Jen Vanator is a Policy Analyst and the Great Lakes Program Coordinator within the Division of Intergovernmental Affairs. She has provided legal and policy analysis to GLIFWC and its member tribes for over a decade, specializing in Great Lakes water quantity and quality issues, and Lake Superior protection and restoration. In addition to managing the Commission’s Great Lakes program through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Vanator has been active in multiple levels of interjurisdictional Great Lakes priority-setting and decision-making entities and initiatives.
Prior to that, Vanator represented tribal governments in civil matters in federal courts, as well as on legislative and regulatory issues with the United States Congress and federal agencies. She received her undergraduate degrees in History and Anthropology from Purdue University, a master's degree in Environmental History from Northern Arizona University, and both a master's degree in Environmental Law and a Juris Doctor from Vermont Law School.