Hester Dillon

Program Director, Indigenous Communities

Hester Dillon directs our Indigenous Communities program.  Hester is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She worked as a grant writer for the Karuk Tribe and tutored GED students for the Hoopa Valley Tribe’s Even Start Program.  As a Regional Supervising Attorney for the Keepseagle v. Vilsack settlement, she led a team supporting Tribal members to file loan discrimination claims by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  At NoVo Foundation, she was an Indigenous Communities Program Officer for over five years.  Through her business, 4 Rivers Consulting, she supported Indigenous-led organizations as well as foundations in their work. She serves on the boards of Indian Land Capital Company and International Funders for Indigenous Peoples, and is on the Coordinating Committee for Neighborhood Funders Group.

She studied Native American Studies and English at the University of Montana, and Law at the University of Arizona.