Jessa Rae Growing Thunder, Ph.D.

Deputy Director

Dr. Jessa Rae Growing Thunder, Ph.D., is the Deputy Director for the BLIS Collective and a third-generation beadworker, quillwork artist, educator, and historian carrying forward generations of Dakota/Nakoda traditions from the Fort Peck Assiniboine/Sioux Tribes of northeastern Montana. Equal parts culture-bearer and change-maker, she moves fluidly between the beading table and the boardroom, stitching together tradition, advocacy, and impact. As the former Director of Tribal Nations Initiatives at Native Americans in Philanthropy, Jessa Rae led the organization’s Tribal Leader Advisory Committee and stewarded high-stakes funder relationships across the philanthropic landscape, channeling real dollars, and real resources directly into the hands of Tribal Nations and Native-led organizations doing the vital work of climate action and conservation. She is a builder of networks, a translator between worlds, and a relentless advocate for getting resources where they really belong. At the same time, she’s been quietly shaping the future of Native land justice by advising on landback initiatives that put Tribal sovereignty back where it belongs: in Tribal hands.