Board of Directors

Melanie Benjamin (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) was the Chief Executive/Tribal Chairwoman of Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians where she was responsible for conducting external relations on the Band’s behalf with all other governments. She was first elected to this position in 2000 and was re-elected for five consecutive terms. Benjamin led the tribe through rapid changes and challenges, and ushering in an era of prosperity for the next generation of Ojibwe.

Former Chief Benjamin earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bemidji State University and her Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Levi (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe) is a Cohort 9 graduate of the Native Nation Rebuilders program, which helped him develop a civics course for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. (With Levi’s assistance, NGC built on this course to develop our Tribal Civics program.)  As the Director of Tribal Affairs at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), his office strengthens Tribal Government to State Government relations by developing agreements and partnerships, directing and implementing policy, and providing the knowledge and ability to work effectively in Indian Country. Since 2012, Levi has also contributed to the Tribal State Relationship Training Program that helps develop collaboration and understanding between tribes and Minnesota state departments.

Levi has broad experience working with tribal nations, including roles working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency and American Council. He is a citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and a lifelong resident of the Leech Lake Indian reservation. He is active in his community and often represents the tribe with rights of way, permits, tribal lands and tribal sovereignty issues.

Caleb (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) is an NGC Rebuilder from Cohort 9, and previously served as the Solicitor General of the Non-Removable Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, a Special Assistant United States Attorney, and supervising attorney to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. Mr. Dogeagle serves on the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection and the board of the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance. He earned a B.A. from Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. He also earned his J.D. and LL. M from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in Tucson, AZ, focusing within the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program.

Danielle Hiraldo (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina) is the Director of the American Indian Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Hiraldo received her Ph.D. in American Indian Studies with a minor in public administration at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. She holds a M.P.A. and a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in Pre-Law from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Before joining the American Indian Center, Dr. Hiraldo served as a researcher for the Native Nations Institute (NNI) situated in the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona where she remains an affiliate researcher. Her research explores governance under state recognition, tribal-state relationships (specifically in the Southeast), federal Indian law/policy, and Native Nation governance structures and practices.

Chris James (Eastern Band of Cherokee) is the President and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, the largest business development and technical assistance training organization in the country for American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses. He’s also a former Associate Administrator at the US Small Business Administration and a US Treasury official.

Robert “Deuce” Larsen (Lower Sioux Indian Community) was born and raised in and around Cansayapi, the ancestral lands of the Lower Sioux Indian Community. From humble beginnings—starting his first jobs as a neighborhood lawn mower and newspaper carrier—Deuce has dedicated his life to hard work, family, and tribal sovereignty.

Deuce’s professional journey is as diverse as it is deep. In 1991, he co-founded Iyanka Dakota Coaches Inc., and later transitioned into roles ranging from retail management to golf operations at Dacotah Ridge. His path eventually led to public service; he was elected to the Lower Sioux Tribal Council in 2013, eventually serving as President until 2025. During this tenure, he also chaired the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC), where he championed collaboration between Tribal Nations across the state.

A longtime friend of Native Governance Center, Deuce’s involvement dates back to the organization’s earliest days. He has consistently lent his expertise to various boards and committees dedicated to the prosperity of Indian Country. Today, he continues his service as a consultant with Indigenous Business Advisors (IBA) and an ICWA trainer, helping state and county workers navigate the complexities of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Above all his professional accolades, Deuce considers being a father to his 11 children—including two adopted great-nephews—his most prized title. He is humbled to rejoin the NGC circle as a board member, eager to support the organization’s mission of strengthening tribal governance.

Mike Laverdure, Migizi Miigwan (Eagle Feather) is an Anishinaabe (People From Whence Lowered) from the Makwa Doodem (Bear Clan) and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Mikinaak Wajiw, located in Belcourt, North Dakota.

Mike is a registered architect, a partner at DSGW Architects, and is president of the Indigenous-owned firm, First American Design Studio. Mike is the past President of the American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers and is also Chairman of the board member and Sequoyah Fellow of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Mike is also a Cohort 10 graduate of NGC’s Rebuilders program.

His mission in life is to promote architecture and engineering as a valid and vital STEM career for tribal youth and to have Indigenous architecture create real change in Tribal communities.

Dr. Katrina Phillips (Red Cliff Ojibwe) is Associate Professor of History at Macalester College in St. Paul. She earned a BA and PhD in History from the University of Minnesota, and she has spent more than a decade at Macalester teaching courses on Native and Indigenous histories and the history of the American West. In addition to her role as a professor, scholar, and researcher, she’s also a public historian and children’s book author.

Levi “Calm Before the Storm” Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher, and editor of Native News Online. Rickert won the Best Column Award in the print/online category at the 2021 Native Media Awards by the Native American Journalists Association. He received the 2026 Tecumseh Peacemaking Award from the State Bar of Michigan’s American Indian Law Section. In addition to serving on the Native Governance Center board, Rickert also serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association and is the president of the Native American Advisory Council at Grand Valley State University.