Nick Tilsen

FOUNDER & CEO

Nick Tilsen (He/Him), is a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, an Organizer, Social Entrepreneur, Community Builder and Movement Leader. Nick has over 20 years of experience in movement building, organizing and equitable community development. He founded NDN Collective to change the conditions in which Indigenous people organize,  while building needed philanthropic, social impact investment, capacity and movement infrastructure geared towards building the collective power of Indigenous Peoples. His work has reached over 1,500 Indigenous Communities, Tribes and Nations across North America.

Tilsen has received various fellowships and awards ranging from the Ashoka, Rockefeller & Bush Foundations. In 2022 Nick & NDN Collective were recipients of the Skoll Award for Social Innovation. Nick has received a Social Impact Award from Claremont-Lincoln University and holds an honorary doctorate degree from Sinte Gleska University.