Valerie is a luminary in financial services, asset management and investment banking. She was the first Native American to start an investment bank on Wall Street, and she has a storied career financing and managing assets for tribal nations throughout the continental US, among many others. She has previously served as the CEO of Red-Horse Financial Group, Inc., and as the Chief Financial Officer at the East Bay Community Foundation ($800 million endowment). She has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services and investment banking industry with a unique expertise in the Native American tribal government sector. She began her career in the high-yield bond department of Drexel Burnham Lambert. Valerie has raised, structured, and managed over $3 billion in capital and holds seven FINRA securities registrations.
On October 4, 2022, Secretary Janet Yellen named her to the Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, a newly created advisory committee convened to identify, monitor and review aspects of the domestic economy that have directly and indirectly resulted in unfavorable conditions for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color.
Valerie founded and served as the CEO of Red-Horse Native Productions, Inc., a film and television production company focused on bringing important documentaries to the screen, and for which she has directed, produced, and written. She is a member of both the Screen Actors and Directors Guilds. She is the Advisory Board Chair of Stanford University’s Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity and teaches two undergraduate courses on Entrepreneurship for Social Impact and Racial Equity at Stanford. She is the former Executive Director and CEO of Social Venture Circle, a non-profit leading the way in social impact. Valerie was inducted into the NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) Hall of Fame in 2008.
She serves as Board Chair of the National Boys and Girls Clubs Native American Division and as a Board Member for the Northern California Chapter of the International Women’s Forum. Valerie earned a B.A. with Cum Laude honors from UCLA and has founded several nonprofit ministries on tribal reservations nationwide. Valerie has been married since 1982 to former NFL professional Curt Mohl and they have three children, Courtney (Stanford University ’07); Dere (California Lutheran University ’12); and Chelsea (Stanford University ’21).
