Jody L. TallBear, Esq. has served in multiple roles under the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity (ED) and first joined ED in 2010 as a Visiting Fellow to focus on Tribal Affairs and outreach. In 2011, Jody was hired as an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and her support of OCR from 2010-2015 included serving as lead for enforcement actions under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX compliance activities.

From 2013-2015, Jody served as the Strategic Initiatives and Policy Advisor for ED and in that role led strategic planning and stakeholder engagement efforts to achieve the office’s broad mission. Through most of her tenure in ED, Jody served as the lead for Tribal policy and Native American stakeholder engagement and has previously been the Co-Chair of the Interagency Working Group on Indian Affairs.

In September 2019, Jody was named to her current position, Chief of the Civil Rights Division. In this role, Jody is responsible for developing and administering department policies and procedures related to Title VI and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Title IX of Education Amendments of 1972, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and related statutes and Executive Orders that prohibit discrimination in the Federal government and in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance.   

Prior to joining the Department, Jody was an Archibald Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow and spent this tenure as a visiting fellow at the National Congress of American Indians and the Office of Indian Affairs, Natural Resources Committee, U.S. House of Representatives.

Jody is a frequent speaker at federal agencies on the challenges to achieving inclusion of Native Americans in the workplace. Jody is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and is eligible for enrollment in the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. She is licensed to practice law in the State of Minnesota.