SAIO 50 for 50: Chris McNeil
This Week's Spotlight: Chris McNeil, Jr. ('70, B.A. Political Science, '78, JD)
McNeil (Tlingit, Haida, Nisga’a) is the owner of Native Strategy Group, which provides advisory services to Native organizations. He served at Sealaska Corporation in varying capacities from 1978 through 2014, including executive vice president, general counsel, thirteen years as president and CEO, and two years as a member board of directors.
McNeil has also served as special counsel to the Alaska Federation of Natives, chairman of the Native American Rights Fund, the first director of American Indian Program at Stanford University, second vice president of the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, director of Goldbelt, Incorporated, director of the American Indian National Bank, president of the Juneau Tlingit & Haida Community Council, chairman of Tlingit & Haida Regional Housing Authority, Washington representative and counsel to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut, and chairman of the Native American Contractors Association.
McNeil is a past Alaska Federation of Natives Citizen of the Year, an inductee into the Stanford University Multicultural Alumni Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Yale University Native American Program’s Henry Roe Cloud medal. In addition to his Stanford degrees, McNeil holds a master’s in political science from Yale University.