Announcing OMB’s First Ever Tribal Advisor

Today, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s strong commitment to Indian Country, I am thrilled to announce that the Office of Management and Budget is naming Elizabeth Carr as Tribal Advisor to the Director. This position is historic — the first of its kind at OMB, created out of conversations with Tribal leaders — and will be instrumental in coordinating Tribal priorities across OMB’s budgetary, management, and regulatory functions, while working with other key leaders at the White House and across the entire Administration.

OMB plays a unique and crucial role in advancing the President’s agenda for Indian Country. Through the President’s FY 2023 Budget, the Administration proposed historic investments in Tribal nations and communities that would help lay a strong foundation for prosperity for generations to come. The Budget includes proposals to advance health equity, significantly increase funding for the Indian Health Service and shift that funding from discretionary to mandatory, reduce unacceptably high maternal mortality rates for American Indian and Alaska Native women through maternal health initiatives and training for healthcare providers, improve poor housing conditions with investments in Tribal housing efforts, and more. These historic proposals were developed in dialogue with Tribal nations and communities, which OMB has made a priority by holding five Tribal Consultations since the beginning of the Administration.

In her new role as Tribal Advisor, Elizabeth will help build on these efforts to deliver for Indian Country. She brings a wealth of experience to this new position. A member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, she has most recently served as the senior advisor to the director of the Indian Health Service, where she has led strategy and implementation of health policy. She has more than 10 years of experience working with tribes, tribal colleges and universities, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations, including as senior Native affairs advisor with the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Inc.

Elizabeth will join a team focused on delivering for Indian Country on behalf of the President. From Day One, President Biden has taken historic actions to support Tribal communities across the country. He appointed Deb Haaland to lead the Department of the Interior, making her the first ever Native American Cabinet Secretary. He has taken steps to protect sacred Tribal lands. He signed an executive order to address the crisis of missing or murdered indigenous people. And he’s championed and signed into law major pieces of legislation that make historic investments in Indian country: supporting climate resiliency and expanding clean energy development through the Inflation Reduction Act, building the next generation of Tribal infrastructure through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and making the single largest Federal investment in Tribal nations and communities through the American Rescue Plan.

We look forward to continuing these efforts with Elizabeth on board at OMB.

Shalanda Young is the Director of the Office of Management and Budget