Skya Ducheneaux

Skya Ducheneaux is the executive director of Akiptan Inc. and is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (CRST). She spent her first 18 years of life on a cattle ranch on the CRST Reservation in South Dakota. She then pursued a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration while working at a county Farm Service Agency office and buffalo meat-processing plant. After returning home to work for the Intertribal Agriculture Council, she was tasked with creating the first Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) dedicated to serving Native agriculture producers across Indian Country. Akiptan began lending in January 2019 and has grown rapidly over the years.

Ducheneaux has served on many advisory committees and is currently the board chair of the Mountain Plains Community Development Corporation. In her role as executive director of Akiptan, she is part of several CDFI coalitions, advocates locally and federally, and presents at conferences to share Akiptan’s mission.