Phillip Norrgard

University of Minnesota, Duluth, March 20, 2017

Phillip Norrgard received a master of social work in 1980 from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He has been the director of human services for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa since 1980, dedicating his life to championing the health of the people of the Fond du Lac Band and American Indian people around the nation. When he started, he was one of three people working there; now that division employs about 320 people and he has grown the department from about a quarter of a million dollars to over $42 million. One of his most significant accomplishments of his career has been his comprehensive understanding of how Indian health care could be integrated with federal programs. Because of this, Fond du Lac’s program has become the preeminent model. Norrgard has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Minnesota Indian Mental Health Advisory Council and the Minnesota Indian Child Welfare Advisory Council, and he has served as the Bemidji area delegate alternate to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Tribal Technical Advisory Group. He is also the only director of an Indian health program in the country who has served on the board of directors of a state health insurance exchange under the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.