Alicia Ortega
(Pojoaque/ Santa Clara Pueblos)
Co-Director of Strategy and Growth
alicia@nativewomenlead.org
Alicia Ortega is from the Pueblos of Pojoaque and Santa Clara. She is a Co-Founder and Co-Director at Native Women Lead where she oversees the general operations of the organization and leads key initiatives including storytelling and communications, policy and advocacy, the Fair-Trade Initiative, community engagement, fundraising and partnerships. She brings over a decade of experience working with minority and tribally owned and operated businesses and entities from start-ups to established businesses.
Alicia has extensive knowledge in tribal, state and federal governance previously working with the 20 Pueblos of New Mexico’s tribal leadership as the Executive Director of the All Pueblo Council of Governors on critical issues affecting tribal communities including health, education, state/federal legislation, natural resources, elder advocacy and youth initiatives. Alicia is the recipient of the 2019 New Mexico Distinguished Public Service Award from NM Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and was inducted in 2021 into the UNM Anderson School of Management Hall of Fame.
She serves on the Native American Voters Alliance Education Project Board and the UNM Anderson School of Management’s Women in Leadership Advisory Board. Alicia is a professor at the UNM Anderson School of Management where she teaches American Indian Business and Management. She also serves as an Advisor for the American Indian Business Association and the Native Guitars Tour Organization. She is a 2022 Changemaker Fellow with the NDN Collective. Alicia holds a BBA in Organizational Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurial Studies and two MBA degrees in Marketing and Management of Technology from the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management.