SAIO 50 for 50: Shyla Sheppard
This Week's Spotlight: Shyla Sheppard ('04, B.A. Economics)
Sheppard (Mandan, Hidatsa) is the Founder, President, and CEO of Bow & Arrow Brewing Co., a craft brewery and beer hall in Albuquerque, New Mexico specializing in wild, sour and Southwest-inspired beers. Before starting B&A she spent nearly a decade as a social impact investor in the Southwest US. Sheppard was part of the founding team of New Mexico Community Capital where she assisted with development and managed the firm’s investments in Aero-Mechanical Industries (aerospace), MIOX (water/onsite chemistry), and Wellkeeper (oilfield services).
In addition to her work at Bow & Arrow Brewing Co., Sheppard serves as a board member for First Nations OWEESTA Corporation, a non-profit focused on the establishment of strong, permanent institutions and programs contributing to economic independence and strengthening sovereignty for all Native communities, and United Way of Central NM and is the board secretary for First Nations Development Institute, a non-profit that invests in and creates institutions and models that strengthen asset control and support economic development for American Indian people and their communities.
Sheppard has been recognized by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development as one of Indian Country’s 40 under Forty outstanding young leaders and by the New Mexico Business Weekly as one of New Mexico’s 40 under Forty.