Jessa Rae Growing Thunder

Jessa Rae Growing Thunder comes from the Fort Peck Assiniboine (Nakoda)/Sioux (Dakota) tribes. She is a third-generation beadwork and quillwork artist, educator, and historian. Jessa Rae is the Director of Tribal Nation Initiatives at Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP). She has a background in community-based methodologies, networking, facilitation, advocacy, and project development and management. Her current portfolio consists of working with Tribal communities on efforts of climate, conservation, and Tribal philanthropy.

Before joining NAP, she was the Indigenous Exchange Advisor at the Inter-American Foundation, where she led the development of a congressionally mandated initiative that fostered sustainable relationships between Native American communities and Indigenous communities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Jessa Rae holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Native American Studies from the University of California, Davis.