May 22, 2015

IWRI Student Assistant Nick Romero Wins First-place in Design Competition

The Oceti Sakowin (pronounced Och-et-ee Shak-oh-win) Power Project is a multi-billion dollar venture to develop the largest wind-power installation in the United States. Historic in its scale alone, the endeavor also makes a commanding political and cultural statement for Indian Country. It’s the result of a regrouping of seven tribes across the Dakotas that had originally forged together to oppose the European colonial invasion. Now, square in the path of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the Great Sioux Nation is again coming together, this time for Indigenous self-determination and for our sacred Mother Earth.

IWRI student assistant Nick Romero is currently the project’s brand developer. Among many submissions after a widely distributed call-out for logo designs, the executive panel chose one of Nick’s entries for its structure and use of Native symbolism. Now, charged with the project’s online presence in addition to brand assets, he notes that “It’s an honor to serve my people and to be a part of such important work.” He added, “Progress, sustainability, and community empowerment drive me, which is also why I love working with IWRI.”

Nick is a graduate student at the UW’s Foster School of Business who is on-track to receive his MBA degree in June 2015. He’s an App Store-published developer and designer who loves parkour and freerunning. Nick is Hunkpapa Lakota enrolled at the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota. He is also Bonnie Duran’s nephew.