Merisa Jones is a member of the Lummi Nation located in Bellingham, WA. She currently holds the position as the Department Chair of the Native Studies Leadership program at the Northwest Indian College. Merisa Jones is an alumni of the Northwest Indian College and since then has obtained her Masters of Public Administration in Tribal Governance from The Evergreen State College and is currently working towards her Indigenous based Education Leadership Doctoral Degree at the University of Washington- Tacoma. Throughout her education journey she has been passionate about researching ways to achieve education sovereignty and work towards decolonization within in the education system.