Nali Prchal (she/her/hers) grew up in Alexandria, MN. She attended St. Olaf College and Kansas State University for her undergraduate and graduate studies, respectively. Prior to working at NATIFS, Nali has 15 years of food research and development work for companies big and small, as well as several years of nutritional therapy work. Nali’s position at NATIFS is the Research & Development Principal. She helps connect the dots between the philosophical and artful side of Indigenous foodways and the objective and scientific side to help share the whole story while developing actionable tools for all. Nali enjoys the opportunity to learn from colleagues and guests in the kitchen. She believes that supporting Indigenous food systems is a powerful way to bring healing to the world from the ground up. 

When Nali is not at work, she enjoys hiking, camping, and outdoor adventuring with her family, growing food and wildflowers, cooking, baking, and listening to and creating music. Nali describes her family and household as “the most serious cat in the world, the silliest kiddo in the world, and many plants doing battle for limited windowsill space.” She loves expressing her love and appreciation through food and is always up for a horizon-broadening food challenge. Bring it on!