March 31, 2015 – MAYETTA: Hattie Mitchell, Tribal Council Treasurer, has been selected by Washburn Alumni Association for the 2014 Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) award.
The award is given to graduates who have demonstrated leadership in career or civic endeavors and are loyal to Washburn University.
She will receive her award at the annual alumni awards banquet scheduled for April 25.
Mitchell graduated with a bachelor’s of business administration degree from Washburn and also studied abroad at Cambridge University in England and Santander, Spain. In addition, she was in the Summer Venture in Management Program at Harvard Business School and also became a Certified Public Accountant in 2012.
While at Washburn Mitchell was a member of the Accounting Club, Native American Club and Finance Club. Additionally, she had a band scholarship for two years and was part of the Flag Corps for the Washburn Marching Band.
Before becoming treasurer for the PBPN, she worked in the Nation’s Finance Department. Prior to that, she worked for six years as an accountant for Security Benefit in Topeka and for five years in gaming operations at Harrah’s Prairie Band Casino (now known as Prairie Band Casino & Resort).
Among her duties as treasurer for the PBPN, she is the Cultural Preservation Officer and representative for the Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), chairs the PBPN Tax Commission, and is also vice chairperson of the Prairie Band, LLC Board of Directors. Part of her duties also includes overseeing economic development efforts for the Nation’s land department that includes leases, purchases, conservation work and the bison program.
Other honors she has received include being recognized as one of Topeka’s “20 Under 40” recipients and she is also on the Board of Directors for the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center. In 2013 she was also honored as being one of the “40 Under 40” emerging American Indian leaders by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development organization.