Welcoming Tracy L. Canard Goodluck: CNAY's New Executive Director

Posted on

The Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) at the Aspen Institute is thrilled to welcome Tracy L. Canard Goodluck as our next Executive Director.

Tracy comes to the Institute with an extraordinary record of leadership in Indian Country, and a strong vision for expansive and impactful contributions to Native youth. Her recruitment was a collaboration between CNAY’s dedicated and distinguished Advisory Board, Aspen Institute leadership — Kaya Henderson & Pete Weber (Executive Vice President & Vice President, Center for Rising Generations) and Elliot Gerson & Danielle Baussan (Executive Vice President & Vice President, Policy Programs) — and the CNAY team.

Most recently, Tracy Goodluck was a Presidential appointee and served as the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior. Before that, she helped lead the Tribal Affairs policy portfolio at the Biden White House Domestic Policy Council. She had other important positions relating to Native American issues at the White House and Interior Department starting in 2014, where she began her federal service as a Presidential Management Fellow.

Tracy also co-founded the Native American Community Academy, where she supported Native youth identity through language and culture, holistic wellness and leadership opportunities, and was Director of Organizational Advancement and Youth Initiatives at Americans for Indian Opportunity, each in her hometown of Albuquerque. She has also been a classroom teacher on the Navajo, Hopi and Tulalip reservations. She has a JD and a Certificate in Indian Law from the University of New Mexico, two master’s degrees in education and graduated from Dartmouth College in Sociology with an emphasis in Native American Studies.

Tracy is a proud member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and is also Mvskoke Creek.

Tracy is a longtime collaborator and friend of CNAY. She first became acquainted with CNAY and our Champions for Change in 2015 during the collaborative work on Generation-Indigenous (Gen-I), headed by the Obama Administration. Since then, she has worked with CNAY staff and youth on the White House Tribal Youth Gatherings, and as host of Champions for Change and Remembering our Sisters cohorts at the Department of the Interior.

Tracy will join us officially on March 24, based in Washington, DC. Welcome, Tracy! Team CNAY is so excited for what the future holds.