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Director of Entrepreneurial Leadership Program at Gonzaga Creating a Pipeline of Indigenous Business PhD Graduates - Meet Dr. Dan Stewart


November is National American Indian Heritage Month. Join us in paying tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans as we share stories of indigenous leaders.

November is also National Veterans and Military Families Month and we invite you to find inspiration from the veterans we are honoring.

Today please meet Native American (Spokane Tribe) and veteran, Dr. Dan Stewart.

My name is Dan Stewart, and I am a member of the Spokane Tribe of Indians. I am currently a Professor of Entrepreneurship at Gonzaga University, where I am director of our Entrepreneurial Leadership Program. I have been a professor for over twenty years, but my leadership journey really began in earnest when I became a US Army officer after college. I guess I had some of that warrior spirit within me! Through the Army, I learned how to lead soldiers in a high-stress, fast tempo environment. It was a great leadership experience, but being in the military was not what I wanted to do for a career. I had been drawn to academia when a few professors took me under their wings as an undergraduate. Their belief that I could become a leader of students and a “thought leader” in the academy drove me to go back to school to get a PhD, with the support of The Phd Project, and the goal of becoming a business school professor.

What kind of community-driven projects have you spearheaded/participated in that you are personally proud of? What did you take away from these experiences?

The projects that make me most proud are those which create opportunities for others. Two of my more recent projects involve creating academic opportunities for others who are interested in Indigenous economic development. First, I have helped develop and direct an Indigenous Student Seminar at Stanford University. The seminar brings together Indigenous students who are interested in economic development. The students are primarily graduate students and law students who are seeking an introduction to the multi-faceted issues surrounding Indigenous sovereignty and economic self-determination. The first two cohorts have been amazing, with students from various academic disciplines and schools, representing Indigenous communities from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Central America.

A second project I have been working on is the creation of a new academic journal focused on Indigenous business and public administration. The journal was created in response to the difficulty that I, along with my academic peers who are interested in Native American business, have had in finding suitable peer-reviewed outlets for our scholarly work in this area. Mainstream journal editors perceive studies of Indigenous business to be a niche topic, which makes it difficult to publish our studies in the normal channels. Big surprise—we have been marginalized again! So, my solution to the problem has been to create a new scholarly outlet that will be dedicated to helping Indigenous business scholars publish their works, in the hope that we can both increase our understanding of Indigenous business while also helping our emerging Indigenous scholars publish articles that will help them establish their academic careers. Publish or perish is a real thing in the academy, so we should support our Indigenous professors in any way we can.

How do you connect with your ancestral roots in your professional and personal life?

I am fortunate to work and live in my ancestral territory, which is not common for academics. During my daily commute to Gonzaga University, I drive along the river that provided sustenance to my tribe for millennia. This provides me a daily reminder that I am both physically and spiritually entwined with this land. It instills in me a sense of obligation to do my part in ensuring that the local community does not forget that the Spokane Tribe is still here.

Here is a true story for you: the first two Native American students who showed up to Gonzaga were turned away and denied an education, even though part of the university’s mission was to serve the Indigenous community. I like to think of myself as a symbolic reminder to the university community that, despite our obstacles, we made it and we are thriving!

As an Indigenous leader, what motivates you to move forward in times of adversity? Where do you find your passion?

My motivation is to find and develop younger Indigenous scholars who can build on the momentum that me and my colleagues have started. There are very few Indigenous scholars who study business and even fewer who conduct peer-reviewed research on Indigenous business issues. Economic development in Indian country will require business education and training so our future tribal leaders are well-positioned to grow and lead our future tribal ventures. 

Who teaches in business schools? Professors with a PhD in business. So, if we want our tribal leaders to be trained by professors who understand tribal business, we must create a pipeline of Indigenous and Native business PhD graduates who care about tribal business. When my endeavors grow cumbersome, I remind myself that our tribal communities face a critical business education need that I can help meet by encouraging and enabling others to take my place as a business educator. My motivation is the future economic well-being of our Indigenous communities. If Native nations are to achieve true tribal sovereignty and self-determination, then we must be in control of our own economic resources. There is no true sovereignty if we are dependent on the government for our resources. However, we cannot express our sovereignty and economic self-determination without business education.

What do you see yourself doing in the future? Next five years? Ten?

Gonzaga has a unique MBA-in-American-Indian-Entrepreneurship program that serves enrolled tribal members. I would like to take our model of Indigenous business education and help teach other universities how they can adapt our model for their unique situations. If we can make business education more readily available for Indigenous students, then we can increase the likelihood that future tribal ventures will be well-managed and successful, which is a critical part of revitalizing tribal economies and communities.

How could GlobalMindED further support the efforts that you are a part of?

I think GlobalMindEd could support us by creating pathways for us continue preaching our message: we need more business PhD’s from the Indigenous community. Business school academia is an underexplored career path that most Native American students don’t consider simply because it’s not something they hear about. We are here to tell them.
Livestream the event fee-waived through WABE Atlanta PBS. Register here.

Join us for an all-star line-up of talent at the GlobalMindED/Georgia Tech Office of Minority Education (OMED) Resolve to Solve Series with leaders from business, higher education and media as we connect and collaborate with students to create their success now and in the future. The rap sensation, Killer Mike will have a 1:1 conversation followed by a networking career reception with companies for students to explore careers, bring their resumes and prospect for internships.

 View this short video of our June event and the impact it had on presidents, faculty and students. 
 
Attendees include students, educators, business leaders, policy makers, and foundations/funders.
  • Speakers include college presidents Dr. Glenda Glover (Tennessee State), Dr. David Thomas (Morehouse), Dr. Brian Blake (GA State), business and tech leaders, and global hip-hop sensation, Michael Render (aka Killer Mike), who will share his personal vision of Love & Respect, which is also the title of his new PBS talk show.
  • Breakfast, lunch, and reception are included in the $295 registration fee. Students attend for $195.
  • Livestream anywhere fee-waived

Student Delegates will go to Industry Marketplace Reception to meet 15 companies and explore careers after Killer Mike's Closing Session!
SAVE the DATE 2023: June 7 Inclusive Leader Awards Dinner
First Gen Leadership Program
June 8, 9 GlobalMindED Conference
2023 Denver, Colorado

CALL FOR PROPOSALS IS OPEN
June 2022 Conference Summary in Photos and Videos
We had an inspiring conference in June after two years of virtual gatherings due to COVID. If you missed that, you can still be a part of the experience through the photos from the 2022 GlobalMindED conference, as well as seeing the complete program for connections and inspiration.



Video remarks:

Honoring the 2022 Inclusive Leader Award Winners. Please see their stories:

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