Isabel Coronado

Isabel Coronado is a policy entrepreneur at Next100 and a citizen of the Mvskoke (Creek) Nation. Her clan is the Wind Clan, and her tribal town affiliation is Thlopthlocco Tribal Town. At Next100, Isabel is focused on creating policy aimed at reducing the generational cycle of incarceration in Native communities. Isabel has spoken to the public and the media numerous times about the experiences of children of incarcerated parents, and has written on the same. She has also worked closely with the Families Integrity Campaign to pass the FAMILIES Act, a federal bill that would keep parents home with their children instead of going to prison. Isabel has worked with the Center for Native American Youth to put together a petition to Congress (that gathered over one thousand signatures) to ensure that Indian Country is accounted for in federal COVID-19 aid packages. She has also continued work in Oklahoma, her home state, co-authoring a response to Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt’s State of State in February to lay down a marker of where the state has succeeded—and where it hasn’t gone far enough—in changing its criminal justice system.

Before joining Next100, Isabel helped create the American Indian Criminal Justice Navigation Council (AICJNC), a nonprofit in Oklahoma aimed at reducing recidivism among tribal members and helping reduce the trauma family members endure as a result. At AICJNC, Isabel served as deputy director. Isabel was selected by the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute as a 2018 Champions for Change recipient, Mvskoke Women’s Leadership as the 2019 College Student of the Year, and by Mvskoke Youth Council as the 2020 Youth Visionary in promoting civic engagement. Isabel received her BS in 2017 from Northeastern State University, and her master’s of public health with an emphasis on rural and underserved populations from Oklahoma State University in 2019.