Founders
Eli Ankou
Eli Ankou is a Canadian-born football defensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCLA. Ankou grew up in Canada and played high school football for the St. Peter Catholic High School Knights in Orleans, Ontario, but played his senior season at Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear, Delaware.
Ankou has been a leading voice in bringing awareness to "Every Child Matters", a movement in Canada to shine a light on the devastating discoveries being made in Canada around the genocide to the indigenous communities.
Shayna Powless
Raised in Sacramento, California, Shayna started out as a competitive runner and triathlete from elementary through high school. In 2012, her senior year of high school, she decided to switch her focus from competing in multiple sports (track and field, cross country, triathlons, and cycling), to focusing solely on cross-country mountain biking. She also represented the national team, and won the mountain bike national championship title in 2013. While attending school at UCLA, she competed in both road and mountain bike racing with the UCLA cycling team. In 2016, she graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and went on to work as a physical therapy aide. She then became a USA Cycling certified coach while continuing with her professional cycling career.
Shayna raced with the BMC MTB Development team from 2012-2014 and the Liv Co-Factory MTB team from 2015-2016. In 2017, she switched her focus to road racing and gained valuable experience from racing in the pro peloton. She plans to continue making road racing her primary focus in the upcoming years and is very excited to be supported by the professional women's team, Team Twenty20, a program she knows will help her accomplish her goals.
Outside of cycling, Shayna enjoys spending time with her friends and family, which often includes road trips and various outdoor adventures. She also enjoys horseback riding, beach trips, and searching for the best food/coffee shops in the area. Additionally, Shayna is passionate about mentoring and inspiring others to lead healthy lifestyles through sports and cycling. She has hosted various community cycling events including numerous trips to different Native American reservations. She continues to support her tribe, The Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, where she has family ties. In conjunction with these events, she and her partner, Eli Ankou (of the Ojibwe tribe) have started a non-profit organization called the Dream Catcher Foundation.
This foundation is dedicated to empowering youth (with an emphasis on Native American youth) through sports, focusing on football and cycling camps. It is also committed to bringing awareness to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls pandemic currently happening across North America.