Elsie Meeks

Elsie Meeks, an enrolled citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has served as State Director of USDA Rural Development in South Dakota since July 2009. In this capacity, she coordinates the efforts of 72 employees to work with others to ensure effective use of resources and that 40-plus programs are adequately serving rural South Dakota residents. Meeks has many years of experience working to promote economic and community development. In addition, she sits on the board of the Northwest Area Foundation.

Prior to joining USDA, Meeks was the President and CEO of First Nations Oweesta Corporation. Prior to her work at Oweesta, Elsie was active for 20 years in the development and management of The Lakota Funds, a small business and micro-enterprises development loan fund on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. She is a former member of both the Native Nations Institute's International Advisory Council and the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development's Honoring Nations Board of Governors. She also served a six-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and was the first Native American to serve on the Commission. [Source: USDA Rural Development]