Shaun Deschene

Shaun is a Turtle Mountain Chippewa citizen, and has been working to reduce the intergenerational, intractable poverty in Native America and the associated psychological and physical stress and resulting addiction outlets by building strong, independent tribal economies for over 25 years. She focuses on reducing regulatory barriers to access capital so tribes can build the infrastructure needed to support responsible development on tribal lands. Shaun actualized the Administration’s commitment to allocate 40% of the benefits from the clean energy transition into historically underserved communities by developing renewable energy on tribal lands. She now works for the federal government and currently serves as the Director of Native Affairs and Economic Development at the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Secretary’s Office.

Shaun is a graduate of Stanford University & received her law degree at the University of Arizona. Shaun shared she is excited to continue to sit on the CAB because “It has been a privilege to sit at the top of the decision-making tree of financial opportunity to learn how the process works & help our communities gain better access.”