Brenda Toineeta Pipestem, a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee raised in the Tribe’s homelands in Cherokee, North Carolina, has dedicated her life to empowering tribal communities and protecting the sovereignty of American Indian Tribes through law, policy, education and support of the arts. 

Pipestem continues to serve as an Appellate Justice on the Supreme Courts of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, having been appointed to consecutive four-year terms on the Cherokee Court since 2000 and consecutive two-year terms on the Mississippi Choctaw Court since 2010. Brenda previously worked for the White House Commission on Race under President Bill Clinton, and the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs working with Tribes on national and local policy issues, and serving a legislative detail to the U.S. Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior and Related Agencies. Prior to law school, Brenda worked with a national not-for-profit educational consulting firm whose work focused on helping Tribal schools and public schools develop culture based curriculum and evaluation tools to meet the needs of Native students.

Brenda currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Indian College Fund, the Tulsa Area United Way, the Booker T. Washington Foundation for Excellence, and the Board of Advisors for the University of Tulsa Center for the Humanities, and the Columbia Law School Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program. Brenda previously served on the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) Board of Trustees, serving as Chair of the Board and Chair of the Repatriation Committee.

Brenda is an alumna of Duke University (Public Policy Studies, BA ‘90) and Columbia Law (JD ’99). Brenda and Wilson Pipestem parent four wonderfully strong-minded children.