We at Groundwork are heartbroken to share that our dear colleague, Holly T. Bird, has walked on. In the Anishinaabe way, when someone begins their journey to the spirit world, -ba is added to their name as a way to honor that passage. From this point forward, she will be lovingly refered to as Holly-ba, acknowledging that her spirit continues on, even as her physical presence leaves us. This is not an end, but a transition. In keeping with her teachings and the traditions she held close, the Indigenous community will honor her spirit, her leadership, and her legacy in all that follows.

Holly-ba joined the Groundwork staff as Clean Energy Specialist as recently as January 2025, but she brought a deep history of advocacy and has been a powerful and inspirational leader across the entire region and nation. She was a tribal judge, provided legal support on local and national environmental issues, and was a leader in her own right in opposing Line 5. In 2019 she gave the opening talk and welcome of the first Michigan Clean Energy Conference, which Groundwork organized in Traverse City. We are ever grateful to have had her join Groundwork’s staff, providing us with her strategic and incisive mind. If only we could have continued to work with her longer.

Holly-ba’s indigenous heritage traced from Apache, Yaqui, and Perépucha Tribes, and she was a proud member of the Thunder Clan. To those who were blessed to know and work with Holly-ba, her connection to the Thunder Clan explained so much. Holly-ba did indeed bring a strong and loving thunder as she fought for children and families, our waters, our lands and skies, racial justice, and the sustainable ways that she believed in, beliefs based firmly in her indigenous culture. A fine example of this was when the Standing Rock protests rose up against the Dakota Access Pipe Line in North Dakota. Holly-ba understood how her legal training could be essential in the fight. She traveled to the protest site and became a central figure in coordinating legal efforts to protect the protesters.

Holly-ba brought equally strong love and quiet thunder to her role as a peacemaker. In Groundwork meetings, when she spoke of people on the other side of issues, she did not use language that divided, but spoke of looking for commonality, of connection, of building bridges. She always expressed an optimism that peace was possible.

And we cannot pay tribute to Holly-ba without speaking of her smile, a big and captivating smile that somehow expressed all of her strength and kindness in a warm and radiant instant.

When Holly-ba joined Groundwork’s staff, she said: “I just look forward to going out and changing minds and making clean energy happen. I’m excited for that day when I can look at a bunch of clean energy projects in Michigan and say, ‘I helped do that.’” In addition to being a part of the Thunder Clan, Holly-ba carries a traditional Indigenous name that means “Blue Lightning Woman.” Given her connection to that energy, Holly-ba told us, “I suppose you could say I was meant for this job!”

Holly-ba’s work in this world has been profound. She was a brilliant and vibrant force whose impact will continue to resonate, within all of us at Groundwork, within people of all cultures throughout the Great Lakes that she fought to protect, and far beyond, as she travels the Milky Way on her journey. Our deepest sympathy goes out to her family and many friends. 

I strongly encourage you to read the piece linked below, written by Allison Acosta, of Traverse Northern Michigan Magazine / MyNorth.com and photographed by Courtney Kent. Reading the piece, I learned that Holly-ba loved this Lakota saying: “See with the eye in your heart, not in your head.” The story is a beautiful tribute to Holly-ba’s spirit and values and hard work. In the video below, Holly-ba sings an Indigenous song at the opening of the Michigan Clean Energy Conference in 2019 and then offers the kind of insightful and unifying thoughts that earned her so much love and admiration.

We offer a special thanks to Joe VanAlstine, member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and also a Groundwork Board member, for his guidance on Indigenous culture for this tribute.

With heavy heart and also a hope inspired by Holly-ba’s spirit,

Elizabeth Palchak, Ph.D.
Executive Director

We encourage you to read this profile of Holly-ba that first published in the March 2025 edition of Traverse Northern Michigan magazine. READ

In this video, Holly-ba sings the opening song for the 2019 Michigan Clean Energy Conference in Traverse City, and then shares thoughts expressing the never-ending need for unity and sustainable ways. Click image to watch.