Dawn Knickerbocker, belongs to the Anishinaabe people, a citizen of the White Earth Nation, enrolled in the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe from the Ottertail Pillager Band of Indians. She is the Board President of the Urban Native Collective. Her full time role is the Vice President of Philanthropic Strategies at the National Congress of American Indians. With a background in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, Dawn brings over 20 years of community leadership and a deep commitment to human rights and environmental stewardship.

Dawn's journey has been marked by her belief in the power of peace achieved through nurturing relationships with both the land and its people. Her experience as a grassroots organizer on earth-related issues has been instrumental in shaping her approach to leadership and community engagement.

Dawn's is a former Washington State grant-maker, where she developed a philanthropic fund for arts, culture, and heritage impacting over a million people. She has also held the position of Chair of the Advisory Commission on Diversity in Renton, Washington, the state's most diverse city. Dawn's voice resonates beyond her professional work through her contributions as a published nonfiction writer, poet, public speaker, columnist, and the recipient of the 2020 Martin Luther King Drum Major for Justice Award. Dawn resides in Yellow Springs, Ohio with her husband and four sons.