Kerry Bird

My time at Washington University in St. Louis as a Buder Scholar afforded me many opportunities, and I was involved in a number of activities at the Brown School of Social Work. I served as Pow Wow co-chair, an experience that honed my leadership skills. Upon graduation in 1998, I worked as an independent consultant with Pro-Group, Inc., a diversity consulting firm based in Minneapolis. This position led to an opportunity as Interim Executive Director at both the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center and at Native Americans in Philanthropy. I went on to work with the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs as the project director for a tobacco cessation program targeting American Indian communities in that state.

Most recently, I have served as a development officer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, my undergraduate alma mater. I was appointed to the Brown School Board of Visitors. My time at the Buder Center developed my skills in social work and helped me establish a career working with Native communities.