User:Sjb333/Karen R. Diver

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== Lead  == Karen R. Diver is a Native American (Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) leader and social services professional who served as the Special Assistant to the President for Native American Affairs in the Obama administration. She has served as the chairwoman and vice president of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and is currently working as the Senior Advisor to the President of the University of Minnesota for Native American Affairs.

Early life and education
Karen Diver was born in Minnesota and raised in the Cleveland, Ohio area until she left to attend the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) in 1983. Diver obtained a Bachelors in Economics from the University of Minnesota Duluth and was selected to be a Bush Leadership Fellow in 2002. She also received a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Career
Diver began her career in Native American affairs by serving as the director of the Duluth YWCA between 1991 and 2003. She then transitioned to work within the Fond Du Lac of Lake Superior Chippewa, serving as director of special projects from 2003 - 2007. She was subsequently elevated to the position of tribal chairwoman, which she served between 2007 - 2015. From 2009 - 2015, Diver served as the Vice-President and Finance Corporation Chair of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. During her time with the Fond Du Lac Band, Diver contributed to a series of legal disputes between the Fond-Du-Luth Casino and the City of Duluth. With her assistance, the Casino prevailed in many of the suits, but the two parties eventually settled in 2016.

In 2015, Diver entered the Obama administration as Special Assistant for Native American Affairs. Working in the Domestic Policy Council, Diver contributed to regulatory and policy work that affected over 500 Native nations. Her time working federally expired in 2016 when Donald Trump was elected.

In 2017, Diver underwent a brief six month stint in the faculty of the University of Minnesota Duluth, her alma mater. Diver entered The College of St. Scholastica’s in 2017 as the inaugural Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Excellence with a specialization in Native Studies. She worked to “indigenize” classroom content by creating interdisciplinary course offerings and by challenging deans to include Native learners in every discipline. Diver left St. Scholastica in 2019.

In 2017, Diver founded Karen Diver Consulting, LLC, a consultation firm designed to give advice related to strategic planning, policy assessment and development, and public relations with Tribes and nonprofits.

In 2019, Diver attended the Australia and New Zealand School of Government’s (ANZSOG) Reimagining Public Administration conference, where she advocated for Indigenous autonomy as the correct vision for the future. Diver served at the University of Arizona as the Director of Business Development for Native American Advancement Initiatives from 2019 - 2021.

Since 2021, Diver has been serving as the Senior Advisor to the President of the University of Minnesota for Native American Affairs. In her new role, she is working to increase the accessibility of the university to Native American students while also working to improve the relationship between the university and Native communities in Minnesota.

Legacy
In April of 2017, Diver was honored by the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial, a memorial in Duluth, Minnesota that reflects upon the city’s racist past and aims to reach racial equity through education and healing. The memorial, and the group associated with it, recognized Diver due to her extensive work as leader within the local community and her steadfast advocation for Native American justice.