Entity Profile
| Property | Value |
|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3) nonprofit research institute |
| Domain(s) | nativebio.org, indigidata.org (program), decolonize-dna.org (lapsed) |
| Jurisdiction | Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, Eagle Butte, SD 57625 |
| EIN | 83-2424364 |
| Hosting | InMotion Hosting (cPanel shared), migrated from GoDaddy late 2025 |
| Email | Google Workspace |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Staff | ~8 (per 2022 990 filing) |
| Mission | Indigenous-led biobank and research institute focused on genomic data sovereignty and STEM education |
Budget Signals
Revenue Trajectory
| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Net Assets | Notes |
|---|
| 2020 | $55K | $18K | $41K | Startup year |
| 2021 | $3.3M | $499K | $2.9M | MacArthur $2M year |
| 2022 | $1.0M | $1.9M | $2.1M | Deficit year, -$869K burn |
| 2023-24 | $9M NIH award announced Dec 2023 (NBDC share ~$3M) | NIH OTA via Stanford |
| 2025 | NIH funding revoked March 2025; only ~$1M of $3M disbursed | Blanket COVID-19 research cuts |
Current financial state: The organization is likely in a cash crunch. The 2022 filing showed a deficit year burning reserves. The NIH award was supposed to be the bridge to institutional scale, but revocation after only 1/3 disbursement leaves a gap. MacArthur follow-on grants ($50K + $15K in 2025) are bridge money, not operating scale.
Key Funding Relationships
| Funder | Total | Type | Notes |
|---|
| MacArthur Foundation | $2,065,000 | 3 grants | Strongest institutional relationship. Unrestricted support. |
| NIH (via Stanford OTA) | ~$3,000,000 (NBDC share) | Sub-award | Revoked March 2025. Only ~$1M disbursed. |
| McGovern Foundation | $400,000 | Digital health | Indigenous data governance + AI/ML. |
| Henry Luce Foundation | $90,000 | Education | Data sovereignty education. |
| Illumina | In-kind | Equipment | NextSeq 550 sequencer donated. |
Where Oahe could help spend money better: Data infrastructure, pipeline automation, and analytics tooling. NBDC has a genetics lab, physical servers (deliberately not cloud), and 82 data-sharing contract templates. They need someone to build the data systems that connect lab output to tribal governance frameworks. Their D4I repository uses federated/decentralized architecture under tribal control -- this is exactly the kind of data engineering Oahe does.
Technology Gaps
Current State
| Component | Current |
|---|
| Website | Drupal 10.5.4 on cPanel shared hosting (InMotion) |
| Email | Google Workspace (SPF + DKIM configured, DMARC p=none) |
| Data servers | Physical servers in Eagle Butte + Wisconsin (deliberately non-cloud) |
| Lab equipment | Illumina NextSeq 550 sequencer |
| Security posture | Minimal -- no CDN, no WAF, minimal security headers |
Gaps Oahe Could Address
- Data pipeline engineering. The D4I repository connects 7 institutions with federated access under tribal governance. This needs real data engineering, not academic prototypes.
- Infrastructure hardening. DMARC p=none means the domain can be spoofed. No security headers. Shared hosting is fine for a brochure site but not for an organization handling genomic data governance.
- Business continuity. Eagle Butte has 1.5 FEMA declarations/year. Physical servers there need disaster recovery planning beyond geographic redundancy.
- Analytics and reporting. As they rebuild post-NIH cut, they need data to tell their story to funders and Congress. Dashboards, impact metrics, compliance tracking.
