Native American Women Make Their Marks in Business While Honoring Their Heritage

Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture your heart. – Native American Proverb

Everyone has influences that shape their lives. People (parents, grandparents, and teachers), religious traditions, and cultural experiences, for example, can all contribute to personal and career growth. For members of one of the 573 federally recognized Indian Nations throughout the United States, influences have been passed down through multiple generations, over hundreds – and sometimes thousands – of years.

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, recognized every November by the federal government to ensure “their rich histories and contributions continue to thrive with each passing generation,” Forté interviewed four Native American women who stay connected to their distinctive heritage and personal passions while carving unique paths in business.   

Whitney DeAngelis
Global Sales Operations & Planning Senior Manager, Orbia
EMBA: Duke University (The Fuqua School of Business), 2023

Whitney DeAngelis has many sides to her – a mother of three, an EMBA graduate of Duke University’s Fuqua School, a global S&OP (sales and operations planning) senior manager at Orbia, an energy mining company – but her membership in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is her foundation. A lifelong resident of Oklahoma City, Whitney says the Choctaw Nation has always supported her educational and career goals.  

“The Choctaw Nation’s mission is to encourage growth and prosperity” for its members, she says, and its career center offered Whitney resume assistance, helped her apply to colleges, and provided career coaches. “They push you to be better,” she explains, “and they are there to walk you through those scary steps that people are often afraid of.” 

The Choctaw Nation’s mission is to encourage growth and prosperity. They push you to be better and they are there to walk you through those scary steps that people are often afraid of.

Whitney studied petroleum engineering as an undergraduate at the University of Oklahoma, and upon graduation, she accepted Canvas Energy’s offer to become a project engineer. She was at Canvas for more than seven years then took an opportunity to work for Orbia, where she currently leads a team in creating a unified process and integrated planning view across the company. 

Her decision to get an MBA stemmed from the unexpected downtime she had during COVID and a desire to get the qualifications to become a decision-maker.  

Whitney put her project engineering skills to use, studying three months for the GMAT then creating a spreadsheet of her top 20 schools with variables including salary, costs, etc. After she narrowed her list down to three, she chose Duke because she liked what she heard from other people who had completed Duke’s EMBA program.  

“Duke exceeded my expectations,” Whitney says. In addition to “lifelong friends and top-notch professors,” she believes Duke’s EMBA has increased the value she brings to her job. Adding finance, strategy, and business knowledge – “things I rarely used as an engineer but now have in my toolbox” – Whitney says, “Without this new knowledge, I don’t know if I would be the right fit for my role at Orbia.” 

As Whitney reflects on her career journey so far, she credits the Choctaw Nation for helping prepare her for success. “They are big on supporting members in any way they can,” she says. When she encourages others to “be passionate in everything you try, always give it 100%, and don’t ever stop chasing your dreams,” she could be channeling her ancestors. She also wants to pass down her Choctaw traditions to her children. “Bringing my kids up to be aware of their heritage and be part of this incredible tribe matters to me – it is part of who they are.” 

Jamelyn Ebelacker
Marketing Manager, Santa Clara Development Corporation 
MBA: Arizona State University (W. P. Carey School of Business), 2024

Jamelyn Ebelacker took a circuitous route to her current position as marketing manager of the Santa Clara Development Corporation, where she helps manage her tribe’s business ventures. After a childhood toggling between Eagle River, Alaska, and Santa Clara Pueblo in northern New Mexico, Jamelyn chose to study New Media Arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.  

Coming from generations of Pueblo potters who make traditional “red and black” pottery, she chose a more modern path – a decision encouraged by her elders. “They wanted me to broaden my horizons as much as possible and learn new things to be able to survive in a non-Indigenous world,” Jamelyn explains. 

They wanted me to broaden my horizons as much as possible and learn new things to be able to survive in a non-Indigenous world.

After college, Jamelyn joined the Peace Corps. “I also come from a long line of warriors and military service people,” she says. “In deciding how I would serve, I chose to serve in the Peace Corps in the Eastern Caribbean.” Jamelyn initially worked as a primary school English teacher on the islands of Dominica and Saint Lucia, and she chose to extend her service to work with nearly 100 volunteers across four islands to implement projects that addressed the specific challenges of those Caribbean communities. “This was a pivotal moment where I developed a passion for project management and producing,” Jamelyn explains. 

When the pandemic curtailed her Peace Corps stint in 2020, she found herself back home, with a deflated sense of purpose. She soon put her production experience and arts background to use and began working as a creative producer for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) organizations to address social and racial justice challenges in communities across the United States. The work, Jamelyn says, “filled her cup and revitalized that sense of purpose,” but she lacked the skills to make the full impact she desired. “I didn’t have the complete set of skills necessary to help these organizations make strategic business moves or market themselves effectively. I recognized that I had a great deal more to learn about marketing, entrepreneurship, consulting, and finance, which I only had surface level knowledge of,” she explains. 

