Janie Simms Hipp, JD, LLM (Chickasaw) is an agriculture and food lawyer, policy expert, and the former General Counsel of the United States Department of Agriculture. She was the founder CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund, the founder of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas and founder of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of Tribal Relations in the Office of the Secretary during the Obama-Biden Administration. Hipp's work focuses on the agriculture and food law and is a recognized expert in the intersection of agriculture and Indian law. She is currently the CEO/President of Native Agriculture Financial Services a national organization focusing on capital access and Native agriculture. She is licensed in the State of Oklahoma (since 1984); a graduate of the Oklahoma City University School of Law (where she was recognized as Distinguished Alumni); and graduate of the LLM program in agriculture and food law at the University of Arkansas School of Law (where she was recognized as University Distinguished Alumni). She was also recognized by the annual Sovereignty Symposium gathering of Tribal governments and the legal community as “The Honored One” and currently serves on the national University of Arkansas Alumni Board. She has served on numerous boards and commissions over many decades and has managed financial portfolios in excess of $500 million over the course of her career. She was raised in Oklahoma but makes her permanent residence in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She is a proud citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.