2022 Community Elected Commissioner Candidate

Dawn Jackson

Candidate Biography

My involvement in the LA Native American community spans more than 30 years. I was blessed to learn about community empowerment and self-governance from some of our most respected community leaders. Working alongside them to build a strong and resilient community provided invaluable guidance and a strong commitment to serve. I’m proud to currently serve as a board member of the American Indian Scholarship Fund of Southern California.

Serving as a community-elected Commissioner and member of the Self-Governance Board since 1994 has been a gratifying experience. I’ve been honored to serve in a variety of capacities; press liaison for a historic White House Urban Policy Initiative, a community hearing officer, an art curator and more recently as part of the team that successfully lead the call for Los Angeles to ban Columbus Day and to establish Indigenous Peoples Day.

As a professional in the entertainment industry, I served as the Chair of American Indian Registry for the Performing Arts and in 1992 co-founded First Americans in the Arts (FAITA), serving as Chair of the Board and Producer of the annual awards event empowering Native people in the entertainment industry. Over 300 outstanding achievement awards in film, TV, music, and theatre were presented over seventeen years.

Candidate Statement

It was instilled in me from an early age by my grandparents and others to serve and lift-up my community, whether on the reservation in Michigan or here in LA. I believe that continuing to represent the LA Native community as a Commissioner is the best way for me to do that. As the longest serving Commissioner, I carry institutional knowledge of what has come before, what worked and what didn’t so as not to be repeated. My commitment to the community has never wavered, nor has my energy to work had waned. I’ve always felt that I would continue to serve and represent our LA Native community as a Commissioner for as long as the community wanted, and I hope to continue to do so for another four years. Miigwech!