Angie Eagle Bull

Angie grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and comes from a long line of family members who have attended school and worked at Red Cloud Indian School. After graduating from Red Cloud in 1979, she attended New Mexico State University for one year before enrolling in Oglala Lakota College back home. She graduated with a bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1994. Before accepting her current role, she was a major gift officer and director of direct mail operations in the advancement office.

Cecelia Fire Thunder

Cecelia Fire Thunder is a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation. She attended school at Holy Rosary Mission until the 10th grade. Cecelia co-founded the American Indian Free Clinic in Los Angeles in the 70’s. After moving to San Diego, she co-founded the American Indian Health Center. After living and learning away from home, she returned to Kyle, SD in 1987 and co-founded the Oglala Lakota Women’s Society whose work brought attention to the violence against Lakota women and children. Cecelia traveled for years to tribal communities in the U.S. and spent ten years across Canada on many reserves working for wellness and healing. She has been involved in projects focused on healing from the impact of residential schools across North America for over 2 decades.

She was the first woman elected President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in 2004.

She is the President of Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition, on the Board of Directors for Little Wound School (K-12) and an elder/matriarch of Tasunke Wakan Okolakiciye, Medicine Horse Society, addressing trauma in children using Lakota healing practices. After a long career in health, she returned to school and is a Certified Lakota Language teacher.

She is an adjunct instructor at Oglala Lakota College where she teaches Lakota Culture, Lakota Traditional Art, American Indian Women, American Indian/Lakota Psychology and a graduate course on Lakota Community Organizing.

Fr. Brad Held, S.J.

Fr. Held is in his second stint at Red Cloud, but his first one here as a priest. He serves as Pastor of the Catholic community on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He ensures the people’s sacramental and pastoral care as well as oversees and directs all areas of pastoral ministry on the reservation, in collaboration with the other priests, religious, and laity serving our churches. From 2011-2014, during his Jesuit formation, he served as a teacher and campus minister at Red Cloud High School. He left Red Cloud in 2014 to complete theology studies at Boston College in preparation for his ordination to the priesthood. Fr. Held was ordained in June 2017 and then served as a teacher and campus minister at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee. He began service as Pastor in June 2019.

Monica Macek

Monica Macek is Red Cloud’s first Vice President of Facilities. She started September 17, 2020 and is in charge of the planning, care, and maintenance of Red Cloud’s physical properties and buildings. A member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the valedictorian of Red Cloud’s Class of 1989, Monica brings over 20 years of experience serving as a facilities engineer, guiding operations maintenance, construction, and safety procedures for complex organizations. She spent 19 years working with the Indian Health Service (IHS) on the Pine Ridge Reservation managing resources for the hospital, five clinics, and 123 housing units. She led her team to implement short- and long-term planning and property acquisitions and, through energy efficiency improvement projects, she reduced IHS’ energy consumption by 35% in seven years.

More recently, Monica served North Dakota’s General Services Administration, responsible for all aspects of professional architectural and engineering duties of the project planning, design, construction, and repair of agency buildings. Monica graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. She is a Certified Energy Manager and obtained a Federal Acquisition Certification for Program and Project Managers from the Federal Acquisition Institution.

Moira Coomes

Moira Coomes has thirty-two years of educational experience including eighteen years in the classroom teaching English to middle and high school students. She has 14 years of administrative experience as an assistant principal, principal, and director of curriculum. Moira is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and grew up in Hot Springs SD. Moira earned her bachelor’s degree in education from Northern State University of South Dakota in 1985 and her Masters in Education Administration and Curriculum from Azusa Pacific in California in 2002. She is currently the superintendent at Red Cloud Indian School where she oversees the provision and management of a quality K-12 educational program that is rooted in faith values and cultural competencies for all students enrolled in the school system.

Jennifer Irving

She has a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology from Chadron State College and a Master’s in Public Health in Community Health Education from the University of Minnesota. Jennifer has spent most of her career as a public health practitioner in Maternal and Child Health serving Northern Plains tribes and American Indian urban communities. In 2019, Jennifer was chosen to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson’s Culture of Health Leaders Fellowship and in 2021 selected as a Native Nation Rebuilder. She currently resides in Nebraska with her daughter Maraya and her dog Lady!

