Welcoming New Board Members and Our New Board Chair

We are honored to announce that Carly Bad Heart Bull and Vanessa Moses have joined the Common Counsel Foundation Board of Directors. They each bring a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to advancing the self-determination and power of communities of color and Native communities.

Carly’s deep-rooted knowledge of Native nonprofits, leadership in donor education and advocacy, and track record of expanding giving to Native-led efforts will be invaluable in guiding our work.

Vanessa Moses is a stellar addition to our board, leveraging her extensive experience in racial and economic justice organizing and her proven track record in building power and solidarity within communities of color.

We would also like to share that after nine years of service, Alex Tom will be stepping off the board, with Vanessa Daniel accepting the role as our new board chair. Alex has been an unwavering supporter of the foundation’s leading-edge approaches, helping guide our work toward the vision of what a progressive social justice funder can be.

Please read more and join us in extending a warm welcome to Vanessa and Carly!

Carly Bad Heart Bull, she/her, (Bdewakantunwan Dakota/Muskogee Creek and a citizen of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe in South Dakota) is the Executive Director of the Native Ways Federation (NWF), a national nonprofit founded by seven of the most reputable Native-led nonprofits in the country. Carly has demonstrated exceptional leadership in expanding informed giving to nonprofits in Indian country through donor education and advocacy.

Previously, Carly served as the Native Nations Activities Manager at the Bush Foundation, fostering partnerships and initiatives across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and 23 tribal nations.

Carly has a background in law and was previously an Assistant County Attorney for Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (Minnesota) in its child protection division. She worked at the ICWA Law Center and clerked for Justice Anne McKeig when she was in family court. Carly also taught the Dakota language to early childhood students in South Minneapolis. She currently serves as vice chairwoman of the board of local nonprofit and Indigenous farm, Dream of Wild Health, and is on the board of Native Americans in Philanthropy, a national organization with a mission to promote equitable and effective philanthropy in Native communities. Carly recently also joined the board of the NACA Inspired Schools Network (NISN).

In 2020, Carly was named a Minnesota Attorney of the Year, for her instrumental work on reclaiming the Dakota name of Minneapolis’ largest lake (formerly Lake Calhoun) to Bde Maka Ska. In 2019, she was selected by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as a Community Leadership Network Fellow, a program for leaders across the country working to create transformational change toward a more equitable society for all.

Carly holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota Law School, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, and an Associate of Arts degree from Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Carly lives in Bdeota Otunwe (Minneapolis, or City of Many Lakes) with her young son Quill.

Vanessa Moses, she/her, is a Program Director at the Center for Empowered Politics. Formerly the Executive Director at Causa Justa :: Just Cause (CJJC), she brings the lessons learned from two decades of building and leading racial and economic justice organizing efforts.

Vanessa supports power building organizations in evolving their infrastructure and organizational culture to support a thriving movement ecosystem. She found her calling after moving to the Bay and working with brilliant organizers on youth development, police accountability, and transformative justice. After training with the Labor Community Strategy Center, she began organizing with CJJC, a grassroots organization building the leadership and unity of working-class Black and Latino communities to win material changes and help build a movement strong enough to transform society.

While at CJJC, Vanessa helped to form new vehicles for building power and solidarity, supporting the formation of San Francisco Rising and Bay Rising and as one of the co-creators of Bay Resistance. Her other (& favorite) source of growth and inspiration is her second grader.