Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council Vice-Chair Loni Greninger

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council Vice-Chair Loni Greninger has joined the Centrum board in the newly established position of Community Board Liaison.

According to a recent announcement by Centrum Board Chair Leah Mitchell, Greninger will begin working in her new role in January.

Centrum officials said Greninger has helped advise the nonprofit on the development of its artist in residence program in recent years, specifically its Northwest Heritage Residency funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, and serves as one of the Tribe’s lead coordinators on education, art, and culture.

“We could not be more pleased to welcome Loni Greninger to our board in this special role,” Mitchell said. 

“As a lifelong resident of this community, and advocate for native education and community partnerships, she will be a vital and welcome voice on our board.”  

Prior to the appointment, Centrum had 17 members on its board including representatives of Port Townsend, Seattle, Poulsbo, Arlington, and Olympia.

Greninger was appointed to be the interim Tribal Vice Chair in January 2020. She graduated with her bachelor of science degree in psychology from Pacific Lutheran University in 2012, and her master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis in Tribal governance from The Evergreen State College in 2016.

Her professional experience includes four years of working with the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services as an Office of Indian Policy regional manager, and then as a statewide tribal liaison. Both positions led to help create systems and policies that increase access to state services for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Additionally, another role for Greninger was to educate state workers in the government-to-government relationship that the state has with its federally recognized tribes. 

In 2017, she returned home to serve her Tribe as the deputy director of Social & Community Services. 

She continues to partner with state and local governments in work that benefits Washington’s Tribal Nations and Greninger currently sits on the Governor’s Oversight Board for the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. She is also an alternative delegate to the Washington State DSHS Indian Policy Advisory Committee and participates in local workgroups to further education and resources between the state and Tribe. 

Additionally, Greninger received her Klallam Language Certification in June 2019 so as to bring the Klallam language back to Jamestown.