Susan Jenkins - New Board Member

Susan Jenkins New Native Arts & Cultures Foundation Board Member
Executive Director
Cherokee Preservation Foundation

Susan Jenkins is the Executive Director of the Cherokee Preservation Foundation in Cherokee, NC. As the first employee, she provided leadership for the “start-up “phase, hired staff and developed the grant making strategy and infrastructure. The Foundation recently completed another grant cycle that brings the total number of grants to over 600 with an investment of nearly $51 million over a nine year period.

Previously, Dr. Jenkins served as Senior Program Director at the Hitachi Foundation and Program Director at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she oversaw a multi-million dollar portfolio focusing on corporate citizenship and rural development, respectively.

Before starting her philanthropic work, she was a rural health policy analyst for the University of Georgia. For eleven years, she worked as an extension sociologist in Community Health Programs for the Department of Economic and Community Development. During her tenure, she helped leaders, organizations and citizens to identify and find workable solutions to local health issues. She also served as the university’s liaison to state, national, and international health and health care organizations.

She is Chairperson for the Southern Rural Development Center’s Board of Directors and serves on the Steering Committee for the WNC Nonprofit Pathways, a 17 county regional collaborative. She also serves as Board member for Leadership North Carolina and the Lake Junaluska Assembly. Other memberships include the North Carolina Network of Grantmakers, Native Americans in Philanthropy, Grantmakers and the Arts and the Southeastern Council of Foundations. Jenkins served on the Policy Board of the National Rural Health Association and was a member of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health. She has authored many articles and was a member of the National Editorial Board of The Journal of Health for the Poor and Underserved.

Jenkins earned a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University, a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky and a doctorate in sociology from The University of Georgia. Born in Oklahoma, Dr. Jenkins is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation.

The mission of the Cherokee Preservation Foundation is to enhance the quality of life for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and to strengthen its neighbors in seven western North Carolina (WNC) counties (Cherokee, Jackson, Haywood, Clay, Graham, Swain and Macon) who are partnering with the Cherokee to resolve regional issues. Funding areas include cultural preservation, economic development, employment opportunities and environmental preservation on the Qualla Boundary and on or near other tribal lands in WNC.

“These gifts demonstrate strong tribal interest in creating a powerful funding engine for protecting and preserving Native art and culture—the very cornerstones of tribal sovereignty. A foundation of this nature will help reverse the long history of government suppression of Native culture done as part of the United States' assimilation program. Through gifts of this nature, Indian Country can direct its resources to protect what is closest to home to all Indian tribes—our own cultures."

Walter Echo-Hawk, Pawnee

Board Chair, Native Arts & Cultures Foundation

“The act of giving was part of the ‘gifting economy’ of the Northwest where one’s wealth was measured by generosity, good work and a good heart. That is the work of philanthropy too: It’s an honor to have plenty and to share. There is no lack when you have this process in place and the most important mindset to have while participating is gratitude, or giving thanks and promising to care for all, no matter what.”

Elizabeth Woody, Navajo/Warm Springs/Wasco/Yakama

K-12 Program Coordinator, Center for Coastal Marine Observation & Prediction

Susan Jenkins - New Board Member

2011/2012 Grantees

2010/2011 Grantees