Vanessa Roanhorse
Chief Executive Officer, Roanhorse Consulting, LLC
New Mexico, United States of America
What inspired you to join Mountaintop?
“I want to participate in the Mountaintop Business Executive Fellowship to strengthen the business systems, financial models, and organizational strategy required for our next phase of growth. Our company is at an inflection point: we are expanding our venture studio, launching new capital vehicles, and preparing for long-term sustainability. The fellowship’s focus on executive leadership, operational excellence, and strategic acceleration aligns directly with what we need to scale responsibly and build the internal infrastructure that matches our mission.”
Vanessa Roanhorse is the CEO of Roanhorse Consulting, LLC, an Indigenous-led social enterprise dedicated to shifting power dynamics in health, economic, and capital systems to create a thriving future for the next generations. She leads strategic research, advisory, and ecosystem development work that centers Indigenous knowledge, lived experience, and relational capital to reframe how investment and resources flow into communities. Roanhorse Consulting co-designs wealth and power building efforts that invest in community-led solutions, shape inclusive systems, and support organizations in aligning strategy with purpose and equity.
Vanessa has been instrumental in designing innovative investment frameworks, including relationship-based lending models and capital strategies that decolonize traditional risk assessment. Her work has influenced initiatives such as Native Women Lead’s Matriarch Funds, Nusenda Credit Union’s Microlending Program, and the Rural Community Assistance Corporation’s Rooted Relative Fund, all of which use relational capital to advance Indigenous economic self-determination. She also works with government, philanthropy, and nonprofit partners to develop thoughtful, community-centered programs that strengthen local leadership and capacity.
She serves on the boards of Delta Institute, Potlikker Capital, and the Just Transition Investment Fund, and advises networks including the Ecosystem Building Leadership Network, SOCAP, and the Criterion Institute. Her leadership and impact have been recognized with awards including the 2024 Impact Finance Center “Who’s Who of Impact Investing,” the 2022 Miss Porter’s School Donaldson Award, the 2021 PayPal Maggie Lena Walker Emerging Leader Award, and the 2020 Conscious Company Media World Changing Woman in Sustainable Business Award.
Vanessa is the founder of Roanhorse Consulting, a founding member of Zebras Unite, and a co-founder of Native Women Lead and the Rematriating Economies Apprenticeship. She continues to advance Indigenous economic self-determination by fostering models of cooperative leadership, community-rooted investment, and inclusive economic ecosystems that support Indigenous women, founders, and underserved communities. A citizen of the Navajo Nation, she is based in unceded Tiwa territory with her partner and son.