Robin Maxkii

Robin Maxkii, born on November 8, 1990, is a Native American technology activist, filmmaker, and writer of Stockbridge-Munsee, Navajo, Mohican, and Spanish descent.

Raised on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, she taught herself to code at age eleven using public library computers and began creating websites with free hosting services.

She graduated from Diné College in 2014 and later from Salish Kootenai College, both tribal institutions that shaped her advocacy for Indigenous education and technology access.

Early in her career, she launched the blogging network "Blood Quantum Reform" around 2014, which was shortlisted for the United Nations Global Partnership for Youth and focused on issues like blood quantum, education disparities, and tribal sovereignty.

She co-produced and narrated a segment of the Navajo Oral History project, now archived in the Smithsonian, and in 2015 introduced Dr. Jill Biden at a national conference, earning praise for her writing. That year, she participated in hackathons and co-starred in the Microsoft-funded PBS series "Code Trip," traveling the country to highlight diversity in tech while interviewing industry leaders like Satya Nadella.

In November 2016, Robin Maxkii organized and directed the first national American Indian collegiate hackathon, targeting the digital divide in rural and underserved communities.

Named an ambassador for the American Indian College Fund in 2016, she contributed to the "Think Indian" campaign, spoke before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and appeared in ads including a Times Square billboard. Her literary contributions include pieces for Tribal College Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Michelle Obama's Better Make Room campaign, earning her the Native American Journalists Association Award in 2018.

Her profile rose further in 2018 when Google released a documentary on her tech journey for their 20th anniversary, marking only the second time a living Native American was featured on their homepage.

She appeared in the Girls Who Code "Sisterh>>d" album alongside artists like Lizzo, celebrating diversity and sisterhood in technology. Her filmmaking credits include work on "Blood Quantum" (2016), "Autopsy" (2008), and "The Whisperers" (2009), blending her activism with media production.

Robin Maxkii has received White House invitations under the Obama administration, including nomination to the United State of Women Summit as a changemaker.

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