Leadership and Advocacy
Sadie Hill Kelley is a natural leader and advocate. A 2024 graduate, Kelley came to Colorado Mesa University to join the women’s golf team. Born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, she grew up on the Oneida Reservation and began golfing in eighth grade.
An Indigenous person, Kelley was drawn to CMU’s Cultural Inclusion Council (CIC) during her first year. As a sophomore, she became coordinator of the Native American Student Association (NASA), holding that position until graduation.
During her tenure, NASA coordinated with the Western Slope Native American Resource Center to host the inaugural three-day Grand Mesa Powwow at Brownson Arena. Kelley and NASA assisted with the Tri-Ute meeting, bringing together the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Southern Ute Tribe, and the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation on CMU’s campus for formal discussions of joint issues, including cultural heritage and preservation, natural resources, economic priorities, and education. NASA also sponsors fundraisers and events during Native American Heritage Month each November.
Speaking in a CMU interview in 2023, Kelley explained that CIC and NASA grounded her and helped her build family and community, despite being more than a thousand miles away from home.
“I’ve met my best friends here, and I’ve met my community away from home. I needed that,” she said.
Kelley is uniquely multi-tribal, a member of the Oneida Nation from Wisconsin but also Kiowa, Comanche, Muscogee Creek, Shoshone Paiute, Cherokee, and Absentee Shawnee. She explains that understanding her diverse heritage is important to her.
“I’m proud to be Indigenous, and I’m proud to say I’m part of all these tribes. I carry that with me and carry all of my ancestors. I’m still learning and keeping the traditions alive,” she said.
Her family values connection to their multiple communities and brought Kelley up to always know where she came from.
At CMU, Kelley was the vice chair of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. On a national level, she was selected by Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP) as one of eight youth leaders in the first cohort of their Native Youth Grantmakers program. Kelley became involved with the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) as a policy intern in Washington, DC, between her junior and senior years, and again during winter break of her senior year. Following graduation from CMU with a bachelor of arts degree in political science and a minor in sports management, Kelley returned to NIEA as a policy fellow in July 2024.
Since graduation, Kelley has helped her community in Oneida create a youth council to amplify younger voices, something she believes is critical for a nation or tribe to succeed. She is currently a grant coordinator with NAP, a position that allows her to continue working for her communities and other Indigenous people across the United States.
Kelley is a contributor to Comparative Politics: A Practical Guide for a Globalizing World by CMU’s Holly Oberle, PhD. Her latest piece, “Who’s Your People? Living with a Multi-Tribal Identity,” is co-written with her mother, Jennifer Hill-Kelley, and is included as a chapter in Beyond Blood Quantum: Refusal to Disappear.
In 2023, Kelley shared that she was interested in education and public policy for Indigenous people. She is passionate about making a college education more accessible for Native students. “I want to help kids in high school and middle school achieve their dreams and continue their education,” she explained.
Working at the intersection of identity, community, public policy, culture, and family, Kelley has the tools to make these dreams — and her own — come true.