Victoria Vasques is the Owner and Chairwoman of Tribal Tech, LLC and Cowan & Associates, Inc. Both companies are American Indian, SBA 8(m), third-party verified, woman-owned small businesses (WOSB) that provide management and technical services to federal, state, tribal and corporate clients.
For more than 30 years, Ms. Vasques has been an advocate for American Indians, leading education reform, health care and advancing energy initiatives.
Her career in public service includes serving as the Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Office of Indian Education, U.S. Department of Education, where she was the principal point of contact within the federal government for Indian education across the nation. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy. She also served as executive director of the White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities, as an education program specialist in the Office of Indian Education, on the President’s Commission on Indian Reservation Economics, and on the President’s Commission on the HIV Epidemic. Her experience with Indian issues outside the federal government includes serving as a technical assistant specialist at the National Congress of American Indians and as tribal liaison at The Committee for the 50th Presidential Inaugural.
Ms. Vasques received her Bachelor of Science degree from California State University at Fullerton, then went on to receive teaching credentials from the University of California at Irvine. She is Diegueno of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, Valley Center, California, and is a former American Indian Woman of the Year.
She also serves on various boards for national and local non-profit organizations dedicated to supporting and promoting education and health care. Vicki has created a non-profit organization, The Ronald Maese Peralta (RMP) Foundation, in honor of her father. RMP’s mission is to improve the education, health and wellness of all people, especially those throughout Native communities.