To gain more business acumen, Jamelyn enrolled in Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business, graduating with an MBA, with concentrations in Consulting and Marketing. She also earned a certificate in Sustainability from Arizona State’s School of Sustainability. Building on the knowledge and experience she gained at ASU, Jamelyn is helping to manage her tribe’s business ventures, including its ancestral cultural site, Puye Cliff Dwellings; its award-winning Black Mesa Golf Club; Kha’P’o Construction; Kha’P’o Security Services; and the Santa Claran Casino Resort. 

Carrying on the traditions of her Pueblo heritage is essential to Jamelyn’s personal and career goals, and her role gives her a unique opportunity to do that. “The work we do at the Corporation directly funds Santa Clara Pueblo’s social services and community benefits, such as the community health clinic and behavioral health services, housing assistance, senior center operations, and the Khapo Community School, with its Tewa language revitalization program,” she explains.  

Maintaining her connection to her Indigenous community while navigating her MBA journey, has been crucial. “In the business world, it is easy to lose sight of what is truly important. With my MBA, I’m proud to contribute directly to the resilience and growth of my tribe—a responsibility that inspires me every day.” 

Ashton Megli
Consultant, Government & Public Sector Consulting, Deloitte 
MBA: Washington University in St. Louis (Olin Business School), 2022

Another member of the Choctaw Nation, Ashton Megli grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area but visited family in Oklahoma often and attended pow wows and cultural events there. When it was time to consider colleges, Ashton participated in the Choctaw Nation’s pre-college Visit Program and toured Yale University. “Yale had a Native American Cultural Center, and it was important to me to have a Native community,” Ashton explains.  

After graduating with a psychology degree, Ashton worked as a research associate for a behavioral economics study at Yale. She developed a passion for mental health and gained clinical expertise, which then led her to get a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree at Washington University in St. Louis. In the first year of her MSW, she focused on Native American and Alaskan communities, as well as public policy courses. Her decision to get a dual degree at the Olin School of Business stemmed from a desire to increase her financial and management background. “I wanted to expand my education and gain more quantitative skills,” she explains, hoping to change “how the public and private sectors can partner to advance equity.” 

After completing her dual degree, Ashton took a role at Deloitte in Government Public Sector consulting, where she serves federal and state government and non-profit clients by providing expertise on projects related to mental health, suicide prevention, and sexual trauma. She also has a leadership role in Deloitte’s Native American, Pacific Islander, and Allies community, where she organizes cultural and educational events in the Washington, DC area, supports Native American recruitment, and advises Native community projects. Ashton brings the wisdom of her tribe to every experience. As she says, the Choctaw Nation “was instrumental to me in launching the academic part of my life because they place value on education.”  

The Choctaw Nation was instrumental to me in launching the academic part of my life because they place value on education.

With a heritage she says she feels “blessed to be part of,” Ashton strives to emulate the Choctaw principle of being a good citizen, and she uses her privileges to have a positive social impact, be human–centered, and help more underrepresented people attain positions of influence.  

Kalina Newmark
Brand Manager, Starbucks Seasons
MBA: University of Michigan (Ross School of Business), 2019

Kalina Newmark’s story reads like a novel. The daughter of a New Yorker father and a mother who is Shúhtagot’ı̨nę Dene and Métis, Kalina grew up between the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia and the remote community of Tuktoyaktuk (commonly known as Tuk) in the Northwest Territories, Canada. 

After graduating from high school, Kalina attended Dartmouth College, in part, because of its original commitment to educate Native Americans. “What drew me to Dartmouth was the strong sense of community and service,” Kalina explains.  

After graduating from Dartmouth with a double major in Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Anthropology modified with Linguistics, Kalina landed a highly competitive spot as a Presidential Fellow. First, she worked for the president of Dartmouth, who was later named the president of the World Bank. In her second role, Kalina helped establish Dartmouth’s partnership with the Indian Health Service, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services responsible for providing direct and medical health care to American Indians and Alaskan Natives.   

Kalina always had an interest in business, but she did not know if she wanted to make it her career. It was not until she attended a summer program at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and then spent three years at Cargill in Minneapolis, that she realized that her passion for people, language, and food could be her career. She studied at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business for her MBA, focusing on marketing and strategy.  

She took her MBA education to Starbucks, where she has worked for more than five years in branding roles for Nescafé and Seasons, has won several professional awards, and has been able to combine her interests and passions. Kalina embraces values that have been passed down through her Native American heritage, such as being a person of integrity, respect for others, and storytelling – which are all essential to her role as a brand manager  

Kalina has also honored her heritage by launching Starbucks’ first Indigenous Network & Friends employee resource group, whose inaugural event during Women’s History Month in 2023 surpassed attendance records. 

Even with a busy career, Kalina maintains deep ties to her Native community and recently attended a Dene event in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories with her mother, nieces, and other Indigenous community members. “It was an immensely rewarding educational experience,” she says, emphasizing a personal connection that keeps her grounded as she soars to new heights in her career. 

Forté acknowledges and honors all Native Americans and Indigenous peoples, their sacred traditions, and their remarkable contributions during Native American Heritage Month.