in exhibit design, performs outreach with community members and elected tribal government officials, and works with Tribal Historic Preservation Officers in the repatriation of cultural and ceremonial items that fall under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). He previously served as admissions counselor for Native American outreach and recruitment at UW-Madison and scholarship coordinator for the Forest County Potawatomi Foundation. Along with Micaela Salas Livingston, he pushed UW-Madison to offer free tuition to Indigenous students, a policy the university adopted earlier this year. A member of the Oneida Nation, he earned a degree in American Indian Studies with a certificate in Cultures and Communities from UW-Milwaukee in 2017.
Part Four coming tomorrow!
