Jeannie Egan Nungarrayi was a long-time member of the Central Land Council and she was co-founder of the Jaru Pirrijirdi Program. The program's aim was to teach young Walpiri people their culture and the proper way of doing things. Egan was involved in bilingual education, worked at Yuendumu School for many years and represented Central Australian Aboriginal people at Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's 2020 Summit in 2008.
Egan was an artist and began painting commercially in 1987. Examples of her works are held in the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. She won the 1987 National Aboriginal Art Award and the 1987 Rothmans Foundation Award.