Barb and Oliver Semans, Co-Executive Directors: Barb and Oliver (OJ) Semans are both enrolled members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe who helped form Four Directions, Inc after leading the historic Native vote effort in South Dakota’s 2002 US Senate race. For that effort, Barb & OJ were awarded the Paul Wellstone Grassroots Award in 2003 by the 21st Century Democrats. Since then, Barb and OJ have continued to lead nonpartisan Native voter engagement, empowerment, protection and voting rights work across the country. In 2005, OJ Semans testified before the National Commission on the Voting Rights Act before eventual reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006. OJ later filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Shelby County (Ala.) v. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. OJ’s opinion editorials have been featured in Indian Country, and he’s been an invited speaker at several voting rights conferences. Barb and OJ have seven grown children. They live in Mission, SD.
Greg Lembrich, Legal Director: Greg Lembrich has served as Legal Director since 2008 on a pro bono basis thanks in part to the support of his former law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pitman. In this role, Greg has successfully lobbied state and local officials in South Dakota for increased Native American access to the polls, conducted training sessions on voting rights for Tribal leaders and community members, and defended voters’ rights to cast their ballot free from harassment. For each general election, Greg has coordinated a large team of legal volunteers in protecting Native American voting rights in polling places on Indian reservations throughout South Dakota. Greg’s efforts on behalf of Four Directions and the South Dakota Native American community were recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the recipients of its 2008 Pro Bono Awards. Now the Associate General Counsel at New York Life Insurance Company, Greg lives in Maplewood, New Jersey with his wife Alex and daughter CC.
