Oglala Lakota
Fellowship Goal: Develop a tribal owned and tribal focused O&M solar business.
Cheyenne was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation. Her solar adventure began back in 2015 when she first learned about GRID Alternatives. She traveled to her homeland of Pine Ridge South Dakota to help install solar on Lakota Solar Enterprises. From that moment she realized she wanted to learn more about solar and its impact on our earth Later that year she accepted a SolarCorps Fellowship position in Willits, California with GRID Alternatives and lived in California for the next year impacting tribal communities. In 2018 she partnered with Trees, Water, People and obtained a grant to purchase 15 solar suitcases. These solar suitcases are distributed throughout reservations in South Dakota and are used by students. Her vision for the future is to help her people understand sustainability, how it impacts us, and how we can use it to better our community. Cheyenne currently resides in Denver, Colorado with her family.
- Fellowship Objectives: Train O&M tribal staff with capacity to monitor systems year round.
- Fellowship Activities: Develop, plan, and implement an Operations & Maintenance training for GRID Alternatives tribal partners.