This week on Truth to Power, we bring you a vital community conversation with Chief Glenna J. Wallace of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and Jordan Lubetkin of the National Wildlife Federation on the importance of indigenous perspectives to the restoration of the Ohio River Basin. Glenna Wallace was elected to the office of the Chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma in 2006. She is the first woman ever elected to this office. From 1968 to 2006, Chief Glenna worked at Crowder College in a variety of roles and received numerous honors and awards. Throughout the years Chief Glenna has been active in numerous organizations and boards in the community and for the tribe. As Senior Director of Ohio River Restoration at the National Wildlife Federation and Ohio River Basin Alliance Board of Trustees member, Jordan Lubetkin, has decades of experience in communications, public policy, and coordinating geographic restoration initiatives. Having worked on the Healing Our Waters: Great Lakes Coalition, he is very familiar with the success of sustained federal funding to improve water quality, restore ecosystem health, and support local economies through boosting recreation potential and maintaining commerce. In this conversation, Jordan explores the work that’s been done by Ohio River watershed stakeholders and partners, including the drafting and release of the Ohio River Basin Restoration and Protection Report by the Ohio River Basin Alliance, the National Wildlife Federation, and the University of Louisville’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute. This report, for which Jordan organized and facilitated 31 community listening sessions across the basin and worked with regional tribal chapters to recognize Indigenous stewardship, reaffirm Tribal rights, and forge authentic partnerships to advance Indigenous policy and conservation, makes a case statement to support the need for federal funding in the basin. Chief Glenna J. Wallace, the chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, will join Jordan to discuss their shared goals and the importance of collaboration with Indigenous groups in restoration. This work will help ensure that future investments in the Ohio River basin are guided by community knowledge to address the threats and challenges most important to constituents. After their conversation, the floor was opened for Q&A. This conversation took place on October 18, 2025 at the Ohio River Confluence (https://www.ohioriverway.org/2025-ohio-river-basin-confluence). For the first time, the Ohio River Basin Alliance, Kentucky Waterways Alliance, and the Ohio River Way held a special joint summit in place of their individual annual conferences. This event was co-hosted by the University of Louisville Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, and Thomas More University. The Ohio River Basin Confluence Summit took place October 16-18, 2025, at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville. The Summit brought together advocates, professionals, and water leaders of all kinds to learn, plan, and build a diverse identity across our important river basin. On Truth to Power each week, we gather people from around the community to discuss the state of the world, the nation, the state, and the city! It's a community conversation like you won't hear anywhere else! Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 4pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://forwardradio.org
