From AllGov, via Pechanga:

If confirmed as chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission, Tracie Stevens would become the first woman to lead the oversight body for the $27 billion Indian gaming industry.

A member of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington State, Stevens was born in Los Angeles, but returned to Tulalip as a child. In 1985, she became the first member of her immediate family to graduate high school, which she did in Yakima, Washington, in 1985. She began her professional career in the gaming industry in 1995 at her tribe’s casino (Quil Ceda Creek Casino), located north of Seattle. There, she worked in human resource management, employee recruitment and training, and operations planning and analysis, before becoming the Tulalip Casino’s executive director for strategic planning in 2001.

In 2003, she became a legislative policy analyst in the tribe’s government affairs office. She represented the Tulalips in negotiations to update gambling compacts between the state of Washington and all federally-recognized tribes in the state. She also lobbied state lawmakers on tribe-related bills, including a controversial measure in 2005 to allow the Tulalips to retain millions in sales tax revenue collected at Quil Ceda Village. The bill did not pass.

In 2006, Stevens was elevated to senior policy analyst, a position she held until 2009. Also in 2006, Stevens received a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences from the University of Washington-Seattle, an accomplishment that took many years, as she had to attend night school while working.

Continue reading →

Here:

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:

• Tracie Stevens, Chair, National Indian Gaming Commission, Department of the Interior
• Malcolm D. Jackson, Assistant Administrator for Environmental Information, Environmental Protection Agency

President Obama said, “The American people will be well-served by the skill and experience these two exceptional individuals will bring to their roles. I am confident that they will be tremendous assets to my administration, and I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:

Tracie Stevens, Nominee for Chair, National Indian Gaming Commission, Department of the Interior

Tracie Stevens has been the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior since July 2009. In this role, Ms. Stevens provides policy guidance to the Assistant Secretary regarding tribal issues such as gaming, law enforcement, energy, tribal consultation, economic development, land-into-trust, tribal government disputes, budget priorities, and treaty and natural resource rights. She has also been active in rebuilding the nation-to-nation relationship between Tribes and the Department of Interior. Ms. Stevens is a member of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington State. From 2006 to 2009, Ms. Stevens was a Senior Policy Analyst with the Tulalip Tribe’s government affairs office. Prior to that, she served as a Legislative Policy Analyst (2003-2006) and as Executive Director of Strategic Planning for the Tulalip Casino (2001-2002). In her capacity as Senior Policy Analyst with the Tulalip Tribes, Ms. Stevens also served as the Chair of the Gaming Subcommittee for the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (2003-2009), the Secretary of the Board of the Directors for the Washington Indian Gaming Association (2002-2009) and as the Northwest Delegate for the National Indian Gaming Association (2003-2009). Ms. Stevens holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences from the University of Washington-Seattle.