Linda Howard
“Each person, human or no, is bound to every other in a reciprocal relationship.”
-Robin Wall Kimmerer
Linda’s superpower is her keen ability to see and manage the small details that elevate work from good to excellent. Linda provides this excellence to Indigenous Impact Co. as a part-time Event and Marketing Coordinator. Linda works seasonally where she utilizes her talents in event planning and marketing and provides logistical support for regional convenings.
Linda Howard (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma) grew up in Idaho and Oregon where her parents were both employed in the agricultural industry. She found her way to Big Sky Country when offered a summer job in Yellowstone National Park after her first year of college. Instantly smitten by the landscape, people, and culture, Linda has been a Montana resident ever since. Her six summers of sharing Yellowstone with visitors also led her to a rewarding career in marketing and communications.
After earning a BA in Liberal Studies at the University of Montana, Linda attained her MS in Public Relations at Montana State University-Billings. Using her gifts in organization and relationship-building, she served as Group Marketing Manager for the Montana Office of Tourism where she elevated awareness of Montana as a viable destination with tour and meeting planners around the world. She later joined the Big Sky Resort team as National Sales Manager to help catapult them into a year-round destination. She further honed her writing and media relations skills as Communication Director for Montana State Parks for eight years.
For her final post in state government, Linda returned to her roots in agriculture. Serving as a Business Development Specialist for the Montana Department of Agriculture, she promoted value-added ag products to overseas markets, planned and hosted trade missions, coordinated the network of food and ag development centers around the state, and helped small businesses grow and diversify their markets. It was during this time that Linda became deeply involved in Native food sovereignty – access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food in our Indigenous communities – authoring her first study on the topic in 2014.
Most recently, Linda has operated her own consulting business. Her three latest research projects were focused on Montana’s tribal communities – two on food distribution (in 2020 and 2022) and one on the feasibility of a Native artists cooperative in 2023. For many years, Linda has also represented Indigenous visual, performing, and culinary artists – assisting them with career planning, marketing, publicity, scheduling, and other logistics.
Linda’s superpower is her keen ability to see and manage the small details that elevate work from good to excellent. Linda provides this excellence to Indigenous Impact Co. as a part-time Event and Marketing Coordinator. Linda works seasonally where she utilizes her talents in event planning and marketing and provides logistical support for regional convenings.
Though far removed from the Cherokee homeland during her youth, Linda’s mother, aunties, and uncles made sure she was grounded in the traditional Tsalagi values of balance, harmony, cooperation, reciprocity, and respect. She has embodied these principles throughout her work and volunteer positions as she has built and maintained enduring relationships in Indian Country.
Linda has been deeply connected to the Blackfeet community the past 35 years through marriage and extended family. She currently makes her home in Babb, Montana on Niitsitapi homelands.
Strength training over cardio. Protein over carbs. Repurposed over new. Maple syrup over sugar. Sunrises over sunsets. Travel over staying put.