Rev. Timothy Kesicki, S.J.

Fr. Kesicki works with the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation, a new partnership between Descendants of Jesuit slaveholding and the Society of Jesus in the United States. He just completed his tenure as president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States in September 2021. Prior to leading the Jesuit Conference, Fr. Kesicki served from 2008 through 2014 as the Provincial of the Chicago-Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus. A contributor to CNN and MSNBC, Fr. Kesicki hails from Erie, Pennsylvania, where he attended local Catholic schools before earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from John Carroll University in Ohio.

He entered the Society of Jesus at Loyola House Jesuit Novitiate in Berkley, Michigan, in 1984. His formation as a Jesuit included philosophy studies at Loyola University Chicago, theology studies at the Jesuit School of Theology and studies in educational administration at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. Fr. Kesicki has ministered and taught in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and worked with Jesuit Refugee Service in Adjumani, Uganda following his ordination. Fr. Kesicki served as president of Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland from 2000 – 2008. He is a member of the Mission and Identity Committee.

Rev. Thomas J. Merkel, S.J.

Rev. Thomas J. Merkel, S. J. serves as the Vice Chair. He is an Assistant Vice President for University Relations at Creighton University. He served as the Vice President for Mission and Identity at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School (2015-2016), the President of Creighton Preparatory School (2003-2012), and the Superintendent of Schools at Red Cloud Indian School (1997-2003). He taught at Red Cloud High School (1990-1993) and Boys Town High School (1992-93). Fr. Merkel is a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He entered the Jesuits in 1985, pronounced his first vows in 1987 and was ordained in 1997. He studied at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, earned a M. A., Private School Administration from the University of San Francisco in 1997, a M. Div., Theology from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley in 1996, a Ph. L., Philosophy from Gonzaga University, Ponficia Facultas Philosophica Sancti Michaelis in 1990 and a B. A., Theology from Creighton University in 1985. He is a member of the Finance and Facilities Committees and serves as the Chair of the Advancement Committee.

Rev. James M. Weiss

A graduate of St. Ignatius Prep and Loyola U. (Chicago) with further studies at the universities of Chicago and Munich, Fr. Weiss has taught theology at Boston College since 1979, where he offers an undergraduate year-long sequence in social justice. In 1990, he founded and has since directed the Capstone Vocational Discernment Seminars Program for seniors. He has supported Red Cloud since the 1980s, visited many times, and encouraged students to volunteer here. An Episcopal priest and spiritual director who has served inner city parishes, he now serves the Commission on Ordained Ministry for his Diocese. A church historian with interest in Lakota history, he is also an academic expert on the papacy and the College of Cardinals and has widely advised the press and media during the last two papal transitions. He is a member of the Education Committee.

Ms. Dakota Hoska

Ms. Hoska is a Native American artist, curator and enrolled member of the Oglala Lakȟóta nation, Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee community. She is currently the Assistant Curator of Native Arts for the Denver Art Museum (DAM), which houses one of the country’s largest collections of Native American artwork. Before her move to the DAM, Ms. Hoska served as a Research Assistant for the Minneapolis Institute of Art. There, her primary responsibilities were breaking down barriers between the institution and local Native community members and also supporting the development of the ground breaking exhibition “Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists.” Ms. Hoska graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN, and she completed her Master’s Degree in Art History with an emphasis on Native American Art History from the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, MN. She serves as Chair of The Heritage Center Committee.

Mr. William Whitaker

Mr. Whitaker is the Founding President of Washington Jesuit Academy, established in 2001 to address the academic needs of underserved middle school boys in the Washington, DC area. He served in that capacity until 2020. A graduate of Acadia University in Nova Scotia he has served on many educational boards in the DC area and is the former Director of Admissions and Assistant Varsity Basketball coach at Gonzaga College High School, just north of Capitol Hill. He serves as Treasurer and is a member of the Finance, Advancement and Education Committees.

Mr. Walter Bardenwerper

Mr. Bardenwerper began his legal career with a New York City law firm before serving for 25 years as the Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Towers Watson & Co. (now Willis Towers Watson) prior to his retirement. His career has also included serving as an adjunct law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, and as a visiting professor at law schools in China, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and the Philippines. He has also served as a pro bono attorney for asylum-seeking migrants at the ICE Family Detention Center in Dilley, TX as well as director of DeNovo Center for Justice & Healing in Cambridge, MA. He earned his BA with Honors in Economics from the University of Virginia, Phi Beta Kappa, and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He and his wife Tricia have five children and 14 grandchildren.

