Jessie Taken Alive-Rencountre is a Hunkpapa Lakota from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. She has worked as a school counselor serving hundreds of students for fifteen years. Her first book, Pet'a Shows Misun the Light, won the Great Plains Emerging Tribal Writer Award. Combining the teachings of her Lakota culture with a school counselor lens, she has published four children's books, with more on the horizon. Jessie was invited to be a guest speaker for Facebook and Instagram in the fall of 2021. Her passion is helping people remember their importance in life and showing them how to utilize their unique talents to create better communities for future generations to come. She is also a Lakota Jingle Dress dancer, and she loves to educate others about Lakota culture combining storytelling with traditional song and dance. In 2021, Jessie was named a future legacy leader by the Spirit Aligned Leadership Program, an international organization.
