Hon. Maldonado

Hon. Allie Greenleaf Maldonado is Chief Judge and a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. Prior to her appointment as Chief Judge, she served as assistant general counsel for the tribe. Judge Maldonado is recognized as an expert on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and has worked closely with the State Court Administrative Office to bring Michigan into compliance with ICWA for the first time since the Act's passage. Upon her graduation from the University of Michigan Law School, where she served as a contributing editor for the Law Review, Judge Maldonado was selected as only the 15th tribal citizen to enter into the prestigious Honors Program at the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and became a litigator in the Indian Resources Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division. She has received numerous awards and distinctions, her writings about ICWA have been published nationally, and she has been called upon numerous times to speak about and provide training on ICWA.