Chief Phil Lane Jr. is an enrolled member of the Ihanktonwan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations and is an internationally recognized leader in human, community, and economic development. During the past 50 years, Chief Lane has worked with Indigenous Peoples from the Americas, Micronesia, South East Asia, China, India, Bhutan, Hawaii, and Africa. He served 16 years as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada and in 1982, Chief Lane founded the Four Worlds International Institute (FWII). As well, Phil is Chairman of Four Directions International and Compassion Games International.

Chief Lane has been the recipient of multiple awards and recognition and he currently serves as a member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, (AISES), Council of Elders. He is the host of the Shift Network’s  Global Indigenous Wisdom Summits, and an Honorary International Advisor to the Help Foundation of the Beijing Women's and Children’s Development Foundation and is a co-founder and Global Trustee of the United Religions Initiative.