Joely Proudfit
Dr. Joely Proudfit is a Luiseño/Payomkowishum educator and media maker.
Dr. Proudfit is the founder and Executive Director of the California’s American Indian & Indigenous Film Festival (CAIIFF) as well as the Director of the W.M. Keck Foundation’s $250,000 grant to support the American Indian Digital Media and Culture Project (AIDM&C) which invests in and advocates in the next generation of Indigenous media makers.
Along with developing her own independent media projects, Proudfit owns Native Media Strategies LLC, which consults, collaborates and produces with the entertainment industries and their professionals to develop inclusive strategies to foster authentic representation of Native Americans in the media arts.
She has consulted and advised on various projects in both film and TV including the Scott Cooper film HOSTILES starring Christian Bale and Wes Studi, various Chelsea Handler segments, ABCs STUMPTOWN and numerous other current projects which are in the in pre-production phase now.
In addition, Dr. Proudfit also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Vison Maker Media and she owns and manages Naqmayam Communications, an independent, full-service, PR, marketing and advertising agency.
Dr. Proudfit currently serves as the Director of the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center (CICSC) and is Department Chair and full Professor of American Indian Studies at CSU San Marcos.
She has authored and edited countless works on American Indian sovereignty, education and American Indian media representations, including the recently published book in a series of ten books entitled, On Indian Ground: A Return to Indigenous Knowledge-Generating Hope, Leadership and Sovereignty through Education.
Proudfit is also author of the forthcoming 2021 book, Beyond the American Indian Stereotype.
Dr. Proudfit was the first special advisor to the Honorable Cruz M. Bustamante, lieutenant governor of California, for California Indian Sovereign Nations in 2002 and in 2016, was appointed by President Obama to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. She holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science with emphasis in public policy and American Indian studies from Northern Arizona University.
Dr. Proudfit is the founder and Executive Director of the California’s American Indian & Indigenous Film Festival (CAIIFF) as well as the Director of the W.M. Keck Foundation’s $250,000 grant to support the American Indian Digital Media and Culture Project (AIDM&C) which invests in and advocates in the next generation of Indigenous media makers.
Along with developing her own independent media projects, Proudfit owns Native Media Strategies LLC, which consults, collaborates and produces with the entertainment industries and their professionals to develop inclusive strategies to foster authentic representation of Native Americans in the media arts.
She has consulted and advised on various projects in both film and TV including the Scott Cooper film HOSTILES starring Christian Bale and Wes Studi, various Chelsea Handler segments, ABCs STUMPTOWN and numerous other current projects which are in the in pre-production phase now.
In addition, Dr. Proudfit also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Vison Maker Media and she owns and manages Naqmayam Communications, an independent, full-service, PR, marketing and advertising agency.
Dr. Proudfit currently serves as the Director of the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center (CICSC) and is Department Chair and full Professor of American Indian Studies at CSU San Marcos.
She has authored and edited countless works on American Indian sovereignty, education and American Indian media representations, including the recently published book in a series of ten books entitled, On Indian Ground: A Return to Indigenous Knowledge-Generating Hope, Leadership and Sovereignty through Education.
Proudfit is also author of the forthcoming 2021 book, Beyond the American Indian Stereotype.
Dr. Proudfit was the first special advisor to the Honorable Cruz M. Bustamante, lieutenant governor of California, for California Indian Sovereign Nations in 2002 and in 2016, was appointed by President Obama to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. She holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science with emphasis in public policy and American Indian studies from Northern Arizona University.
