Senior Program Officer
(Navajo)

Catherine Bryan joined First Nations Development Institute as a program officer in July 2008. She collaborates with other First Nations staff members to design and implement diverse projects that support and strengthen asset-building efforts undertaken by tribal government programs, Native nonprofits, and other Native community organizations. Catherine’s project implementation duties include organizing and planning asset-building convenings, drafting grant reports, planning and providing training sessions, conducting research and performing evaluations.

Prior to joining First Nations, Catherine was a legal analyst for the National Tribal Justice Resource Center (NTJRC), a training and technical assistance provider for tribal justice systems. Her focus at NTJRC centered on assisting tribal justice systems in obtaining and implementing federal grants to expand tribal court services in the area of child support enforcement. She also serves as a grant reviewer for various federal agencies.

Catherine has a J.D. from the University of New Mexico - School of Law. She also attained both a M.A. and B.A. in French literature from the University of Oklahoma, and taught lower level French university courses for several years.

Catherine is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. She was born and raised in southeastern New Mexico. Catherine is most grateful for time spent with her family as a mom, sister, auntie, and daughter.