Theresa is an enrolled citizen of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community and is currently serving as Director of the Indian Legal Program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. She is a senior academic and a program leader whose work centers on American Indian education, law, language, and community-driven institutional change. She designs, manages, and evaluates high-impact programs and events, using data analysis to ensure financial sustainability and mission alignment, including leading conferences, while deepening community engagement. Her work emphasizes relationship-building with Tribal nations, organizations, students, and professionals to identify shared priorities, develop programming, recruit speakers, and create pathways for student advancement through externships, scholarships, and career development. Across roles at major public universities and within Tribal government, she has demonstrated a consistent ability to translate community needs into effective programs - running multimillion-dollar budgets and externally funded grants, supervising staff and volunteers, developing curriculum that integrates American Indian history, culture, and language, and strengthening student success initiatives. Her leadership has included directing an Ojibwe language immersion preschool, overseeing repatriation and cultural heritage efforts under NAGPRA, expanding access to higher education for Tribal members, and representing Tribal interests at the state level. With a background in teaching, she brings a strong commitment to information access, instructional excellence, and mentorship, having taught children’s and young adult literature, and earned recognition for innovative information literacy instruction. Across all this work runs a clear throughline: a deep interest in building sustainable, culturally grounded educational and legal programs; advancing Tribal self-determination through education and policy; fostering collaboration across institutions and communities; and improving systems so they serve the people they claim to support.