Honoring Our Past Leadership

4 The Future Foundation is grateful for the individuals who have dedicated their time, leadership, and passion to advancing our mission. Their service and commitment have helped shape our foundation and create meaningful opportunities for Indigenous youth and communities.

We sincerely thank our former board members and leaders for their contributions and continued place in our foundation's story.

With GRATITUDE

FORMER LEADERSHIP AND BOARD MEMBERS

Janice Doskey - New York Former Board Member

Gayle Kelley - Massachusetts Former Executive Director

Lukas Korver - New York Former Board Member

Rex Lyons - Onondaga Nation Former Board Member

Jamiel Morris Former Board Member

Scott Neiss - Israel Former Board Member

HONORARY BOARD

Notah Begay III - Navajo, San Felipe & Isleta Pueblo

Carmen Davis

Gary “Litefoot” Davis - Cherokee Nation

Suzan Shown Harjo - Cheyenne & Boulder Muscogee

Sid Jamieson - Cayuga Nation

in memoriam

sacheen littlefeather

Apache & Yaqui

Sacheen Littlefeather was the first woman of color, and first Native American Indian woman to ever refuse an Academy Award for political purposes. She declined the 1973 Oscar on behalf of Best Actor Marlon Brando in the movie The Godfather.

In her 60-second speech at the Oscars, before millions of people – the first time the Oscars was broadcast via satellite – Sacheen spoke out against the stereotyping of Indians in film and the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee in South Dakota.

As a result, she was blacklisted from the entertainment industry by J. Edgar Hoover and the F.B.I. Sacheen then focused her life on addressing Native suicide and mental health and Native nutrition. She became an advocate for Missing and Murdered Native Women, and a founding Board member of The San Francisco Indian AIDS Institute. Sacheen is active in Native American culture and dance events, as well as Women with Breast Cancer.

Sacheen treasured the time she spent working with Mother Teresa of Calcutta in Hospice work, while facing her own terminal illness.

Sacheen lived with courage and conviction, confronting racial discrimination and injustice. She walks a fine line between life and the spirit world. This is Sacheen.

“I want my legacy here on earth to be that I spoke the truth. As women, we have been used to being silenced, and we are silenced no more. When I look at other women, I look at them as bonding together. Different nationalities of women need to support other nationalities of women as one unit together.” – Sacheen Littlefeather

alf jacques

Legendary Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Maker | Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Player and Coach | Cultural Educator and Lecturer

Onondaga Nation

Alf Jacques of the Onondaga Turtle Clan is recognized as the world’s foremost traditional lacrosse stick carver. A decorated lacrosse player and coach, Alf learned to make wooden lacrosse sticks at age 12 from his father, Lou. Together, they produced more than ten thousand sticks a year, all from hickory trees and hand-carved using traditional methods.

Alf was among the select few traditional stick-makers still actively producing custom lacrosse sticks. In 2014, Alf was inducted into the US Lacrosse Upstate New York Chapter Hall of Fame alongside his father, and he frequently attended lacrosse events to showcase his talents and methods and to teach others about the Native American traditions of lacrosse and stick-making.

ERNIE STEVENS JR.

Chairman, Indian Gaming Association | WEBE | Film Producer | Educator | Developer

Oneida Nation

Ernie Stevens, Jr. (Oneida) - Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. Stevens served as Chairman and national spokesman for the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) in Washington, DC. NIGA, established in 1985, is a nonprofit organization of 184 Indian Nations, with additional non-voting associate members representing tribes and businesses engaged in tribal gaming enterprises from around the country.

From 1993 to 1999, Stevens served as an elected councilman for the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. He is a former First Vice President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). As a respected leader in Indian Country, Stevens also served as a long-standing board member of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development Board and the Nike N7 Foundation Board. He is Vice Chairman of the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) Foundation and served on the Native American Advisory Board for the Boys and Girls Club of America. In 2012, Stevens was inducted into the prestigious Boys & Girls Club of America Alumni Hall of Fame.

Stevens earned an Associate’s degree from Haskell Indian Nations University, in Lawrence, Kansas and a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Mount Senario College in Ladysmith, Wisconsin.