KENDRA LOWDEN - PRESIDENT

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Kendra Lowden is a citizen of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and is of Osage descent. She is Thunder Clan and descends from the Curley family. Her Potawatomi name is Shawnokwe (South Wind Woman). Kendra participates in traditional Potawatomi ceremonies held on her family’s original allotted land in St. Louis, Oklahoma. She has been the Foster/Care Adoption Manager at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation since 2019. Prior to her current position, Kendra worked at Chickasaw Nation for over almost seven years and served as the Foster Care Manager. Additionally, she worked at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation House of Hope for two years as the Domestic Violence Prevention Coordinator.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oklahoma in 2010 and is currently attending Southeastern Oklahoma State University to obtain a Master of Science in Native American Leadership.

Kendra was a fellow in the 2020 Adopt US Kids Minority Professional Leadership Development Program and conducted an in-depth research project examining Indian Child Welfare Act training for Oklahoma foster/adoptive parents. She was selected to present her research nationally at the 2021 National Indian Child Welfare Association Conference and for the National Adoption Association. Kendra also regularly trains tribal partners on how to complete home studies and has presented at the Oklahoma Indian Child Welfare Association Conference. Her passion in Indian Child Welfare includes ensuring children are placed in culturally appropriate homes.

Kendra is an individual Indian member of the Oklahoma Indian Child Welfare Association, chair of the Substitute Care Committee, tribal chair of the Families First Subcommittee, and she administrates the Association’s Facebook page. She is also an individual member of the National Indian Child Welfare Association.

Kendra is the Nominating Committee Chair for the Oklahoma Tribal-State Workgroup. She is a graduate of the Chickasaw Nation Bronze Leadership Academy, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Noek Nmeshomsek Leadership Program and the Tribal Child Welfare Leadership Academy.

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