Amy Warne (Mvskoke, Semvnole, Daughter of Kaccvlke) is an activist based in Oklahoma City, focusing on health equity, food insecurity, and food sovereignty for Native peoples. She is fighting the legacy of colonization in our food system, which prevents many Native communities from accessing food that is healthy, affordable, and rooted in traditional cultural practices, leading to disparities in health outcomes. When she is not working on health equity, Amy works to dismantle barriers to civic engagement for Native communities in Oklahoma.

Inspiration: In 2023, Amy ran a groundbreaking campaign for Oklahoma City Council; she would have been the first Native person on the council had she been elected, in a state with 39 Native Nations. Since then, Advance has invited Amy to speak with future Indigenous leaders as part of our Native Leadership Institute. Her tenacity and the power of her example inspires our graduates to advocate for their own communities by running for office themselves.

Innovation: Indigenous food sovereignty–Amy’s core issue–is an overlooked strategy for addressing food insecurity and health inequities in Native communities. Indigenous food sovereignty is an assertion of the rights of Indigenous communities to build their own food systems that are rooted in Indigenous knowledge and culture, and can be independent of capitalist food systems that are unsustainable, unhealthy, and destructive of Indigenous cultures.

Courage: Amy Warne is an outspoken advocate for marginalized communities in the overwhelmingly conservative context of Oklahoma. Advance interviewed Amy about her goals in 2022 before she decided to run for city council the following year. She cited serious concerns about being harassed online and at public meetings. Amy decided to run despite knowing that women of color are more likely to face violence, intimidation, and harassment when they enter public life.

Amy contributed to a successful campaign to defeat a local ordinance that would have let police arrest unhoused people in OKC for camping in public places. She delivered courageous testimony to the city council on November 22, 2022, which you can watch at the link below. She went on to challenge the sponsor of the ordinance, Ward 8 Councilman Mark Stonecipher, when he was up for election the following year. Although Amy ultimately did not win the election, Stonecipher withdrew the ordinance.