Our Emerging Leader Award is granted to applicants who demonstrate a deep commitment to addressing gender and sexual violence against Indigenous people, who are utilizing their studies to lead ongoing efforts to raise awareness, support survivors, or prevent future violence. Each Emerging Leader Award recipient is given a $500 honorarium.
Rachel is an an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, of the Ocese band and Bird clan. First and foremost, she is a mother to an intelligent, dinosaur loving, Minecraft playing, kindhearted, and cheese loving 5-year-old boy Payoopayoo (Seminole/Nez Perce). When not enjoying time with her son, she is a fulltime work employee in mental health, and a zombie looking graduate student at Dartmouth College. Her research is looking into the connection of sexual/physical assault Native children endured in boarding schools, and how that has trickled down to current day MMIW. She joined SBI as a Research Intern in fall 2022.