Deanna Hartley Kelso has served as a trustee and a general member of the Chickasaw Foundation since 1999.
She is currently employed as a District Judge for the Chickasaw Nation District Court, presiding over family, civil and criminal matters since 2018. She has been employed by the Chickasaw Nation in various capacities including Attorney General, General Counsel and Legislative Counsel, since 1997
As for professional memberships, she served on the board of trustees for the Oklahoma Bar Foundation from 2014 – 2024, served as the President of the Chickasaw Bar Association from 2013-2014, holds memberships with the Oklahoma Indian Bar Association, Native American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association, and is also a 20+ year fellow of the College of the State Bar of the State of Texas, an organization recognizing professionalism through education.
