3 Native Women Part of Forbes 50 Over 50 List

The latest Forbes 50 over 50 Impact List, now in its third year, was released last week. It features three influential women from Indian Country, standing alongside notable figures like Temple Grandin and Suze Orman.

This compilation celebrates remarkable female trailblazers and businesswomen aged 50 and above, showcasing their achievements despite significant challenges or hurdles, and emphasizing that age is no boundary to success.

This year, in collaboration with Mika Brzezinski and the Know Your Value initiative, the list categorizes these inspiring women into four segments: Impact, Investment, Innovation, and Lifestyle.

The three Native women included in this year’s list are as follows:

Fawn Sharp (51) – Sharp serves as the President of the National Congress of American Indians. In a landmark moment in November 2021, Sharp, of the Quinault tribe, made history by becoming the first tribal leader to be diplomatically recognized by the U.S. She represented all 574 tribes at the United Nations COP26 Summit in Glasgow. Elected as the president of the National Congress of American Indians in 2019, she was reelected in 2021. She holds the position of vice president for the Quinault Indian Nation in Taholah, Washington.

A highly educated leader, Sharp earned her J.D. from the University of Washington and has certificates from the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada and the International Human Rights Law program at Oxford University. Remarkably, she achieved her criminal justice degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, at the young age of 19. Before her journey as a lawyer, Sharp contributed her skills to the CIA and the Washington State Department of Corrections.

Stephine Poston (55) – Poston, hailing from Pueblo of Sandia, is a co-founder of Native Women Lead. This organization, which she played a pivotal role in establishing, is dedicated to investing in and facilitating loans for Native women entrepreneurs. Additionally, she founded Poston & Associates, a comprehensive communications agency catering specifically to the Native American community. With Poston at its helm, Native Women Lead has initiated three lending schemes since 2020, benefiting Indigenous businesses in states like New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. In March 2022, she introduced the Matriarch Restoration Fund, which provides loans ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 at a mere 3 percent interest rate, specifically targeting Native women involved in arts, crafts, and other creative ventures within Indigenous communities.

Cynthia Chavez Lamar (51) - Lamar, from San Felipe Pueblo, assumed her role as the director of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) within the Smithsonian Institution. Making history, she’s the first Native American woman to spearhead a Smithsonian Museum. In this capacity, she presides over a repository that boasts over 1 million artifacts and photos, in addition to more than 500,000 films, digital representations, and other media encapsulating the rich tapestry of Native Nations and tribal cultures. Chavez Lamar’s roots are in Katishtya, situated in the Pueblo of San Felipe – her tribal reservation. She holds a doctorate in American studies from the University of New Mexico. Interestingly, her professional journey has come full circle: post-doctorate, her inaugural role was an internship at the NMAI, where she played a pivotal role in its expansion research. A notable achievement under her guidance was the unveiling of the National Native American Veterans Memorial in 2022. This $15 million project marked the NMAI’s premier significant public event since March 2020.