Ms. Carrie Billy, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and attorney from Arizona, joined the staff of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) for the second time in 2001. She serves as the Director of Technology Development & Operations and is working to build and sustain within each tribal college the capacity to plan and implement – in culturally relevant ways – information technology vital to tribal college and university (TCU) education, research and development, and community service programs.

Ms. Billy is a graduate of the University of Arizona and the Georgetown University Law Center. Her career reflects a commitment to public service and to protecting and promoting the culture, rights and well being of American Indians and improving the quality of life and educational status of all Americans.

In 1998, Ms. Billy was appointed by former President William J. Clinton as the first Executive Director of the White House Initiative of Tribal Colleges and Universities. She served in the position, which was created by Executive Order 13021, until January 2001. As Executive Director, Ms. Billy coordinated a challenging effort to integrate Tribal Colleges and Universities into federal programs and build and strengthen partnerships with the private sector. During her tenure as Executive Director of the Initiative, Tribal Colleges achieved tremendous gains. Highlights include: the largest funding increases ever received by TCUs in annual federal appropriations, including millions of dollars in new programs annually; first visit by a U.S. president to a Tribal College; establishment and funding of the American Indian Teacher Corps program, USED; Tribal College Information Technology program, NSF, and TCU Community Development program, HUD; expanded Title III, ED, and 1994 Land-grant programs, including research and extension, USDA, which Ms. Billy first helped to establish legislatively in the early 1990s; the Tribal College Facilities Funding Initiative; and the Tribal College Technology Initiative, The Circle of Prosperity: Tribal Colleges, Tradition, and Technology, including first-ever strategic planning Prosperity Game™ in Indian Country.

From 1996 to 1998, Ms. Billy served as Federal Relations Counsel to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. During her tenure at AIHEC, Congress enacted a new program within the Higher Education Act, authorizing and funding critically needed development activities at Tribal Colleges.

From 1987 until 1995, Ms. Billy served as legislative assistant to United States Senator Jeff Bingaman, (D-NM), focusing on Indian Affairs, health policy, judicial issues, women’s issues, and education. It was during this time that Ms. Billy first began working with Tribal Colleges, overseeing enactment of a key vocational education program for selected Tribal Colleges, securing ongoing support and funding for the nation’s only institution of higher education dedicated to promoting and nurturing American Indian Art, and helping to enact the 1994 legislation that designated Tribal Colleges as “Land-Grant Institutions,” which opened new doors of opportunities for the colleges in agriculture, land-use, and community development.