Eileen Briggs

Eileen is a grantmaking director for the Bush Foundation and is based in the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota. She provides strategic and day-to-day leadership for the Native nations strategy across all Bush programs and collaborative leadership for the community trust funds and community grant partners.

As part of the grantmaking team, Eileen helps find and select the highest potential ideas from communities throughout the region that can lead to high-impact investments for Bush. She is active in community conversations to understand the impact of Bush’s support and serves as a member of Bush’s management team.

Eileen is a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. She joined Bush in 2016 and is a 2016 Bush Fellow, a Native Nations Rebuilder and a Leadership South Dakota alum. She brings extensive experience in Tribal government, Tribal colleges and Native nonprofits, and deep understanding of rural and Native communities.

Eileen is a creative seamstress, writer and host of her own cooking show.

Additional experiences and leadership

• Bachelor’s degree, University of Minnesota
• Master’s degree, University of Minnesota
• Vice president, Minneapolis American Indian Center