Esther Lucero is Dinè and Latina and a third generation urban Indian from Colorado Springs, Colorado. A leader in national public health policy for urban American Indians and Alaska Natives, Esther became CEO of the Seattle Indian Health Board in 2015 and completed a reorganization of the company by establishing a leadership team that is leading the charge toward an informed system of care that is grounded in indigenous knowledge.

Prior to Seattle Indian Health Board, Esther was the number one salesperson for a national retail corporation at the age of 22 before dedicating her life to public health policy for urban American Indians and Alaska Natives. She would later work in various positions for the Native American AIDS project and Native American Heath Center before joining the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health where she oversaw 10 health programs throughout California. Esther played a key role in the drug Medi-Cal carve out and getting a Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) agreement to create a new program. She would also play a key role in California’s SUD component that would allow tribes and urban Indian programs to work together.

Esther’s passion and advocacy for Native health and transformative approaches to indigenous research and evaluation, Federal Indian Law and policy, reproductive justice for Indigenous women, and LGBTQ Two-Spirit health has made her a leader in health in Seattle and nationally.

Education:

• Masters of Public Policy from Mills College
• BA in Native American Studies from Mills College

Boards, Committees, Commissions:

• HealthierHere, Governing Board (co-chair)
• Governor’s Behavioral Taskforce
• American Indian Health Commission
• Native Communities Committee
• Seattle LGBTQ Commission