Lenore was born on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where her father was born. Her mother is Minnecoujou Lakota from the Cheyenne River Reservation, S.D. Lenore received her B.A. from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Upon retiring from a federal civil rights career in Seattle, she moved to Spokane to be an active unci (grandmother) to her two takojas (grandkids), and later earned an M.A. through the North American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studies from Portland Seminary/George Fox University in Oregon.
Lenore speaks, writes and co-facilitates for the annual Journey to Mosaic, a faith-based racial reconciliation experience in the Pacific Northwest. Lenore also serves on nonprofit boards related to her interests in the local community (CupofCoolWater.org), Justice (Evangelicals4Justice.org), Indigenous issues (Eloheh.org), and a discipleship of creation care (Circlewood.online).