Our Board of Directors
Della Spotted Tail
CHAIRWOMAN
Della is originally from Parmelee, South Dakota and is an enrolled citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. She holds a business management degree from Sinte Gleska University with minors in legal studies and accounting. She has worked for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for sixteen years in a number of capacities including headstart, K-12, university, and Tribal education administration. She currently serves as the Tribe’s higher education coordinator. She is a direct descendant of Chief Spotted Tail, and one of his aspirations was education for his people. With her work, she hopes to honor him and improve educational outcomes for her people.
Mara Childs
VICE PRESIDENT, CO-FOUNDER
Raised in Seattle, Washington, Mara has had early interests in education being the daughter of a middle school teacher. After serving as the student board member for the Washington State Board of Education, she received her bachelor’s degree in interaction design after attending the University of Washington and The Glasgow School of Art (Scotland, UK). She believes education is not only a fundamental right, but our strongest asset, and has joined the Fund’s mission to see valuable cultures thrive. Mara is currently a designer at an early-stage ML-driven customer analytics startup. She was previously a product designer at a mission-drive financial technology startup that’s helping everyday Americans improve their financial health.
Dylan Young
SECRETARY
Dylan is an enrolled citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and is currently a senior, honors student, and dual Political Science and English major at the University of Minnesota, Morris. At Morris, Dylan has served as a highly active leader and advocate for fellow Native American and first-generation college students. He currently serves as the President of the student body. After graduation, Dylan intends on pursuing a dual master’s degree in public policy and higher education to continue challenging the racial and income inequalities in higher education and academia.
Dr. Rich Braunstein
AT-LARGE
Dr. Rich Braunstein is a professor at the University of South Dakota. He is the coordinator of the Nonprofit Studies Program and serves as a research associate for the Government Research Bureau. His teaching interests include race and justice, conflict resolution, nonprofit administration, and political development. In addition to his work at the University, Dr. Braunstein is the Principal Investigator for the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board’s Connecting With Our Youth program (CWOY) and serves as outreach director for the Journey On Street Outreach Team funded by US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the City of Rapid City.
Dr. Elise Boxer
AT-LARGE
Elise Boxer is an enrolled Dakota citizen of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribe and is an associate professor at the University of South Dakota in History and Native American Studies. Boxer is also the director for the Institute of American Indian Studies at USD. She also recently finished her term as president of the American Indian Studies Association. Boxer’s work engages in Mormon settler colonialism and she is finishing two book manuscripts, To Become White and Delightsome’: Mormon Settler Colonialism and Construction of Indigeneity with the University of Oklahoma Press and From the Nation to the Academy and Back Again: The Formation and Movement of Indigenous Theory and Praxis with University of Arizona’s Critical Indigenous Studies series.
Our Staff
Troy Blake
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CO-FOUNDER
Troy is originally from Vancouver, Washington and was brought to Rosebud in 2018 through the program Teach For America, serving as a math teacher at Todd County High School for two years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vanderbilt University. Prior to moving to Rosebud, he led a personal finance tutoring organization that served two high schools in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. His motivation to co-found a scholarship fund came from the passion, authenticity, and drive he saw in his students everyday. Troy feels that if the Fund’s mission is accomplished, his students will receive all they deserve in life and more.