About Amy

Health access, food security, and food sovereignty for Native peoples.

Amy Warne, MBA, RD/LD (Mvskoke, Semvnole, Daughter of Kaccvlke) is an advocate based in Oklahoma City, focusing on health access, food security, 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 nourishing, affordable, and rooted in traditional cultural practices, leading to disparities in health outcomes. When she is not working on health access, 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 elected to the council in a state with 39 Native Nations. Since then, Advance Native Political Leadership has invited Amy to speak with future Indigenous leaders as part of our Native Leadership Institute. Her tenacity and the power of her example inspire 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. Amy was interviewed about her goals in 2022 before she decided to run for city council the following year. Amy chose to run despite knowing that Women of Color are more likely to face 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. She went on to challenge the sponsor of the ordinance and Ward 8 Council representative when he was up for election the following year. Although Amy ultimately did not win the election, he withdrew the ordinance.

Leadership: Amy Warne went on to be elected and is the current Oklahoma County Democratic Party Chair, where she continues to advocate for youth engagement, further the inclusion of marginalized communities, and support candidates and elected officials. Amy is a member of Matriarch, an education and advocacy group that seeks to empower Native women, femmes, 2 Spirit, and non-binary people through community building. Amy is a member of the Board of Directors for Sunny Dayz Mural Festival, which exists to empower, elevate, and celebrate underrepresented artists with an emphasis on women and gender minorities through the creation and advocacy of public art.