Elizabeth Neptune, as president of her consulting service, Neptune Advantage, provides technical assistance to Native American tribes and nonprofit organizations across the country. For more than 13 years, until 2005, Neptune served as director of health and human services for the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township. In that role, she managed the development of health systems and the delivery of healthcare for the Indian Township community. As a consultant, she helps with program development, grant writing, facilitation, and more, primarily for projects related to health services. She also assists with social welfare projects in Washington County. She’s helping design a mentoring program for Community Caring Collaborative, a network of agencies and providers supporting at-risk individuals and families in the county. In her work, she spends a significant portion of her time illuminating the inequities facing Native Americans and dispelling negative stereotypes. She hopes that advocacy and education will lead to changes that will improve the well-being of native people in Maine and across the country. “Wabanaki people, including the Passamaquoddy, have lived in what is now Maine for more than 10,000 years,” Neptune says. “We have survived genocide, intentional racism, and attempts to extinguish our culture and our traditions. We have endured generations of trauma. Daily I work to ensure that we not only survive but that we thrive.”