Founder / Executive DirectorIllumiNative
Crystal Echo Hawk (Pawnee) is the founder and Executive Director of IllumiNative, the first and only national Native-led organization focused on changing the narrative about Native peoples on a mass scale. Crystal built IllumiNative to activate a cohesive set of research-informed strategies that illuminate the voices, stories and contributions of contemporary Native peoples to build power, advance justice and equity and fight systemic racism and bias.
Prior to founding IllumiNative, Crystal served as President and CEO of Echo Hawk Consulting. During her tenure there, Crystal founded and co-led the 2016-2018 Reclaiming Native Truth (RNT) project, an unprecedented research and strategy setting initiative to address misconceptions, stereotypes, and the invisibility of Native peoples within American society. Crystal founded IllumiNative in 2018 to put the RNT research into action to drive narrative change that can support equity, social justice and self-determination for Native peoples.