Deron Marquez – Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Deron Marquez served as chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians from 1999 through April, 2006.

In addition to leading the seven-member San Manuel Business Committee, Mr. Marquez was instrumental in designing and directing a forward looking agenda of social, economic and governance development for the tribal government and community.

Dr. Alfred Balitzer – Senior Fellow

Dr. Alfred Balitzer recently retired from a distinguished 35-year academic career at Claremont McKenna College where he taught American government, political philosophy and U.S.-Asian relations.  Currently, he is a Member of the Board of Trustees and Senior Fellow at Claremont Graduate University.  From 2004-2006, he served as the Chair of the Advisory Board of the California Policy Institute at Claremont Graduate University.

Dr. Jeffrey Decker

Ph.D., ’96 Claremont Graduate University
Professor, Biola University

Dr. Jeffery Decker has taught for almost 20 years, the last five of which have been at Biola University where is currently serves as a professor and chair of the Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership.  He has also taught at the Claremont Graduate University,

Dr. Ralph A. Rossum

Dr. Ralph A. Rossum is the Director of the Rose Institute of State and Local Government and the Henry Salvatori Professor of American Constitutionalism at Claremont McKenna College. He is also a member of the faculty of Claremont Graduate University.

Mr. Rossum earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and is the author

Dr. Kate Spilde

Dr. Kate Spilde is an Associate Professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at San Diego State University (SDSU), where she also serves as Endowed Chair of the Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming. In her role as Sycuan Chair, Dr. Spilde is responsible for managing the nation’s first four-year degree program in tribal gaming.

Dr. Michael M. Uhlmann

Dr. Michael M. Uhlmann is currently Visiting Professor of Government in the Department of Politics and Policy at Claremont Graduate University and Claremont McKenna College.

Prior to teaching at Claremont, Dr. Uhlmann was a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center,

Dr. David E. Wilkins

Professor of American Indian Studies, Political Science, Law and American Studies
University of Minnesota

Dr. David E. Wilkins is the McKnight Presidential Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. He holds adjunct appointments in Political Science, Law, and American Studies.

Dr. Eddie F. Brown

Dr. Eddie F. Brown has a unique administrative background in that he has worked at the highest administrative levels with tribal, state, and federal governments.  He is the former Director of Arizona Department of Economic Security (1987-1989); Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, United States Department of Interior, Washington, DC (1988-1993);

Dr. Richard Witmer

Dr. Richard Witmer is Assistant Professor of Political Science
Creighton University
Dr. Witmer, joined the political science faculty at Creighton in 2004.  Dr. Witmer received his M.A. (1994) and PhD (1999) in political science from the University of Arizona.

Professor Alan Parker

Alan Parker is the Director of the Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute at The Evergreen State College where he also has served as a member of the faculty since September of 1997. A citizen of the Chippewa Cree Tribal Nation, Parker lived for many years with his family on the Rocky Boy’s Reservation in Montana.

Professor Erich Steinman

Associate Professor of Sociology, Pitzer College

Erich Steinman is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Pitzer College in Claremont, California.
His research and publications in a variety of social science journals address the American Indian sovereignty movement,

Professor Robert Miller

Robert J. Miller is a professor at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. 

He graduated from Lewis & Clark in 1991 and then clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  He has taught and practiced Indian law since 1993.
 

Little Fawn Boland

Little Fawn Boland is the founder and sole practitioner of  LFB Legal, PC, offering comprehensive general counsel services to tribal governments and tribal entities.

She is experienced in multiple practice areas including litigation, tribal administrative and transactional law.

Shelia Morago

Shelia Morago Executive Director AIGA

Sheila Morago is the Executive Director of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association (AIGA).She is a member of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona.

Carole Goldberg

Jonathan D. Varat Professor of Law UCLA American Indian Studies Program

Carole Goldberg teaches Civil Procedure, Federal Indian Law, Tribal Legal Systems, the Tribal Legal Development Clinic, and the Tribal Appellate Court Clinic. The two clinics render legal services to Indian tribes and Indian judicial systems.  

