Barbra Siskin

Barbra Siskin has been working as a professional archaeologist in the field of Cultural Resources Management throughout the Western United States since 1994. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Tulane University in 1992 and a Master of Arts in Anthropology in 1998. Over the nearly 30 years of her career, she developed skills as a field archaeologist, gained specialized skills in interpreting and implementing state and federal regulatory compliance in Cultural Resources Management with particular interest in Native American archaeology and involvement in Native American consultation and collaboration.

Ms. Siskin served as the project manager and principal investigator for archaeological and multidisciplinary environmental compliance projects. She has been managing large scale, complex regulatory projects, which include archaeological identification, evaluation, and mitigation in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act for clients in both the public and private sectors. Most recently, Ms. Siskin was a partner of Far Western Anthropological Research Group, one of the most established and reputable archaeological consulting firms in the United States. During her tenure, she opened a branch office in Marin County, California and served on the rapidly growing company’s leadership team in which she played a significant role in the development of internal business practices and infrastructure. In addition, Ms. Siskin was instrumental in starting the Far Western Foundation in 2021 and currently serves as the President; the Foundation provides annual research grants to Native American scholars, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professionals of archaeology and related fields.

Most recently, Ms. Siskin has become the President and sole executive Director of the Dorothy Tapper Goldman (DTG) Foundation, which was founded by her late mother in 2018 and was later capitalized by the sale of the rare first printing of the final text of the U.S. Constitution held in private hands in 2021. The DTG Foundation has been funding annually a Guggenheim Fellowship in Constitutional Studies since 2007. The DTG Foundation supports important civics education programs such as the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Center for Teaching Democracy at the New York Historical Society and beyond. It provides an ongoing grant at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which includes support for the incorporation into its collection the work of contemporary Native American artists, among its goals. As President of the DTG Foundation, Ms. Siskin is further expanding grants for programs that facilitate access to education and artistic programs that honor cultural and indigenous perspectives, heritage, and preservation. Ms. Siskin lives on Mt. Tamalpais in Mill Valley, California, where she is raising two daughters, spends as much time outside as possible with her dogs, and shares time in her beloved City of New Orleans.