Decision Makers
| Name | Role | Profile | Notes |
|---|
| Guthrie Ducheneaux | Board President / IT Director | Lakota, CRST. Co-founder. | This is us. Oahe Data founder. Already embedded in leadership. |
| Joseph Yracheta, MS | Executive Director | P'urhepecha & Raramuri. JHU SPH affiliate. | Primary decision-maker. Drives public narrative. |
| Krystal Tsosie, PhD | Co-founder / Board Secretary | Dine/Navajo. ASU faculty. | Scientific credibility anchor. $1.2M D4I sub-award. |
| Keolu Fox, PhD | Co-founder / Board Member | Kanaka Maoli. UCSD faculty. | Academic network connector. |
| Kali Dale | Research Director | White Earth Ojibwe. | Day-to-day research operations. |
| Ashlynn Gerth | Development Director | Mille Lacs Ojibwe. | Fundraising. Key contact for funding conversations. |
| Rebecca Dickinson | Grants Manager | White Earth Ojibwe. | Grant compliance and reporting. |
| Burt Dillabaugh | Tribal Liaison | Cheyenne River Lakota. | Community relationships. |
Pain Points
- NIH funding crisis (acute). The $9M RADx TDR award was revoked March 2025 as collateral damage in blanket COVID-19 research cuts. Only ~$1M of NBDC's ~$3M share was disbursed. Five SD tribes (Oglala, CRST, Rosebud, Lower Brule, Standing Rock) wrote the congressional delegation. Sen. Rounds' staff engaged; Sen. Thune has not responded. This is the dominant organizational pain point.
- Infrastructure gap. Campus master plan (MASS Design Group, 9.9 acres, 11,100 sq ft) exists in concept/design. Current operations run from existing Eagle Butte facilities. The gap between the vision and reality is significant.
- Disaster exposure. Eagle Butte is in one of the most disaster-prone areas in the country. July 2024 storms (FEMA-4842-DR, $6.7M) directly affected the area. The lab houses irreplaceable biological specimens.
- Revenue concentration. Pre-2025, heavily dependent on one NIH award. Post-revocation, MacArthur bridge grants ($65K) are not sustainable.
- Technical capacity. 8 staff for an organization that operates a genetics lab, maintains a federated data repository, manages 82 contract templates, and coordinates with 19+ tribes. IT is essentially one person (Guthrie).
Competitive Landscape
| Entity | Relationship | Notes |
|---|
| Stanford University | Institutional partner | Prime awardee on $9M NIH OTA. Partner, not competitor. |
| Arizona State University | Academic collaborator | Krystal Tsosie's $1.2M sub-award for D4I ethical design. |
| UC Santa Cruz, Ohio State, UW-Seattle, UW-Madison | D4I collaborators | Additional RADx TDR partners. |
| UCSD / San Diego Supercomputer Center | Research partner | RWJF grant for Indigenous blockchain biodata. |
| MASS Design Group | Campus designer | Master plan for 9.9-acre campus. |
| Illumina | Equipment donor | NextSeq 550 sequencer. |
No direct competitors identified. NBDC is described as "the first 501(c)(3) nonprofit research institute led by Indigenous scientists" in the US. The competitive landscape is more accurately described as potential academic partners who could subsume NBDC's mission into their own institutional structures if NBDC fails to achieve financial sustainability.
Timing Opportunities
- Congressional lobbying window (NOW). Five tribes have written the SD delegation. Sen. Rounds' staff is engaged. If Oahe can help NBDC build data infrastructure that demonstrates progress, it strengthens the congressional case.
- April 2026 Indigenous Data Sovereignty Summit. Yracheta promoting in Native News Online. Convening moment where technical capabilities will be on display.
- Post-FEMA-4842 recovery. Nov 2024 declaration brought $6.7M+ to CRST. Recovery planning underway. Data services for disaster recovery are a natural adjacent need.
- D4I repository completion. Despite funding cuts, Nature Genetics publication describes repository as "framed and welcome mat ready." Architecture exists; needs operational support.
- MacArthur relationship. $2.065M across 3 grants over 4 years. They are invested. Demonstrated impact positions for future foundation funding.
Recommended Approach
Oahe is already embedded in NBDC's leadership through Guthrie's role as Board President and IT Director. The positioning is not "how do we get in the door" -- it is "how do we formalize the relationship between Oahe's data engineering capabilities and NBDC's acute infrastructure needs." The entry point is the D4I data repository: NBDC has the scientific credibility, the tribal governance frameworks, and 82 contract templates, but needs the data pipeline engineering to make the federated repository operational at scale. The pitch is operational sustainability -- not a one-time contract, but an ongoing data services partnership that reduces NBDC's dependence on academic sub-award structures (Stanford, ASU) for technical execution. The timing is right: the NIH funding cut has exposed the fragility of relying on federal awards routed through R1 universities, and NBDC needs to demonstrate that it can execute independently.