BIOGRAPHY
Gaby’s community and professional experience has centered on Indigenous controlled education, child welfare and youth development, history, language and community development. She is deeply committed to perpetuating and sharing Dakota cultural knowledge, particularly Dakota songs, dance, horse traditions and environmental stewardship.
Her extensive work history includes serving as Program Officer for Native Arts & Cultures with Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, as Tribal/Technical Assistance Specialist with Education Development Center; as Tribal Administrator for the Lower Sioux Indian Community; as Program Officer with the Grotto Foundation, administering key initiatives, including the Native Language Revitalization Initiative and the American Indian Family Empowerment Program, now known as the Tiwahe Foundation. Gaby is an honorary board member of Ain Dah Yung (Our Home) Center, a Native led multi-service organization she helped found in 1983 and where she served for 16 years as Executive Director. Gaby has held a variety of elected and appointed positions at local, county and state levels, serving on several organizational boards, including Dakota Wicohan, a non-profit dedicated to Dakota language and lifeways and The First Peoples Fund. She has held adjunct faculty positions at Hamline University and Metro State University, and has managed her own family business and consulting practice. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in sociology, with a minor in education, from Macalester College, and a master’s degree in social work, with a human service management concentration, from the University of Minnesota.
