SAIO 50 for 50: Zach Pahmahmie
This Week's Spotlight: Zach Pahmahmie ('96, B.A. Art History)
Pahmahmie (Prairie Band Potawatomi) is the Vice-Chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s seven-member Tribal Council and Chairperson of the Board of Directors for Prairie Band, LLC, the holding company for the Nation’s economic development initiatives. He is also a former Tribal Chairman for the Nation and was the youngest Tribal Chairman in the Nation’s modern history when he was elected to his first term at twenty-eight.
Pahmahmie is also the Co-Chair of the Kansas Tribal Health Summit Planning Committee, an annual collaborative effort among the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, and the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska to improve the health and well-being of tribal people in Kansas.
He has served two terms as Southern Plains Regional Vice-President for the National Congress of American Indians. He was recognized by USA Today’s Weekend magazine as one of seven Native standouts and by the Topeka-Capital Journal newspaper as a distinguished Kansan. Prior to his career in government, Pahmahmie interned at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian-New York.
In addition to his Stanford degree, Pahmahmie holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law with an emphasis in tribal law and governance.