Catherine Zingg

Director of Indigenous Partnerships, Interior West

Catherine Zingg serves as the Director of Indigenous Partnerships, Interior West for Vote Solar and oversees best practices and the development of relations with Tribal partners when it comes to energy policy and advocacy. As a proud member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and Indigenous woman, Catherine centers Indigenous wisdom in all aspects of her work. In Indian Country, the nexus between land, water, and energy are all critical in understanding why Tribal Nations are key partners and leaders in the clean energy transition. She is a strong believer that standing and speaking in policy spaces advocating on behalf of all her relatives is the beginning to building pathways in which Indigenous communities can flourish everywhere.

With over four years of working with Native-led nonprofits and a background in public health, Catherine brings a diverse range of skills rooted in acknowledging culture as tradition, building diverse coalitions across lines of power, and setting community engagement strategies to the table on the Vote Solar team.

Her work reconciles the past and the present through a lens of compassion, honesty and justice. Over the past few years, she has worked with several different Tribal Nations in the Midwest in creating just food sovereignty practices, establishing coalitions among Tribal leaders, state agencies and community members, and building organizational policies around health and wellness. Catherine’s work is dedicated to the principles of self-determination and Tribal sovereignty. She sees herself as an advocate for Tribes everywhere with an emphasis on relationship building in order to advance clean energy and climate goals with collaborative solutions. She has completed her Bachelor’s of Arts from Arizona State University.

In her free time, she enjoys making coffee at her mobile coffee bus, Strawberry Coffee, in Phoenix, Arizona which is dedicated to Hocąk language preservation and the exploration of Indigenous place-keeping in specialty coffee. She also loves to read and spend time with her dog, friends and family.
Pįnagigi – Many thanks for reading!