ADA, Okla. – The East Central University Stonecipher School of Business Scholar Leader Program is hosting a Women in Leadership Speaker Series throughout the semester.
Lisa John, the secretary of culture and humanities at the Chickasaw Nation, will be the presenting speaker for the first of the series on Monday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. in the Chickasaw Business & Conference Center, room 221.
All events are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided and there will be door prizes offered.
John, whose career spans more than 30 years with the Chickasaw Nation, was appointed to her current position in 2013 where she oversees divisions specifically focusing on history, culture, art, Chickasaw language, historic sites and literary arts. As secretary, she oversees the development of an online presence for language instruction and successfully launched Rosetta Stone Chickasaw in 2017.
Under her leadership, the literary arts division created and produced social studies curriculum which are Chickasaw specific and meet the state standards for use in public schools. John also oversaw the creation of the Chickasaw Inkana Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Mississippi, which is currently working to construct a Chickasaw Heritage Center in Tupelo, Mississippi.
John also served as the lead negotiator for the Chickasaw Nation office of self-governance where she negotiated the assumption of three major programs from the Bureau of Indian Affairs: the Indian Reservation Roads program, court of federal offenses and law enforcement. After the assumption of law enforcement, John was responsible for overseeing the creation and development of the Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department.
She is a member of the Chickasaw Inkana Foundation board of directors, First Americans Museum board of directors, Oklahoma Zoological Society board of directors, the Higher Learning Commission board of trustees, City of Ada Trail of Lights ad hoc committee and the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes cultural committee.
John received her bachelor’s in political science from the University of Oklahoma and later returned to receive her master’s in public administration.
Lisa is married to Thomas John and has two children, Lauren and Trevor.
Future speakers include Chancellor Allison Garrett from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education on March 25 at 1 p.m, and Julie Scott, the Program Management Manager at Science Applications International Corporation on April 15 at 1 p.m.