Title: Executive Director
Company: Jim Pepper Native Arts Council
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Education: BA in Political Science, Sonoma State University
Career History: Executive Director, Jim Pepper Native Arts Council, Portland, OR (2014-Present); Executive Director, 1000 Nations, Portland, OR (2008-Present); Co-Founder, Friends of Celilo Falls (2011-Present); Chief of Staff for Senator Avel Gordly, Oregon State Legislature (2003-2009); Real Estate Broker (2000-2002)
Sean Aaron Cruz, Executive Director at Jim Pepper Native Arts Council, has been recognized as a Marquis Emerging Leader for their contributions and achievements in the fields of philanthropy and education.
Coming from a family with deep roots in education and cultural preservation, Mr. Cruz has indigenous heritage tracing through his father’s Mexican ancestry. Initially working as a real estate broker from 2000 to 2002, he was recruited by a developer friend to sell an old house on a large lot zoned for multifamily development. He spent considerable time at the property and felt an inexplicable spiritual connection to it, sensing that something about the house was speaking to him and resonating deeply within him in a way he could not explain. He eventually felt compelled to purchase the home himself in 2002, and shortly after moving in, he learned from a neighbor that the house had been the family home of the late Jim Pepper—a renowned Native American jazz saxophonist, of Kaw and Muscogee heritage he already had an affinity for. He believed this explained the feelings he had been experiencing.
While standing outside his new house, a car stopped, the woman introducing herself as Susie—Jim’s sister—telling Mr. Cruz their history and asking if she and her mother, Floy, could see the old house again. During their visit, Floy, then in her early 80s, gifted Mr. Cruze a bootleg CD of her son’s first album, “Pepper’s Pow Wow” from 1971. A former music major at Sonoma State University, Mr. Cruz had attended a transformative concert around 1970 in Martin County, where he witnessed guitarist Larry Coryell perform with Pepper, who was introduced as “a real Indian” musician. Receiving the CD and making a direct family connection became a pivotal moment that linked his lifelong passion for jazz music to a legacy, ultimately inspiring Mr. Cruz’s dedication to preserving Jim Pepper’s memory and creating culturally relevant music education for Native youth.
Mr. Cruz subsequently pivoted toward community efforts, activism, and legislative action, serving for six years as Chief of Staff for Senator Avel Gordly, the first African-American woman elected to the Oregon State Senate. Through his work, several significant bills were passed and he helped to establish the Senate President’s Task Force on Parental and Family Abductions. His commitment to his community extends to the broader Native American community, where he has built meaningful friendships and been honored with tribal recognition through gifts of necklaces from various tribes.
Since 2012, amid his duties as Chief of Staff, he has been active as the executive director of 1000 Nations, which became the Jim Pepper Native Arts Council. The 501c3 charitable organization celebrates the legacy of Pepper, “raising awareness of and creating opportunities for Indigenous musicians, and improving access to culturally-relevant musical education for Native American students,” according to the group’s website. They have also produced an annual Jim Pepper Native Arts Festival on the campus of Parkrose High School in Northeast Portland. More recently, starting in 2024, they, along with Native PhDs and educators, created a culturally relevant music education curriculum—Speak, Sing Native—within the Oregon Department of Education and the Southern Oregon Educational Service District for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12.
In addition, Mr. Cruz co-founded the Friends of Celilo Falls in 2010. The nonprofit, comprised of tribal and non-tribal members, is dedicated to raising awareness of Celilo Falls, a historic salmon fishery lost in the construction of The Dalles Dam in the 1950s, and its environs among policy makers and the public.
Looking toward the future, Mr. Cruz strives to promote the Speak, Sing Native curriculum in educational institutions, particularly areas facing political resistance to diversity and inclusion. Acknowledging the challenges posed by conservative regions in Oregon and elsewhere, he plans to explore new avenues for sharing the curriculum, including outreach to Canadian schools where it may be more welcomed.
Further, he’s dedicated to establishing multi-year pilot programs with school districts to measure student achievement and demonstrate the effects of music education on Native youth, particularly in addressing high dropout and suicide rates among Native students. His overarching goal is to integrate Jim Pepper’s music and the contributions of Native artists in to the K-12 educational repertoire across the nation, ensuring that all students have access to culturally relevant and affirming educational experiences, with a special focus on Native youth.