Speaker Profile Thumbnail for Dana Thompson

Multifaceted thought leader and social impact entrepreneur. Indigenous cuisine and food sovereignty expert. Accomplished restaurateur and innovator.

Dana Thompson Speaking Fee: $10,000 to $20,000

Multifaceted thought leader and social impact entrepreneur. Indigenous cuisine and food sovereignty expert. Accomplished restaurateur and innovator.

Speaker Profile Thumbnail for Dana Thompson
Speaking Fee:
$10,000 to $20,000

Travels From:
MSP - Minneapolis

Primary Topic Category:
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) / Social Justice

Secondary Topic Category:
Chefs / Culinary / Food & WIne

 

Dana Thompson Speaker Profile: At A Glance

Dana Thompson is the former co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of The Sioux Chef and former co-owner of the James Beard Award-winning Owamni Restaurant. By looking at food sovereignty through an Indigenous, non-Western lens, Dana reveals remarkable connections between culture, healthy eating, mental health, and sustainability. She has been featured in the New York Times, Vogue, the MN Women’s Press, and on PBS NewsHour.

A lineal descendant of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and Mdewakanton Dakota tribes and lifetime Minnesota native, Dana has worked for nearly a decade within the food sovereignty movement. She has engaged extensively throughout tribal communities, promoting critical ways to improve food access and implementing strategies to do the most possible good as a social entrepreneur. As former co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of The Sioux Chef, she managed all business development strategies for the company. In July 2021, Dana co-founded Owamni by The Sioux Chef, Minnesota’s first full-service Indigenous restaurant. Owamni received the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in the U.S. in June 2022. Their team was able to name Owamni Restaurant based on the location, thanks to a book that was published called Where the Waters Gather and the Rivers Meet, by Paul Durand. This book was dedicated to Clem Felix, Dana’s grandfather. He was the Dakota speaker who helped with the creation of this document to preserve the authentic native names of the Dakota Territory.  Dana also co-founded the nonprofit NĀTIFS (North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems). Through NĀTIFS, she developed health and wellness initiatives focused on addressing and treating ancestral trauma through decolonized perspectives of honoring and leveraging Indigenous wisdom. Dana stepped away from NāTIFS in 2023 to pursue other passions within the food, wellness, and entrepreneurial social impact space. In 2024, Dana launched the beverage brand Heti which is designed to transport you to a place in nature, honoring our plant relatives. Heti is also using a percentage of revenue to develop sustainable housing for Indigenous community members.  Also in 2024, The Modern Indigenous was born, a company dedicated to creating decolonized meals in order to educate about the health and wealth of culinary knowledge within Indian Country.  Dana served as a founding member on the leadership committee of the James Beard Foundation Investment Fund for Black and Indigenous Americans, and currently sits on the board of directors of the nonprofit Friends of the Falls.  An accomplished songwriter and guitarist, Dana was a founding member and lead singer with Strawdogs, Hot Head Fiasco, and The Minor Planets. As a working musician and producer through much of her life, Dana has released seven albums.
Gotham Artists