Indian Law Resource Center's Founder Tim Coulter Announces His Leave

January 26, 2018 | The Indian Law Resource Center Board of Directors announced Robert “Tim” Coulter, the Center’s founder and long-time executive director, has asked the Board to find his successor while he is in good health and able to continue working to assure a smooth transition.

Coulter, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, established the nonprofit law and advocacy organization in 1978 to provide free legal assistance to Indian and other Native nations and peoples to help them protect their lands and cultures and fight systemic discrimination in the legal system.

Coulter plans to continue working for the Center but wants to devote his time to programmatic legal work and strategy. Coulter will continue to serve as executive director until a successor is in place. He will then assist in the transition and move into the role of senior counsel.

“This is an exciting time for a fresh new leader to begin directing the Center’s work for Indian rights,” said Coulter. “So much of the public dialogue right now is connected to issues of tribal sovereignty and indigenous peoples’ rights. Helping Indian leaders contribute to and influence the national and international conversations on racial equity, self-determination, climate change, development finance, violence and public safety – and more – is crucial right now.”

The Center announced that there will be no change in the Center’s mission or fundamental values. Over the course of 40 years, the Center has helped shape modern indigenous rights advocacy. The Center is widely recognized for its role in helping Indian and Alaska Native nations and other indigenous communities negotiate and win the adoptions of the UN and the American Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The organization led some of the first successful legal efforts linking indigenous human rights with environmental protection, including winning several landmark rulings by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights protecting indigenous land rights and other rights of self-determination and sovereignty. These advances in international law are being used and put into practice in the Americas and in countries around the world.