Shella Bowlin is a Cherokee government official and business executive serving as the secretary of state of the Cherokee Nation since 2023.

Life

Bowlin was raised in Bowlin Spring in

Craig County, Oklahoma Craig County is a county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,107. Its county seat is Vinita. The county was organized in 1907, shortly before statehood, and named for Granville Craig, a prominent Cherok ...

where her great-grandfather had settled. She is a descendant of a

Cherokee Freedman The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

. She holds a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering and management from

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. Bowlin began her career as an engineer in the airline industry. She earned a Master of Business Administration from

Kelley School of Business The Kelley School of Business (KSB) is an undergraduate and graduate business school for Indiana University Bloomington and Indiana University Indianapolis. As of 2022, approximately 13,538 full-time undergraduate and graduate students are enr ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. In 2004, Bowlin joined

Cherokee Nation Businesses Cherokee Nation Businesses, LLC (CNB) is an American conglomerate holding company headquartered in Catoosa, Oklahoma that oversees and manages several subsidiary companies. CNB is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cherokee Nation, the largest Nat ...

. By 2020, she was the senior director of strategy and analytics for, overseeing long-term growth planning. During her tenure, she mitigated the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

's impact on gaming, one of the tribe’s main business sectors. Bowlin advocated for greater representation of women in management roles, noting the "broken rung" that limits women’s advancement in leadership positions. In 2023, Bowlin was appointed by principal chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. as the secretary of state of the Cherokee Nation, succeeding Tina Glory-Jordan. She joined the three-person Task Force on Cherokee Nation Freedmen participation in 2024 to provide recommendations to ensure equal access to tribal services including healthcare, education, housing, and workforce training.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowlin, Shella Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) People from Craig County, Oklahoma Oklahoma State University alumni Kelley School of Business alumni Cherokee Nation businesspeople Native American women in politics Secretaries of state of the Cherokee Nation Women in Oklahoma politics 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians 21st-century Native American politicians 21st-century Native American women Cherokee Nation women Cherokee freedmen African-American people in Oklahoma politics