Cheryl Crazy Bull, serves as President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, a non profit organization that supports American Indian and Alaska Native Colleges and universite. Her 35 year career included serving as a faculty member, dean, development officer and Vice President of Administration at Sinte Gleska University and as Chief Educational Officer of St. Francis Indian School both on her home reservation in South Dakota. She served ten years as the President of Northwest Indian College headquartered at the Lummi Nation in Washington. Cheryl has extensive leadership experience with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, the membership association of the tribal colleges, and through service on various national and regional boards. She frequently serves as a speaker or panelist exploring educational issues, indigenous knowledge, and tribal life. Cheryl has published articles and chapters about tribally controlled education, research, tribal colleges, and community development as well as leadership. She is a citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate, from the Rosebud Reservation, and her Lakota name is Wacinyanpi Win which means “they depend on her”.
In 2015 Cheryl was named to the inaugural list of 50 Faces to Know in Indian Country established by Indian Country Today Media Network, the largest indigenous media source in the world. She is also the recipient of honorary doctorates from Sinte Gleska University and Seattle University. Among her honors are a 2011 Enduring Spirit Award from Native Action Network, recognition as one of three finalists for Whatcom County Business Person of the Year in 2012, and keynote speaker at the 2015 National Conference on Race and Equity in Higher Education (NCORE) and the 2015 Association for the Study Higher Education (ASHE) conference.
Cheryl currently serves on the Boys & Girls Clubs of America's National Higher Education Access & Scholarship Task Force, the Programs and Practice Committee of Independent Sector, and as an Advisory Board member of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions.
