Traci L. Morris, PhD
Since 2014, Dr. Morris has been the executive director of the American Indian Policy (AIPI) Institute and a research professor at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. She is a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. A co-founder of the Center for Tribal Digital Sovereignty, Dr. Morris is the leading scholar on the subject of Tribal Digital Sovereignty, with a new book on the topic expected in 2025.
Under her leadership, the AIPI has grown and diversified its service to Indian Country, providing policy analysis, tribally driven research, and capacity building working with such Indian Country partners as the National Congress of American Indians, the Native American Finance Officers Association, and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. A national expert in tribal broadband and access, she testified at the Federal Communications Commission and Capitol Hill. Additionally, she is an expert in Tribal digital equity, broadband policies, and digital sovereignty.
In her work at ASU and prior, Morris has worked with Native American nations, Tribal businesses, and Native American non-profits. Morris’s research and publications are focused on Internet use, digital inclusion, network neutrality, digital equity, and the development of broadband networks in Indian Country. Morris spearheaded and co-authored the groundbreaking Tribal Technology Assessment: The State of Internet Service on Tribal Lands in 2019. Her book, Native American Voices: A Reader, continues to be a primary teaching tool in colleges nationwide.
Dr. Morris is Affiliated Faculty at ASU's School for the Future of Innovation in Society and American Indian Studies, an Affiliate of both ASU's Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology and ASU’s Center on Technology, Data, and Society, and serves as a Sustainability Scholar in the ASU School of Sustainability. Morris’ community service includes serving on multiple boards of Tribal organizations. Formerly, Morris served a two-year appointment (2014-2016 and 2010-2012) to the Federal Communications Commission's Consumer Advisory Committee and was a member of the Advisory Board for the Department of Labor's Native American Employment and Training Council.
As an entrepreneur before her ASU appointment, Morris founded Homahota Consulting LLC, a national Native American woman-owned professional services firm. Morris has an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona’s American Indian Studies and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Colorado State University.