Robert Warrior

Robert Warrior is Director, American Indian Studies, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Professor, American Indian Studies & English, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

As Director of American Indian Studies and the Native American House at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he is a professor of American Indian Studies and English.

Duane Champagne

Duane Champagne is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa from North Dakota.  He is Professor of Sociology and American Indian Studies, a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee for the UCLA Native Nations Law and Policy Center, Senior Editor

Edward Charles Valandra

Edward Charles Valandra is Associate Professor & Department Chair American Indian Studies Dept. University of South Dakota
Edward  is Sicangu Lakota, born and raised on the Rosebud Reservation.

Bradley Bledsoe Downes

Founding member and Managing Partner, Bledsoe Downes & Rosier, PC

Attorney At Law
Bledsoe Downes & Rosier, PC
Bradley Bledsoe Downes is a founding member and Managing Partner of Bledsoe Downes & Rosier, PC since January 2006.

Norm King

Chairman, International City/County Management Association Retirement Corp.
Former Executive Director, Sand Bernardino Associated Governments,1996-2005

Norm King brings more than 30 years’ experience in all levels of local government.

Susan A. Ehrlich, J.D., LL.M.

Susan A. Ehrlich, J.D., LL.M. 

Susan A. Ehrlich is a graduate of Wellesley College (B.A.) and Arizona State University College of Law (J.D., LL.M. – biotechnology and genomics).  She clerked for the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court

Deborah A. Painte

Deborah A. Painte  Director, Native American Training Institute (NATI) – 3333 E. Broadway, Suite 1210, Bismarck, ND 58501  February 2009 - Current.
As Director, I provide overall direction, administrative oversight and fiscal management for an inter-tribal non-profit organization that provides training and technical assistance in the areas of historical trauma, cultural competency, System of Care, wraparound process, foster parent training,

Tracy Burris

Tracy Burris for more than a decade, Tracy Burris has been honored to participate in the success of Indian gaming both nationally and locally through his service with the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) and the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association (OIGA).

Mr. Burris has served on the NIGA Executive Committee since 1995 and served as its Treasurer from 2006 to 2008. He also was a longtime board member of the OIGA,

Mark A. Jarboe

Retired Partner Dorsey & Whitney LLP  Mark A. Jarboe recently retired from the practice of law after a legal career spanning 34 years.  He was a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Minneapolis, Minnesota and served as the head of the firm's Indian Law Practice Group.

In over 25 years of practice in Indian Country he represented Indian tribal governments, tribal businesses and financial and other entities

Peggi Hazlett

Peggi Hazlett has over a decade of experience in public administration.  Her expertise and interest has included a wide range of fields from business owner, consultant, public relations, event planner, school administrator, and educator. 

Her position as the Assistant to the Mayor began under former San Bernardino Mayor

Michelle LaPena, B.A.

Michelle L. LaPena is experienced in tribal legal matters including tribal gaming operations and regulation, cultural resource protection, Indian child welfare, tribal taxation, administrative law and general civil litigation involving tribal governments.

She is extensively involved in developing statewide policy on tribal taxation, gaming regulation and cultural resource protection.

Jonathan Taylor, MPP

Master in Public Policy, Harvard University (1992)
Bachelor of Arts, Princeton University (1986)

Jonathan Taylor, MPP is an economist with expertise in natural resources, gaming, and American Indian development. He provides counsel to tribes and bands in the United States and Canada consisting of public policy analysis, strategic advice,

Rod Wilson, M.A.

As President and CEO of Pacific Research & Strategies, Inc. (PRSI), Rod Wilson, M.A. brings more than two decades of hands-on experience in developing political and public relations strategies for clients worldwide. His vision and determination are the hallmarks of PRSI's tradition of excellence.

He is a recognized expert in public, media and community relations,

Ted Gover, ABD

Ted Gover, ABD is Associate Director of the Tribal Administration Certificate Program at Claremont Graduate University, which provides instruction and training to the employees of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in the areas of tribal law, management, economic development and intergovernmental relations. 

He is Director of Public Affairs of Pacific Research & Strategies, Inc.,