Cody Greenwood

Born and raised in Oklahoma, Cody Greenwood has never been a stranger to his Chickasaw heritage. His family's Chickasaw lineage is traceable to original enrollee Frank Greenwood, who came to Indian Territory after removal.

At age four, Cody was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism. Those with Asperger's frequently experience disorientation regarding social cues, difficulty reading facial expressions and sensory overstimulation. Cody doesn't view his Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis to be a setback in his future. On the contrary, he considers it to be a major driver for why he has achieved his goals.

"I have overcome a diagnosis that predicted I would not achieve some of the things I have in my life, such as the speech competitions, livestock showing and being school mascot, just to name a few," said Cody.

Throughout his life, Cody always enjoyed computers, video games and coding. This passion drove him to bring vintage games from the original PlayStation to Android phones. In 2013, Cody joined with a group of 300 other people from around the world to code ePSXe, a Sony-authorized app that allows users to play vintage PlayStation games like Crash Bash.

In 2017, after the app's completion, he was encouraged by a computer science teacher to enter the app in East Central University's "Tiger Tank" business pitching competition. Modeled after the TV show "Shark Tank," this opportunity set him up against college students to make the best business pitch. After rounds of judging, Cody and his team won first place, which included a cash prize.

Cody knows that he wants to give back to the Chickasaw Nation in the future using his love for technology: "I want to make a difference. I want to build something new. If I were to develop technology like an iPhone, there is one organization I would love to represent and that's the Chickasaw Nation." Cody's goal is to work for the Chickasaw Nation after receiving his bachelor's degree in Communications from ECU.