To celebrate National Women’s History Month, the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative is highlighting women who are blazing the trail for others in Indian Country food and agriculture. This week, we’re featuring our Associate Executive Director, Carly Griffith Hotvedt.

Carly Griffith Hotvedt, a citizen of Cherokee Nation, is a seasoned legal professional, admitted to practice in Oklahoma, Cherokee Nation and Muscogee (Creek) Nation, with an affinity for government law, agriculture, tribal policy and public administration. She currently serves as IFAI’s Associate Executive Director, helping lead and manage IFAI’s team of dedicated professionals.

Prior to her current role, Carly served as IFAI’s Director of Tribal Enterprise, working with Tribes and in Tribal policy to advance food security and Tribal agriculture enterprise development.

Before joining IFAI, she created and directed the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Muscogee (Creek) Nation, where she initiated an overhaul of the Agribusiness operation resulting in a 70%+ loss margin reduction and set the program on track for profitability.

Carly clerked for the late Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Marion Opala while in law school, in addition to municipal internships with the City of Lawton and the City of Norman. She maintains a perfect success record for summary judgment motions in Oklahoma district and federal court. She has a 100% success rate in the Courts of the Cherokee Nation. She is also passionate about mentoring the next generation of Native leaders and agriculturalists, and IFAI is proud to have her leadership and guidance.

Stay tuned throughout the month of March for more features on women who are blazing the trail for others in Indian Country food and agriculture.