Center for Indian Law and Policy Welcomes Brooke Pinkham as Staff Director
Attorney Brooke Pinkham has joined the Center for Indian Law and Policy at Seattle University School of Law as the new Staff Director. A member of the Nez Perce tribe who grew up within the community of the Yakama Nation in south central Washington, Brooke brings a lifelong commitment to Native American people and tribes.
Brooke joins Seattle University School of Law after spending nine years as a staff attorney with the Northwest Justice Project, a non-profit law firm dedicated to providing equal access to the law, where she provided direct representation and advocacy on behalf of tribal members throughout Washington. She most recently served as a guest lecturer for the law school’s Incarcerated Parents Advocacy Clinic on the topic of the Indian Child Welfare Act. She has particular expertise in Indian estate planning and probate, enforcing application of the Indian Child Welfare Act, protecting the rights to secure housing, tribal and non-tribal public benefits, and the education rights of Native American students.
Brooke has served on the boards for the National Native American Law Students Association, the Washington State Bar Association Indian Law Section, and the Northwest Indian Bar Association. She is a recent graduate of the Washington Leadership Institute, a nationally recognized and comprehensive leadership program. Prior to attending the University of Washington School of Law, she worked for United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, a Seattle-area non-profit founded to provide educational, cultural and social services for indigenous people in the Puget Sound region. Brooke joins the CILP staff team of Faculty Director Gregory Silverman, Staff Attorney Guadalupe Ceballos, and Senior Attorney Erica Wolf.