Mr. Rodney Bordeaux

Mr. Bordeaux is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for which he has served several terms as President. He is the President of St. Francis Mission, which is sponsored by the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus having formerly served as its Chief Operating Officer. He graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls and earned a Master’s Degree in Lakota Leadership from Oglala Lakota College. Mr. Bordeaux is currently serving as the President of St. Francis Mission. Mr. Bordeaux is returning to the Board having served several terms on the Board and as Chair, most recently in 2020. He is a member of the Mission and Identity and Pastoral Committees.

Mr. Robert Ecoffey

Mr. Ecoffey is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. A graduate of Pine Ridge High School, he holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Chadron State College, and attended the FBI National Academy. He was the first Native American to be appointed as United States Marshal in 1994 by President Clinton. He was the Agency Superintendent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pine Ridge Agency from 1996-2001; Director of the Office of Law Enforcement Services; Deputy Regional Director-Indian Services for the Great Plains Region, Bureau of Indian Affairs, responsible for managing programs such as Credit, Housing, Human Services, Roads, and Tribal Government Services. He then served a second stint as the Agency Superintendent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pine Ridge Agency, until his (first) retirement. He is also a local business owner, operating a Subway franchise. He previously served on the Board of Directors from 1996 to 2002, again from 2008 to 2014, and from 2015 to 2018, when he resigned to assume the leadership of the Oglala Sioux Police Department, from which he (again) retired. He serves as Chair of the Board.

Mr. Michael Hora

Mr. Hora serves as President of the Laughing Acres Family Foundation and is a retired executive with A.T.Kearney, a consulting firm. He has been interested in Indigenous issues for many years and serves on many boards. He previously served on the Red Cloud Board of Directors from 2011-2019. He is a member of the Governance and Advancement Committees and serves as the Finance Committee Chair.

Mr. Brendan P. Kennealey

Mr. Kenneally served for ten years as the President of Salesianum High School in Wilmington before departing in 2021 to found Nestor, a proptech startup. He began his career in academia as a volunteer teacher at Nativity Preparatory School in Boston before becoming the founding principal of the Nativity Preparatory School in New Bedford MA, later working with the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales to start the Nativity Preparatory School in Wilmington. In 2004, he founded the Benebikira Sisters Foundation which raises awareness and funding for the Benebikira Sisters’ schools and clinics in Rwanda. In addition, he worked as an area superintendent for the Catholic Schools Office for the Archdiocese of Boston and created and taught a Social Entrepreneurship class at Boston College as an adjunct. In addition to Red Cloud, Mr. Kenneally also serves on the Boards of Ursuline Academy and the Ministry of Caring in Wilmington DE. For several years, he also led a book club of great works (The Odyssey, East of Eden, 1984, etc.) at Gander Hill, a maximum-security state prison. He was awarded a B.A. from Boston College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He is the Chair of the Education Committee.

J. Christopher Woiwode

Mr. Woiwode currently serves as the Vice President and Chief Security Officer for Macerich in Santa Monica, where he oversees security for corporate and shopping mall facilities in fifteen states which host more than 400 million visitors annually. Mr. Woiwode has developed a world-class security program including remediation of major incidents, and fostering collaboration amongst multiple stakeholders such as retailers, local and federal law enforcement, and local city authorities. Prior to joining Macerich, he spent 25 years with the FBI including as Section Chief for the Counterintelligence Division in Washington DC. During his time with the Bureau, he served in multiple locations including overseas in Denmark and Saudi Arabia.

Since 1987, Mr. Woiwode has organized an annual golf event to benefit a scholarship fund for the children of fallen agents. A graduate of University of Detroit Jesuit High School he also worked as Director of Admissions there from 1982-1987. He was awarded an Master’s Degree in leadership from University of Jamestown, a B.S. from Cornell University and an Executive Certificate in Negotiation and Business Administration from Notre Dame. He serves on the Education and Facilities Committees.